Indicating Results with '到' — Mandarin Grammar

In Chinese, many action verbs only describe the process of doing something, not the result. To indicate that an action has been completed successfully or has achieved its goal, you must add a "result complement" after the verb.

One of the most common result complements is (dàoㄉㄠˋtao4). Its literal meaning is "to arrive" or "to reach." When attached to an action verb, it signals that the action has "reached" a successful conclusion.

Verbs of Perception

In English, there are distinct words for the effort (look, listen) and the result (see, hear). In Chinese, these are formed by adding (dàoㄉㄠˋtao4) to the action verb.

(kànㄎㄢˋk'an4) means "to look." Adding (dàoㄉㄠˋtao4) creates (kàn·dàoㄎㄢˋ·ㄉㄠˋk'an4·tao4), which means "to see."
(tīngㄊㄧㄥt'ing1) means "to listen." Adding (dàoㄉㄠˋtao4) creates (tīng·dàoㄊㄧㄥ·ㄉㄠˋt'ing1·tao4), which means "to hear."

Without (dàoㄉㄠˋtao4), you are only saying that you looked or listened, not that you actually perceived anything.

我看到他了.
wǒ kàn·dào tā le.ㄨㄛˇ ㄎㄢˋ·ㄉㄠˋ ㄊㄚ ˙ㄌㄜ.wo3 k'an4·tao4 t'a1 lê.
I saw him.
你听到那个声音了吗?
nǐ tīng·dào nà·ge shēng·yīn le ma?ㄋㄧˇ ㄊㄧㄥ·ㄉㄠˋ ㄋㄚˋ·˙ㄍㄜㄕㄥ·ㄧㄣ ˙ㄌㄜ ˙ㄇㄚ?ni3 t'ing1·tao4 na4·ko shêng1·yin1 lê ma?
Did you hear that sound?

Achieving a Goal

Beyond the senses, (dàoㄉㄠˋtao4) is used with verbs involving searching or acquiring to show that the object was successfully obtained.

(zhǎoㄓㄠˇchao3) means "to look for." (zhǎo·dàoㄓㄠˇ·ㄉㄠˋchao3·tao4) means "to find."
(mǎiㄇㄞˇmai3) means "to buy" (the action of purchasing). (mǎi·dàoㄇㄞˇ·ㄉㄠˋmai3·tao4) implies you successfully bought something that might have been hard to get (like tickets or a limited item).
(shōuㄕㄡshou1) means "to collect." (shōu·dàoㄕㄡ·ㄉㄠˋshou1·tao4) means "to receive."

我找到我的手机了.
wǒ zhǎo·dào wǒ de shǒu·jī le.ㄨㄛˇ ㄓㄠˇ·ㄉㄠˋ ㄨㄛˇ ˙ㄉㄜㄕㄡˇ·ㄐㄧ ˙ㄌㄜ.wo3 chao3·tao4 wo3 tê shou3·chi1 lê.
I found my mobile phone.
我收到你的邮件了.
wǒ shōu·dào nǐ de yóu·jiàn le.ㄨㄛˇ ㄕㄡ·ㄉㄠˋ ㄋㄧˇ ˙ㄉㄜㄧㄡˊ·ㄐㄧㄢˋ ˙ㄌㄜ.wo3 shou1·tao4 ni3 tê yu2·chien4 lê.
I received your email.

Negative Forms

To say that a result was not achieved (e.g., "I looked but didn't see" or "I didn't find it"), you place (méiㄇㄟˊmei2) or (méi·yǒuