Difference between revisions of "Expressing "until" with "dao""

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* 我 昨天晚上 工作 <strong>到</strong> <em>十二 点 半</em>。<span class="pinyin">Wǒ zuótiān wǎnshang gōngzuò <strong>dào</strong> <em>shí'èr diǎn bàn</em>.</span><span class="trans">I worked until 12:30 last night. </span>
 
* 我 昨天晚上 工作 <strong>到</strong> <em>十二 点 半</em>。<span class="pinyin">Wǒ zuótiān wǎnshang gōngzuò <strong>dào</strong> <em>shí'èr diǎn bàn</em>.</span><span class="trans">I worked until 12:30 last night. </span>
* 我们 一直 等 <strong>到</strong> <em>天黑</em> 。 <span class="pinyin">Wǒmen yīzhí děng <strong>dào</strong> <em> tiānhēi</em>.</span></span> <span class="trans">We waited until it was getting dark.</span>
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* 我们 一直 等 <strong>到</strong> <em>天黑</em> 。 <span class="pinyin">Wǒmen yīzhí děng <strong>dào</strong> <em> tiānhēi</em>.</span> <span class="trans">We waited until it was getting dark.</span>
* 他们 想 在 这里 住 <strong>到</strong> <em>春天</em> 。 <span class="pinyin">Tāmen xiǎng zài zhèlǐ zhù <strong>dào</strong> <em> chūntiān</em>.</span></span> <span class="trans">They want to live here until it's spring.</span>
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* 他们 想 在 这里 住 <strong>到</strong> <em>春天</em> 。 <span class="pinyin">Tāmen xiǎng zài zhèlǐ zhù <strong>dào</strong> <em> chūntiān</em>. </span> <span class="trans">They want to live here until it's spring.</span>
* 你们 要 玩 <strong>到</strong> <em>什么 时候</em> ? <span class="pinyin">Nǐmen yào wán <strong>dào</strong> <em> shénme shíhou</em>? </span></span> <span class="trans">When will you be done playing?</span>
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* 你们 要 玩 <strong>到</strong> <em>什么 时候</em> ? <span class="pinyin">Nǐmen yào wán <strong>dào</strong> <em> shénme shíhou</em>? </span> <span class="trans">When will you be done playing?</span>
  
 
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Revision as of 08:23, 5 April 2017

Chinese-grammar-wiki-dao.jpg

One of the cool features of Chinese is complements, and in this article we introduce a few of them.

One kind of complement in Chinese involves putting 到, 给 or 在 after the verb. These are used to indicate direction, target and location, respectively.

Complements with 到

到 (dào) indicates that the action has obtained a goal or a certain state.

Examples

  • 我 昨天晚上 工作 十二 点 半Wǒ zuótiān wǎnshang gōngzuò dào shí'èr diǎn bàn.I worked until 12:30 last night.
  • 我们 一直 等 天黑Wǒmen yīzhí děng dào tiānhēi. We waited until it was getting dark.
  • 他们 想 在 这里 住 春天Tāmen xiǎng zài zhèlǐ zhù dào chūntiān. They want to live here until it's spring.
  • 你们 要 玩 什么 时候Nǐmen yào wán dào shénme shíhou? When will you be done playing?

Complements with 给

给 (gěi) indicates that you have passed something from one person to another.

Examples

  • 我 今天 早上 发了 一 封 邮件 Wǒ jīntiān zǎoshang fā le yī fēng yóujiàn gěi .I sent an e-mail to you this morning.

Complements with 在

  • 在 (zài) indicates a person or thing coming to a certain place. It is usually followed by a location or a place.
  • 请 你 坐 我 旁 边儿Qǐng nǐ zuò zài wǒ pángbiān er.Please come and sit next to me.

See also

Sources and further reading

Books

HSK4