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>
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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>
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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 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 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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*爸爸 看电视 看 <strong>到</strong> <em>半夜</em> <span class="trans">My dad watched TV until midnight.</span>
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*我们 吃 火锅 吃 <strong></strong> <em>火锅店 关门</em> 。<span class="trans">We ate hotpot until the hotpot place was closed.</span>
 
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*我们 部门 从 八点 就 开始 开会,一直 开 <strong></strong> <em>中午</em> <span class="trans">We had a department meeting from 8am to noon.</span>
== Complements with 给 ==
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*她 给 她 妈妈 打 电话 一直 打 <strong>到</strong> <em>手机 没 电</em> 。<span class="pinyin">Tā gěi tā māma dǎ diànhuà yīzhí dǎ <strong>dào</strong> <em>shǒujī méi diàn</em>.</span><span class="trans">She called her mom until her phone was dead.</span>
 
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*周五 晚上 我 跟 同事 去 KTV ,我们 一直 唱 <strong></strong> <em>第二天 早上 五点</em> 。<span class="pinyin">Zhōuwǔ wǎnshang wǒ gēn tóngshì qù KTV, wǒmen yīzhí chàng <strong>dào</strong> <em>dìèr tiān zǎoshang wǔ diǎn</em>.</span><span class="trans">I went to the KTV Friday evening with my coworker. We sang until 5 o'clock the next morning.</span>
给 (gěi) indicates that you have passed something from one person to another.
 
 
 
=== Examples ===
 
 
 
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* 我 今天 早上 发了 一 封 邮件 <strong></strong> <em></em>。<span class="pinyin">Wǒ jīntiān zǎoshang fā le yī fēng yóujiàn <strong>gěi</strong> <em></em>.</span><span class="trans">I sent an e-mail to you this morning.</span>
 
 
 
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== 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.
 
 
 
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* 请 你 坐 <strong></strong> <em>我 旁边</em>。<span class="pinyin">Qǐng nǐ zuò <strong>zài</strong> <em>wǒ pángbiān</em>.</span><span class="trans">Please come and sit next to me.</span>
 
  
 
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Revision as of 07:54, 20 June 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?
  • 爸爸 看电视 看 半夜My dad watched TV until midnight.
  • 我们 吃 火锅 吃 火锅店 关门We ate hotpot until the hotpot place was closed.
  • 我们 部门 从 八点 就 开始 开会,一直 开 中午We had a department meeting from 8am to noon.
  • 她 给 她 妈妈 打 电话 一直 打 手机 没 电Tā gěi tā māma dǎ diànhuà yīzhí dǎ dào shǒujī méi diàn.She called her mom until her phone was dead.
  • 周五 晚上 我 跟 同事 去 KTV ,我们 一直 唱 第二天 早上 五点Zhōuwǔ wǎnshang wǒ gēn tóngshì qù KTV, wǒmen yīzhí chàng dào dìèr tiān zǎoshang wǔ diǎn.I went to the KTV Friday evening with my coworker. We sang until 5 o'clock the next morning.

See also

Sources and further reading

Books

HSK4