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ChineseGrammarWiki


			
				
					
						
						
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<p>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.</p>
<h2 id="verbs-with-到-dào-and-见-jiàn">Verbs with 到 (dào) and 见
(jiàn)</h2>
<h3 id="structure">Structure</h3>
<p><a href="Result_complement" title="wikilink">Result
complements</a> 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):</p>
<div class="jiegou">
<p>Subj. + Verb + 到 + Obj.</p>
</div>
<p>What 到 (dào) does is indicate that the outcome of the verb is
achieved - what its <em>result</em> 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.</p>
<p>The complement 见 (jiàn) is very similar to 到 (dào), and it is
used in the same way:</p>
<div class="jiegou">
<p>Subj. + Verb + 见 + Obj.</p>
</div>
<p>However, there is a difference. 见 (jiàn) is generally
<em>only</em> 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 <a href=
"Tricky_uses_of_&quot;dao&quot;" title="wikilink">at a higher level
later</a>.</p>
<h3 id="examples">Examples</h3>
<div class="liju">
<ul>
<li>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></li>
<li>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></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="liju">
<ul>
<li>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></li>
<li>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></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="liju">
<ul>
<li>你 <strong>听</strong> <em>见</em> 了 吗 ？ <span class="pinyin">Nǐ
<strong>tīng</strong><em>jiàn</em> le ma?</span></li>
<li>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></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h2 id="negative-forms">Negative Forms</h2>
<h3 id="structure-1">Structure</h3>
<div class="jiegou">
<p>Subj. + 没 + Verb + 到 / 见 + Obj.</p>
</div>
<p>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 <a href="Negation_of_&quot;you&quot;_with_&quot;mei&quot;"
title="wikilink">use 没 (méi) to negate past events</a>, not 不
(bù).</p>
<h3 id="examples-1">Examples</h3>
<div class="liju">
<ul>
<li>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></li>
<li>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></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="liju">
<ul>
<li>我 <strong>没有</strong> 看 <em>到</em> 。 <span class="pinyin">Wǒ
<strong>méiyǒu</strong> kàn<em>dào</em>.</span></li>
<li>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></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="liju">
<ul>
<li>你 <strong>没</strong> 听 <em>到</em> 吗 ？ <span class="pinyin">Nǐ
<strong>méi</strong> tīng<em>dào</em> ma?</span></li>
<li>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></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="Result_complement_&quot;-wan&quot;_for_finishing"
title="wikilink">Result complement "-wan" for finishing</a></li>
<li><a href="Result_complement_&quot;-qilai&quot;" title=
"wikilink">Result complement "-qilai"</a></li>
<li><a href="Result_complement_&quot;-cuo&quot;" title=
"wikilink">Result complement "-cuo"</a></li>
</ul>
<h2 id="sources-and-further-reading">Sources and further
reading</h2>
<h3 id="books">Books</h3>
<ul>
<li><a href=
"Short-term_Spoken_Chinese:_Threshold_Vol._2_(%E6%B1%89%E8%AF%AD%E5%8F%A3%E8%AF%AD%E5%85%A5%E9%97%A8%E7%AF%87%E4%B8%8B)"
title="wikilink">Short-term Spoken Chinese: Threshold Vol. 2
(汉语口语入门篇下)</a> (p. 92) <a href=
"http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/7561913656/ref%3das_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=allset-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=217145&amp;creative=399369&amp;creativeASIN=7561913656">
→buy</a></li>
<li><a href="Basic_Patterns_of_Chinese_Grammar" title=
"wikilink">Basic Patterns of Chinese Grammar</a> (p. 109) <a href=
"http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1933330899/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=allset-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=217145&amp;creative=399373&amp;creativeASIN=1933330899">
→buy</a></li>
<li><a href=
"40_Lessons_for_Basic_Chinese_Course_(%E5%9F%BA%E7%A1%80%E6%B1%89%E8%AF%AD40%E8%AF%BE%E4%B8%8A%E5%86%8C%EF%BC%89"
title="wikilink">40 Lessons for Basic Chinese Course
(基础汉语40课上册）</a> (pp. 205-6)<a href=
"http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001FTL8D8/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=B001FTL8D8&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=allset-20">→buy</a></li>
</ul>
<p><a href="Category:A2_grammar_points" title=
"wikilink">Category:A2 grammar points</a> <a href=
"Category:Result_complement" title="wikilink">Category:Result
complement</a></p>
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