Difference between revisions of "Result complements "-dao" and "-jian""

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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.
 
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.
  
== Verb with 到 (dào) and 见 (jiàn) ==
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== Verbs with 到 (dào) and 见 (jiàn) ==
  
 
=== Structure ===
 
=== Structure ===
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</div>
 
</div>
  
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 your head in a particular direction and focusing your eyes, whereas 看到 (kàndào)," to see," is the result of your brain taking in the visual input. It may sound a little hokey, but it really is possible to "look but not see," and Chinese makes a clear distinction between the action and the result.
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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 your head in a particular direction and focusing your eyes, whereas 看到 (kàndào), "to see," is the result of your brain taking in the visual input. It may sound a little hokey, but it really is possible to "look but not see," and Chinese makes a clear distinction between the action and the result.
  
 
The complement 见 (jiàn) is very similar to 到 (dào), and it is used in the same way:
 
The complement 见 (jiàn) is very similar to 到 (dào), and it is used in the same way:
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<div class="liju">
 
<div class="liju">
  
* 你 <strong>看</strong> <em>见</em> 那 个 帅哥 了 吗 ? <span class="pinyin">Nǐ <strong>kàn</strong><em>jiàn</em> nàge shuàigē le ma?</span> <span class="trans">Did you see that handsome guy?</span>
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* 你 <strong>看</strong> <em>见</em> 那 个 帅哥 了 吗 ? <span class="pinyin">Nǐ <strong>kàn</strong><em>jiàn</em> nàge shuàigē le ma?</span>
* 你 <strong>看</strong><em>到</em> 那 个 帅哥 了 吗 ? <span class="pinyin">Nǐ <strong>kàn</strong><em>dào</em> nàge shuàigē le ma?</span> <span class="trans">Did you see that handsome guy?</span>
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* 你 <strong>看</strong><em>到</em> 那 个 帅哥 了 吗 ? <span class="pinyin">Nǐ <strong>kàn</strong><em>dào</em> nàge shuàigē le ma?</span><span class="trans">Did you see that handsome guy?</span>
  
 
</div>
 
</div>
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<div class="liju">
 
<div class="liju">
  
* 我 <strong>看</strong> <em>见</em> 了 。 <span class="expl">We didn't say what "I" saw; you have to infer it from the context.</span><span class="pinyin">Wǒ <strong>kàn</strong><em>jiàn</em> le.</span> <span class="trans">I saw him.</span>
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* 我 <strong>看</strong> <em>见</em> 了 。 <span class="expl">We didn't say what "I" saw; you have to infer it from the context.</span><span class="pinyin">Wǒ <strong>kàn</strong><em>jiàn</em> le.</span>  
* 我 <strong>看</strong> <em>到</em> 了 。 <span class="pinyin">Wǒ <strong>kàn</strong><em>dào</em> le.</span> <span class="trans">I saw him.</span>
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* 我 <strong>看</strong> <em>到</em> 了 。 <span class="pinyin">Wǒ <strong>kàn</strong><em>dào</em> le.</span><span class="trans">I saw it.</span>
  
 
</div>
 
</div>
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<div class="liju">
 
<div class="liju">
  
* 你 <strong>听</strong> <em>见</em> 了 吗 ? <span class="pinyin">Nǐ <strong>tīng</strong><em>jiàn</em> le ma?</span> <span class="trans">Did you hear it?</span>
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* 你 <strong>听</strong> <em>见</em> 了 吗 ? <span class="pinyin">Nǐ <strong>tīng</strong><em>jiàn</em> le ma?</span>
* 你 <strong>听</strong> <em>到</em> 了 吗 ? <span class="pinyin">Nǐ <strong>tīng</strong><em>dào</em> le ma?</span> <span class="trans">Did you hear it?</span>
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* 你 <strong>听</strong> <em>到</em> 了 吗 ? <span class="pinyin">Nǐ <strong>tīng</strong><em>dào</em> le ma?</span><span class="trans">Did you hear it?</span>
  
 
</div>
 
</div>
  
== Negative Form ==
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== Negative Forms ==
  
 
=== Structure ===
 
=== Structure ===
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</div>
 
</div>
  
This structure can be negated using 没 (méi).
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This structure can be negated using 没 (méi) on 没有 (méiyǒu). This is because if there is a result, then it already happened. And you need to [[Negation of "you" with "mei"|use 没 (méi) to negate past events]], not 不 (bù).
  
