All these words could be used to indicate the whole of something, but they belong to different parts of speech. Dōu (都) and zǒng gòng (總共) serve as adverbs, quán (全) can be an adverb or an adjective, quán bù (全部) functions as a noun or an adverb sometimes, zǒng (總) can be a verb or an adjective.
The scope adverb dōu (都) used before verbs could indicate that something is true for the entire subject or multiple objects. Expect in questions with interrogative pronouns, the items summarized by dōu (都) must be put before dōu (都). Dōu (都) and quán (全) are interchangeable when they are used to emphasize all the people or things are included, also, they be used together in the form of quán dōu (全都).
昨天我們都/全去圖書館了。 (subjects)
zuó tiān wǒ men dōu /quán qù tú shū guǎn le.
We all went to the library yesterday.
蔬菜, 水果, 他都/全喜歡。 (objects)
shū cài, shuǐ guǒ, tā dōu /quán xǐ huān.
Vegetables and fruits, he likes them all.
今天都誰沒有來? (interrogative pronoun)
jīn tiān dōu shuí méi yǒu lái?
Who didn't come today?
這些書我全都讀過了。
zhè xiē shū wǒ quán dōu dú guò le.
I've read all these books.
Only dōu (都) can be used when emphasizing each of the persons or things, for example:
每個國家都有自己的文化。
měi gè guó jiā dōu yǒu zì jǐ de wén huà.
Every country has its own culture.
When emphasizing the majority of people or things only dōu (都) can be used, the sentences are usually preceded by words like dà bù fèn (大部分), hěn duō (很多) and so on.
很多人都喜歡來這裡度假。
hěn duō rén dōu xǐ huān lái zhè lǐ dù jiǎ.
Many people like to come here for a vacation.
Quán (全) can be used as a degree adverb to modify adjectives to emphasize the idea of “all” or “entire”. Another difference between quán (全) and dōu (都) is that quán (全) also could be used as an adjective to modify nouns to emphasize "the whole" of it.
這是一部全新的洗衣機。
zhè shì yí bù quán xīn de xǐ yī jī.
This is a brand new washing machine.
全班同學都去了圖書館。
quán bān tóng xué dōu qù le tú shū guǎn.
The whole class went to the library.
Quán bù (全部) emphasizes the integrity of all parts in its scope, referring to the sum of various parts. It is used as a noun in most cases, but could modify other nouns together with the structural particle de (的). When serving as an adverb, quán bù (全部) mostly modifies disyllabic verbs and can be used together with or replaced by dōu (都).
這並不是這幅畫的全部, 只是一部分。(used as a noun)
zhè bìng bú shì zhè fú huà de quán bù , zhī shì yī bù fèn.
It's not the whole of the picture, it's just a part of it.
全部的問題都解決了。(function as an adjective)
quán bù de wèn tí dōu jiě jué le.
All the problems have been solved.
問題已經全部解決。 (function as an adverb)
wèn tí yǐ jīng quán bù jiě jué.
The problem is completely solved.
The adverb zǒng gòng (總共) which translates to “altogether” is used to give a total number or amount, therefore, zǒng gòng (總共) has to collocate with phrases expressing quantity.
我們班總共有四十名學生。
wǒ men bān zǒng gòng yǒu sì shí míng xué sheng.
There are altogether 40 students in this class.
今天你總共花了多少錢?
jīn tiān nǐ zǒng gòng huā le duō shǎo qián ?
How much did you spend altogether today?
As for zǒng (總), it means to gather various parts all together as a verb.
請幫忙把這兩筆帳總到一起。
qǐng bāng máng bǎ zhè liǎng bǐ zhàng zǒng dào yī qǐ.
Please help to settle the two accounts together.
When serving as an adjective, zǒng (總) always appears in fixed expressions, conveying the meaning of “general”, for instance:
總经理
zǒng jīng lǐ
the general manager
經濟全球化已經成為人類社會發展的總趨勢。
jīng jì quán qiú huà yǐ jīng chéng wéi rén lèi shè huì fā zhǎn de zǒng qū shì.
Economic globalization has become the general trend of development in human society.
