Difference between revisions of "Tricky uses of "dao""

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==The difference 到 makes==
 
==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 kind of makes many verbs mean "try and V."  So 做 without 到 is kind of like "try and 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.
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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 kind of makes many verbs mean "try and ''verb''."  So 做 without 到 is kind of like "try and 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.
  
 
==Illustrative examples==
 
==Illustrative examples==

Revision as of 06:55, 5 December 2014

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.

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 kind of makes many verbs mean "try and verb." So 做 without 到 is kind of like "try and 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.

Illustrative examples

做 vs. 做到

  • 我还没有做。
  • 我下个星期可以做。
  • 我相信你一定能做到。

买 vs. 买到

  • 我还没有买。
  • 我没买到。
  • 这里很难买到进口食品。

学 vs. 学到

  • 我想学中文。
  • 我们今天学了“恭喜发财”。
  • 在这个公司工作,我学到了很多东西。

拿 vs. 拿到

  • 你拿小包,我拿大包。
  • 今天去拿婚纱,不知道能不能拿到。
  • 他偷偷进了她的房间,拿到了他想要的东西。

想 vs. 想到

  • 一定要想一个办法。
  • 你想到什么好办法了?
  • 我们都没想到他会这么说。

看 vs. 看到

  • 我在看一些老照片。
  • 看到这张照片,我想到了我的女儿。
  • 我看到他了,在那里!

追 vs. 追到

  • 怎么追女孩子?
  • 那个女孩子,你追到了吗?
  • 如果你追到她了,我就请你喝酒。

了解 vs. 了解到

  • 我不太了解这个人。
  • 我们刚刚了解到一些新的信息。
  • 从他那里,我了解到了这个女人很多事。

联系 vs. 联系到

  • 我们怎么联系?
  • 我一直想跟你联系,但是一直没联系到你。
  • 你怎么才能联系到他吗?
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