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

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* 一定要想一个办法。
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* 一定要想一个办法。<span class="trans"> You have to think of a method. </span>
* 你想到什么好办法了?
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* 你想到什么好办法了?<span class="trans"> Have you thought of any good methods yet? </span>
* 我们都没想到他会这么说。
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* 我们都没想到他会这么说。<span class="trans"> We all didn't think that he would say it like that. </span>
 
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Revision as of 07:35, 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。 I haven‘t done it.
  • 我下个星期可以做。 I can do it next week.
  • 我相信你一定能做到。 I believe you will be able to do it.

买 vs. 买到

  • 我还没有买。 I haven't bought it yet.
  • 我没买到。 I didn't buy it.
  • 这里很难买到进口食品。 It's hard to buy imported good here.

学 vs. 学到

  • 我想学中文。 I want to learn Chinese.
  • 我们今天学了“恭喜发财”。 Today we learned "kung hei fat choy."
  • 在这个公司工作,我学到了很多东西。 Working for this company, I learned a lot of things.

拿 vs. 拿到

  • 你拿小包,我拿大包。 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。 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。 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。 You have to think of a method.
  • 你想到什么好办法了? Have you thought of any good methods yet?
  • 我们都没想到他会这么说。 We all didn't think that he would say it like that.

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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