 
=== Examples ===
 
=== Examples ===
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<div class="liju">
 
<div class="liju">
  
* 你 <strong>没</strong> 看 <em>到</em> 那 个 帅哥 吗 ? <span class="pinyin">Nǐ <strong>méi</strong> kàn<em>dào</em> nàge shuàigē ma?</span> <span class="trans">You didn't see that handsome guy?</span>
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* 你 <strong>没</strong> 看 <em>到</em> 那 个 帅哥 吗 ? <span class="pinyin">Nǐ <strong>méi</strong> kàn<em>dào</em> nàge shuàigē ma?</span>
* 你 <strong>没</strong> 看 <em>见</em> 那 个 帅哥 吗 ? <span class="pinyin">Nǐ <strong>méi</strong> kàn<em>jiàn</em> nàge shuàigē ma?</span> <span class="trans">You didn't see that handsome guy?</span>
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* 你 <strong>没</strong> 看 <em>见</em> 那 个 帅哥 吗 ? <span class="pinyin">Nǐ <strong>méi</strong> kàn<em>jiàn</em> nàge shuàigē ma?</span><span class="trans">You didn't see that handsome guy?</span>
  
 
</div>
 
</div>
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<div class="liju">
 
<div class="liju">
  
* 我 <strong>没有</strong> 看 <em>到</em> 。 <span class="pinyin">Wǒ <strong>méiyǒu</strong> kàn<em>dào</em>.</span> <span class="trans">I didn't see him.</span>
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* 我 <strong>没有</strong> 看 <em>到</em> 。 <span class="pinyin">Wǒ <strong>méiyǒu</strong> kàn<em>dào</em>.</span>
* 我 <strong>没有</strong> 看 <em>见</em> 。 <span class="expl">We didn't say what "I" didn't see; you have to infer it from the context.</span><span class="pinyin">Wǒ <strong>méiyǒu</strong> kàn<em>jiàn</em>.</span> <span class="trans">I didn't see him.</span>
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* 我 <strong>没有</strong> 看 <em>见</em> 。 <span class="expl">We didn't say what "I" didn't see; you have to infer it from the context.</span><span class="pinyin">Wǒ <strong>méiyǒu</strong> kàn<em>jiàn</em>.</span><span class="trans">I didn't see it.</span>
  
 
</div>
 
</div>
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<div class="liju">
 
<div class="liju">
  
* 你 <strong>没</strong> 听 <em>到</em> 吗 ? <span class="pinyin">Nǐ <strong>méi</strong> tīng<em>dào</em> ma?</span> <span class="trans">You didn't hear it?</span>
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* 你 <strong>没</strong> 听 <em>到</em> 吗 ? <span class="pinyin">Nǐ <strong>méi</strong> tīng<em>dào</em> ma?</span>
* 你 <strong>没</strong> 听 <em>见</em> 吗 ?  <span class="pinyin">Nǐ <strong>méi</strong> tīng<em>jiàn</em> ma?</span> <span class="trans">You didn't hear it?</span>
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* 你 <strong>没</strong> 听 <em>见</em> 吗 ?  <span class="pinyin">Nǐ <strong>méi</strong> tīng<em>jiàn</em> ma?</span><span class="trans">You didn't hear it?</span>
  
 
</div>
 
</div>
  
 
[[Category:A2 grammar points]]
 
[[Category:A2 grammar points]]
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{{HSK|HSK2}}{{2021-HSK|HSK2}}
 
[[Category:Result complement]]
 
[[Category:Result complement]]
  
