Difference between revisions of "Result complements "-dao" and "-jian""
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<div class="liju"> | <div class="liju"> | ||
| − | * 你 | + | * 你 看 <em>见</em> 那 个 帅哥 了 吗 ？ <span class="pinyin">Nǐ kàn <em>jiàn</em> nà gè shuàigē le ma?</span> <span class="trans">Did you see that handsome boy?</span> |
| − | * 你 | + | * 你 看 <em>到</em> 那 个 帅哥 了 吗 ？ <span class="pinyin">Nǐ kàn <em>dào</em> nà gè shuàigē le ma?</span> <span class="trans">Did you see that handsome boy?</span> |
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<div class="liju"> | <div class="liju"> | ||
| − | * | + | * 我 看 <em>见</em> 了 。 <span class="expl">(We didn't say what "I" saw; you have to base it on context.)</span><span class="pinyin">Wǒ méiyǒu kàn <em>jiàn</em>.</span> <span class="trans">I didn't see him.</span> |
| − | * | + | * 我 看 <em>到</em> 了 。 <span class="pinyin">Wǒ kàn <em>dào</em> le.</span> <span class="trans">I didn't see him.</span> |
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<div class="liju"> | <div class="liju"> | ||
| − | * | + | * 你 听 <em>见</em> 了 吗 ？ <span class="pinyin">Nǐ tīng <em>jiàn</em> le ma?</span> <span class="trans">Did you hear it?</span> |
| − | * | + | * 你 听 <em>到</em> 了 吗 ？ <span class="pinyin">Nǐ tīng <em>dào</em> le ma?</span> <span class="trans">Did you hear it?</span> |
</div> | </div> | ||
Revision as of 12:12, 18 October 2014
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Two of the most common result complements in Chinese are 到 (dào) and 见 (jiàn). On this page we're only going to be talking about verbs related to the senses ("see," hear," etc.), and for this usage, the two are interchangeable.
Contents
Verb with "到" and "见"
Structure
Result complements are a huge topic in Chinese grammar, but you can approach them in stages. The structure you come across the most is a verb with 到 (dào):
Subject + Verb + 到 + Object
What 到 (dào) does is indicate that the outcome of the verb is achieved - what its result is. Without a result complement, the sentence would describe only the action itself. To illustrate, 看 (kàn) "to look" is the action of turning one's head in a particular direction and focusing one's eyes, whereas 看到 (kàn dào)," to see," is the result of your brain taking in the visual input.
The complement 见 (jiàn) is very similar to 到 (dào), and it is used in the same way:
Subject + Verb + 见 + Object
However, there is a difference. 见 (jiàn) is generally only used after verbs involving sense, like 听 (tīng) and 看 (kàn), whereas 到 (dào) can be attached to a large variety of verbs (which we will discuss at a higher level on Tricky uses of "dao").
Examples
- 你 看 见 那 个 帅哥 了 吗 ？ Did you see that handsome boy?
- 你 看 到 那 个 帅哥 了 吗 ？ Did you see that handsome boy?
- 我 看 见 了 。 (We didn't say what "I" saw; you have to base it on context.) I didn't see him.
- 我 看 到 了 。 I didn't see him.
- 你 听 见 了 吗 ？ Did you hear it?
- 你 听 到 了 吗 ？ Did you hear it?
Negative form
Structure
Subject + 没 + Verb + 到/见 + Object
As in the last sentence, this structure can be negated using 没 (méi).
Examples
- 你 没 听 见 吗 ？ Did you hear it?
- 我 没 听 见 。 I didn't hear it.
- 你 没 看 到 那 个 帅哥 吗 ？ Did you see that handsome boy?
- 我 没 看 到 那 个 帅哥 ？ I didn't see that handsome boy.
- 我 没有 看 见 。 (We didn't say what "I" didn't see; you have to base it on context.) I didn't see him.
- 我 没有 看 到 。 I didn't see him.
See also
Sources and further reading
Books
- Short-term Spoken Chinese: Threshold Vol. 2 (汉语口语入门篇下) (p. 92) →buy
- Basic Patterns of Chinese Grammar (p. 109) →buy
- 40 Lessons for Basic Chinese Course (基础汉语40课上册） (pp. 205-6)→buy
