Meaning
到 is one of the most fundamental verbs in Mandarin, expressing arrival or reaching a destination, goal, or point in time. It can function as a main verb meaning 'to arrive' or as a resultative complement after other verbs to indicate successful completion or arrival at a state.
Usage
As a main verb, 到 typically takes a location object (到北京 'arrive in Beijing'). As a complement, it follows verbs to show successful completion (找到 'find successfully', 看到 'see/catch sight of'). It's also used to express 'until' in time expressions (到明天 'until tomorrow'). This is an extremely high-frequency word used in both spoken and written Chinese.
Examples
- 01我明天早上八点到公司。.I'll arrive at the company at 8 a.m. tomorrow.
- 02他从星期一到星期五都要上班。.He has to work from Monday to Friday.
Common collocations
- 到家to arrive home
- 到处everywhere
- 从...到...... ...from ... to ...
- 看到to see, to catch sight of
Antonyms
Origin
The character 到 combines the knife radical 刂 with 至 (zhì, 'to arrive'). The original meaning related to arriving at a destination, which remains its core meaning today.