ChineseGrammarWiki/ancien/Chinese-Grammar-Wiki/MD/B1.old/Grammar-wiki-B1-99.txt.html

<p>You probably learned the <a href="result_complement" title="wikilink">result complement</a> 到 a long time ago, as part of words like 看到 (&quot;to see&quot;) and 听到 (&quot;to hear&quot;). 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.</p>
<h2 id="the-difference-到-makes">The difference 到 makes</h2>
<p>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 can have the effect of making a verb mean &quot;try to <em>verb</em>.&quot; So 做 without 到 is kind of like &quot;try to do,&quot; but when you want to make it very clear that results <em>were achieved</em> or <em>must be achieved</em>, that's when you want to add 到.</p>
<p>Let's look at another example. The difference between 找 and 找到 is that 找 means &quot;to search&quot; (in other words, &quot;to <em>try</em> to find&quot;), whereas 找到 means &quot;to <em>find</em>,&quot; that the search was successful, and results were achieved. So if one were to say &quot;你一定要找,&quot; it would mean &quot;you must try to find it&quot; and &quot;你一定要找到&quot; means &quot;you must <em>find</em> it.&quot;</p>
<h2 id="illustrative-examples">Illustrative Examples</h2>
<h3 id="做-vs.-做到">做 vs. 做到</h3>
<div class="liju">
<ul>
<li>我 还 没有 做。<span class="pinyin">Wǒ hái méiyǒu zuò.</span><span class="trans"> I haven‘t done it.</span></li>
<li>我 下 个 星期 可以 做。<span class="pinyin">Wǒ xià gè xīngqī kěyǐ zuò.</span><span class="trans"> I can do it next week.</span></li>
<li>我 相信 你 一定 能 做<em>到</em>。<span class="pinyin">Wǒ xiāngxìn nǐ yīdìng néng zuò<em>dào</em>.</span><span class="trans"> I believe you will be able to do it.</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3 id="买-vs.-买到">买 vs. 买到</h3>
<div class="liju">
<ul>
<li>我 还 没有 买。<span class="pinyin">Wǒ hái méiyǒu mǎi.</span><span class="trans"> I haven't bought it yet.</span></li>
<li>我 没 买<em>到</em>。<span class="pinyin">Wǒ méi mǎi<em>dào</em>.</span><span class="trans"> I didn't buy it.</span></li>
<li>这里 很 难 买<em>到</em> 进口 食品。<span class="pinyin">Zhèlǐ hěn nán mǎi<em>dào</em> jìnkǒu shípǐn.</span><span class="trans"> It's hard to buy imported good here.</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3 id="学-vs.-学到">学 vs. 学到</h3>
<div class="liju">
<ul>
<li>我 想 学 中文。<span class="pinyin">Wǒ xiǎng xué Zhōngwén.</span><span class="trans"> I want to learn Chinese.</span></li>
<li>我们 今天 学 了 “恭喜发财”。<span class="pinyin">Wǒmen jīntiān xué le “gōngxǐ fācái”.</span><span class="trans"> Today we learned &quot;kung hei fat choy.&quot; </span></li>
<li>在 这个 公司 工作，我 学<em>到</em> 了 很 多 东西。<span class="pinyin">Zài zhège gōngsī gōngzuò, wǒ xué<em>dào</em> le hěn duō dōngxi.</span><span class="trans"> Working for this company, I learned a lot of things.</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3 id="拿-vs.-拿到">拿 vs. 拿到</h3>
<div class="liju">
<ul>
<li>你 拿 小包，我 拿 大包。<span class="pinyin">Nǐ ná xiǎo bāo, wǒ ná dà bāo.</span><span class="trans"> You take the small bag, I'll take the big bag.</span></li>
<li>今天 去 拿 婚纱，不 知道 能 不 能 拿<em>到</em>。<span class="pinyin">Jīntiān qù ná hūnshā, bù zhīdào néng bu néng ná<em>dào</em>.</span><span class="trans">Today I'm going to pick up the wedding dress, not sure if I'll be able to get it or not.</span></li>
