Mike Posted December 24, 2006 at 07:40 PM Report Share Posted December 24, 2006 at 07:40 PM I’ve been saying - 很高兴见到你 - but I realise I don’t know what 到 means! Rather than ‘arrive’, is it used here to mean that something difficult has been done? Thanks for your help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdavid Posted December 25, 2006 at 12:41 AM Report Share Posted December 25, 2006 at 12:41 AM I'm far from being an expert, but I think I'm right when saying that dao4, with some verbs, can also be used to express that a action has been completed. For example, Wo3 ting1dao4 le. (I heard.) Wo3 kan4bu2dao4 le. (I didn't see.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xiaohua Posted December 25, 2006 at 07:02 AM Report Share Posted December 25, 2006 at 07:02 AM I also thought that you can just say Dao4, after you have completed something. Like if you were doing a job, and you finished, you just say dao4le. You don't always have to make a sentence. I hope I'm right on this. Gao su wo. Wo shi dui ma?!=? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
semantic nuance Posted December 25, 2006 at 07:26 AM Report Share Posted December 25, 2006 at 07:26 AM Though I'm a native speaker of Chinese, I've never learned Chinese Grammar. I'll try to explain the sense, but mind you, it's never grammatical. It's just my native sense of the character. When 到 follows the verbs, it kind of suggests 'to reach some point, to some extent'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Altair Posted December 27, 2006 at 04:06 PM Report Share Posted December 27, 2006 at 04:06 PM Could it also be that 到 expresses that the object (i.e., 你) is special or is a special goal, as if saying: "I am happy to have come so far as to meet you."? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted December 29, 2006 at 03:01 PM Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2006 at 03:01 PM Thanks everyone. Found there examples: the train has arrived at the station - huo3che1 dao4 le zhan4 火车到了站 and: I ate Peking Duck - wo3 chi1 le Bei3jing1 kao3ya1》 我吃了北京栲鸭 I managed to eat Peking Duck (difficult because lots of people waiting to eat the same thing) - wo3 chi1 dao4 le Bei3jing1 kao3ya1》 我吃到了北京栲鸭 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koneko Posted December 29, 2006 at 04:50 PM Report Share Posted December 29, 2006 at 04:50 PM 我吃到了北京栲[sic]鸭 Should be 烤 (Note with a "fire" radical) Both 我吃到了北京烤鸭 and 我吃到北京烤鸭了 are grammatically correct. But I think the latter is more commonly used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted December 29, 2006 at 06:50 PM Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2006 at 06:50 PM Woops - Thanks Koneko - mixing up my 栲 mangroves with my roast 烤. Of course it must be fire 火 for roast Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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