Tricky uses of "dao"

You probably learned the result complement 到 a long time ago, as part of words like 看到 ("to see") and 听到 ("to hear"). But other times it's less clear what the 到 really means. Like the difference between 买 and 买到 or 做 and 做到. What 到 adds is a clearer sense that something has really been achieved.

Structure

Subj. + Verb + 到

The difference 到 makes

Adding 到 after a verb makes it very clear that the desired result was achieved. If you looked and you saw, then 到 indicates that. On the other hand, not adding 到 makes it unclear whether or not the desired result was achieved. It can have the effect of making a verb mean "try to verb." So 做 without 到 is kind of like "try to do," but when you want to make it very clear that results were achieved or must be achieved, that's when you want to add 到.

Let's look at another example. The difference between 找 and 找到 is that 找 means "to search" (in other words, "to try to find"), whereas 找到 means "to find," that the search was successful, and results were achieved. So if one were to say "你一定要找," it would mean "you must try to find it" and "你一定要找到" means "you must find it".

Illustrative examples

做 vs. 做到

• 我 还 没有 做。Wǒ hái méiyǒu zuò. I haven‘t done it.
• 我 下 个 星期 可以 做。Wǒ xià gè xīngqī kěyǐ zuò. I can do it next week.
• 我 相信 你 一定 能 做到。Wǒ xiāngxìn nǐ yīdìng néng zuòdào. I believe you will be able to do it.

买 vs. 买到

• 我 还 没有 买。Wǒ hái méiyǒu mǎi. I haven't bought it yet.
• 我 没 买到。Wǒ méi mǎidào. I didn't buy it.
• 这里 很 难 买到 进口 食品。Zhèlǐ hěn nán mǎidào jìnkǒu shípǐn. It's hard to buy imported good here.

学 vs. 学到

• 我 想 学 中文。Wǒ xiǎng xué Zhōngwén. I want to learn Chinese.
• 我们 今天 学 了 “恭喜发财”。Wǒmen jīntiān xué le “gōngxǐ fācái”. Today we learned "kung hei fat choy."
• 在 这个 公司 工作，我 学到 了 很 多 东西。Zài zhège gōngsī gōngzuò, wǒ xuédào le hěn duō dōngxi. Working for this company, I learned a lot of things.

拿 vs. 拿到

• 你 拿 小包，我 拿 大包。Nǐ ná xiǎo bāo, wǒ ná dà bāo. You take the small bag, I'll take the big bag.
• 今天 去 拿 婚纱，不 知道 能 不 能 拿到。Jīntiān qù ná hūnshā, bù zhīdào néng bu néng nádào.Today I'm going to pick up the wedding dress, not sure if I'll be able to get it or not.
• 他 偷偷 进 了 她 的 房间，拿到 了 他 想要 的 东西。Tā tōutōu jìn le tā de fángjiān, nádào le tā xiǎngyào de dōngxi. He secretly entered her room and got the thing he wanted to take.

想 vs. 想到

• 一定 要 想 一 个办法。Yīdìng yào xiǎng yī gè bànfǎ. You have to think of a method.
• 你 想到 了 什么好办法？Nǐ xiǎngdào le shénme hǎo bànfǎ?Have you thought of any good methods yet?
• 我们 都 没 想到 他 会 这么 说。Wǒmen dōu méi xiǎngdào tā huì zhème shuō.None of us thought that he would say it like that.

看 vs. 看到

• 我 在 看 一些 老 照片。Wǒ zài kàn yīxiē lǎo zhàopiàn. I'm looking at some old photos.
• 看到 这 张 照片，我 想到 了 我 的 女儿。Kàndào zhè zhāng zhàopiàn, wǒ xiǎngdào le wǒ de nǚ'ér. After seeing this photo, I thought of my daughter.
• 我 看到 他 了，在 那里！Wǒ kàndào tā le, zài nàlǐ! I see him, over there!

追 vs. 追到

• 怎么 追 女孩子？Zěnme zhuī nǚ háizi? How do you chase girls?
• 那 个 女孩子，你 追到了吗？Nàge nǚháizi, nǐ zhuīdào le ma? That girl, did you catch her yet?
• 如果 你 追到她了，我 就 请 你 喝酒。Rúguǒ nǐ zhuīdào tā le, wǒ jiù qǐng nǐ hējiǔ. If you can really catch her, I'll treat you to a drink.

了解 vs. 了解到

• 我 不 太 了解 这个 人。Wǒ bù tài liǎojiě zhège rén. I don't really understand this person.
• 我们 刚刚 了解到 一些 新 的 信息。Wǒmen gānggāng liǎojiědào yīxiē xīn de xìnxī. We just understood the new information.
• 从 他 那里，我 了解到 了 这个 女人 很 多 事。Cóng tā nàlǐ, wǒ liǎojiědào le zhège nǚrén hěn duō shì. From him, I understood a lot of things regarding this girl.

联系 vs. 联系到

• 我们 怎么 联系？Wǒmen zěnme liánxì? How do we get in contact?
• 我 一直 想 跟 你 联系，但是 一直 没 联系到 你。Wǒ yīzhí xiǎng gēn nǐ liánxì, dànshì yīzhí méi liánxìdào nǐ. I always wanted get in contact with you, but I never could get a hold of you.
• 你 知道 怎么 能 联系到 他吗？Nǐ zhīdào zěnme néng liánxì dào tā ma?Do you know how to get in contact with him?

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