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=== Books ===
 
=== Books ===
  
* [[Short-term Spoken Chinese: Threshold Vol. 2 (汉语口语入门篇下)]] (p. 92) [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/7561913656/ref%3das_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=allset-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399369&creativeASIN=7561913656 →buy]
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{{Source|Short-term Spoken Chinese: Threshold Vol. 2 (汉语口语入门篇下)|92}}
* [[Basic Patterns of Chinese Grammar]] (p. 109) [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1933330899/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=allset-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399373&creativeASIN=1933330899 →buy]
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{{Source|Basic Patterns of Chinese Grammar|109}}
*[[40 Lessons for Basic Chinese Course (基础汉语40课上册)]] (pp. 205-6)[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001FTL8D8/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001FTL8D8&linkCode=as2&tag=allset-20 →buy]
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{{Source|40 Lessons for Basic Chinese Course (基础汉语40课上册)|205-6}}
  
{{Basic Grammar|到|A2|Verb + 到 / 见|听 <em>到</em> 了 吗?|grammar point|ASGWNGEP}}
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{{Basic Grammar|到|A2|Verb + 到 / 见|听 <em>到</em> 了 吗 ?|grammar point|ASGWNGEP}}
 
{{Rel char|见}}
 
{{Rel char|见}}
 
{{Similar|Further Uses of Resultative Complement "qilai"}}
 
{{Similar|Further Uses of Resultative Complement "qilai"}}
 
{{Similar|"-wan" result complement}}
 
{{Similar|"-wan" result complement}}
 
{{Similar|Result complement "-qilai"}}
 
{{Similar|Result complement "-qilai"}}
{{Similar|Result complement "-cuo"}}
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{{Similar|Result complement}}
 
{{Similar|Tricky uses of "dao"}}
 
{{Similar|Tricky uses of "dao"}}
 
{{Used for|Expressing result}}
 
{{Used for|Expressing result}}
 
{{Structure|Complements}}
 
{{Structure|Complements}}
 
{{Subprop|Result complement}}
 
{{Subprop|Result complement}}

Latest revision as of 08:57, 21 April 2021

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.

Verbs with 到 (dào) and 见 (jiàn)

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):

Subj. + Verb + 到 + Obj.

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 your head in a particular direction and focusing your eyes, whereas 看到 (kàndào), "to see," is the result of your brain taking in the visual input. It may sound a little hokey, but it really is possible to "look but not see," and Chinese makes a clear distinction between the action and the result.

The complement 见 (jiàn) is very similar to 到 (dào), and it is used in the same way:

Subj. + Verb + 见 + Obj.

However, there is a difference. 见 (jiàn) is generally only used after verbs involving one of the senses, 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 later.

Examples

  • 那 个 帅哥 了 吗 ? kànjiàn nàge shuàigē le ma?
  • 那 个 帅哥 了 吗 ? kàndào nàge shuàigē le ma?Did you see that handsome guy?
  • 了 。 We didn't say what "I" saw; you have to infer it from the context.kànjiàn le.
  • 了 。 kàndào le.I saw it.
  • 了 吗 ? tīngjiàn le ma?
  • 了 吗 ? tīngdào le ma?Did you hear it?

Negative Forms

Structure

Subj. + 没 + Verb + 到 / 见 + Obj.

This structure can be negated using 没 (méi) on 没有 (méiyǒu). This is because if there is a result, then it already happened. And you need to use 没 (méi) to negate past events, not 不 (bù).

Examples

  • 那 个 帅哥 吗 ? méi kàndào nàge shuàigē ma?
  • 那 个 帅哥 吗 ? méi kànjiàn nàge shuàigē ma?You didn't see that handsome guy?
  • 没有méiyǒu kàndào.
  • 没有We didn't say what "I" didn't see; you have to infer it from the context.méiyǒu kànjiàn.I didn't see it.
  • 吗 ? méi tīngdào ma?
  • 吗 ? méi tīngjiàn ma?You didn't hear it?

See also

Sources and further reading

Books