到 and 着

[yum_esup]

Would anyone be kind enough to give me examples of these characters used with other verbs? And when they're used, is it already set what to use them with or can you add them to just anything freely? I hope they're set, less thinking for me .

I've seen 碰到 and 看到.

If you say 看到了, that's like saying I Saw it, or I Did see it, while 看过了 means I've seen it Before, right?　

I know 睡着 means to fall asleep, so does it mean you .. are like sleeping Now or.. at whatever time period the sentence is in.

Also 着 can be said as zhe too... ?

I also think thinking about this too hard will only ruin me and I should find a list of the most commonly used (or the set ones) and just memorize. haha

If there's already a thread on this, please tell me, because I couldn't find it with the search engine.

[YuehanHao]

Some examples for 到 and 着：

来到 - arrive (in the sense of coming)

去到 - arrive (in sense of going)

得到 - to get

买到 - to buy

找到 - to find

听到 - to hear

认识到 - to recognize

找着 - to find

点着 - to light

In all of these examples, 到 and 着 are resultative endings for the main verbs, indicating the success or completion of the action. Usually certain resultative endings go with certain verbs, but there is some flexibility, such as with 找, or with 看见 or 听见 as opposed to using 到. (Note there are a lot more resultative suffixes than these two 到 and 着, allowing different meanings when paired with main verbs, such as 吃饱 or 喝完) The main verb should also be an activity verb. I was recently teased by my mainlander wife for saying 懂到 (although she later allowed one of her friends from Hong Kong also had spoken that way before).

睡着 does mean fall asleep. To say someone is sleeping now, then something like 在睡觉 can be used.

So 着 is also used to show durative and progressive actions, and is pronounced 'zhe' for this usage.

他在开着车。 He is driving a car.

他们看着电视吃东西。They are watching TV while they are eating.

约翰好