<li>他 偷偷 进 了 她 的 房间，拿<em>到</em> 了 他 想要 的 东西。<span class="pinyin">Tā tōutōu jìn le tā de fángjiān, ná<em>dào</em> le tā xiǎngyào de dōngxi.</span><span class="trans"> He secretly entered her room and got the thing he wanted to take.</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3 id="想-vs.-想到">想 vs. 想到</h3>
<div class="liju">
<ul>
<li>一定 要 想 一 个办法。<span class="pinyin">Yīdìng yào xiǎng yī gè bànfǎ.</span><span class="trans"> You have to think of a method.</span></li>
<li>你 想<em>到</em> 了 什么好办法？<span class="pinyin">Nǐ xiǎng<em>dào</em> le shénme hǎo bànfǎ?</span><span class="trans">Have you thought of any good methods yet? </span></li>
<li>我们 都 没 想<em>到</em> 他 会 这么 说。<span class="pinyin">Wǒmen dōu méi xiǎng<em>dào</em> tā huì zhème shuō.</span><span class="trans">None of us thought that he would say it like that.</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3 id="看-vs.-看到">看 vs. 看到</h3>
<div class="liju">
<ul>
<li>我 在 看 一些 老 照片。<span class="pinyin">Wǒ zài kàn yīxiē lǎo zhàopiàn.</span><span class="trans"> I'm looking at some old photos.</span></li>
<li>看<em>到</em> 这 张 照片，我 想<em>到</em> 了 我 的 女儿。<span class="pinyin">Kàn<em>dào</em> zhè zhāng zhàopiàn, wǒ xiǎng<em>dào</em> le wǒ de nǚ'ér.</span><span class="trans"> After seeing this photo, I thought of my daughter.</span></li>
<li>我 看<em>到</em> 他 了，在 那里！<span class="pinyin">Wǒ kàn<em>dào</em> tā le, zài nàlǐ!</span><span class="trans"> I see him, over there! </span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3 id="追-vs.-追到">追 vs. 追到</h3>
<div class="liju">
<ul>
<li>怎么 追 女孩子？<span class="pinyin">Zěnme zhuī nǚ háizi?</span><span class="trans"> How do you chase girls? </span></li>
<li>那 个 女孩子，你 追<em>到</em>了吗？<span class="pinyin">Nàge nǚháizi, nǐ zhuī<em>dào</em> le ma?</span><span class="trans"> That girl, did you catch her yet? </span></li>
<li>如果 你 追<em>到</em>她了，我 就 请 你 喝酒。<span class="pinyin">Rúguǒ nǐ zhuī<em>dào</em> tā le, wǒ jiù qǐng nǐ hējiǔ.</span><span class="trans"> If you can really catch her, I'll treat you to a drink.</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3 id="了解-vs.-了解到">了解 vs. 了解到</h3>
<div class="liju">
<ul>
<li>我 不 太 了解 这个 人。<span class="pinyin">Wǒ bù tài liǎojiě zhège rén.</span><span class="trans"> I don't really understand this person.</span></li>
<li>我们 刚刚 了解<em>到</em> 一些 新 的 信息。<span class="pinyin">Wǒmen gānggāng liǎojiě<em>dào</em> yīxiē xīn de xìnxī.</span><span class="trans"> We just understood the new information.</span></li>
<li>从 他 那里，我 了解<em>到</em> 了 这个 女人 很 多 事。<span class="pinyin">Cóng tā nàlǐ, wǒ liǎojiě<em>dào</em> le zhège nǚrén hěn duō shì.</span><span class="trans"> From him, I understood a lot of things regarding this girl.</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3 id="联系-vs.-联系到">联系 vs. 联系到</h3>
<div class="liju">
<ul>
<li>我们 怎么 联系？<span class="pinyin">Wǒmen zěnme liánxì?</span><span class="trans"> How do we get in contact? </span></li>
<li>我 一直 想 跟 你 联系，但是 一直 没 联系<em>到</em> 你。<span class="pinyin">Wǒ yīzhí xiǎng gēn nǐ liánxì, dànshì yīzhí méi liánxì<em>dào</em> nǐ.</span><span class="trans"> I always wanted get in contact with you, but I never could get a hold of you.</span></li>
<li>你 知道 怎么 能 联系<em>到</em> 他吗？<span class="pinyin">Nǐ zhīdào zěnme néng liánxì<em>dào</em> tā ma?</span><span class="trans">Do you know how to get in contact with him? </span></li>
</ul>
</div>





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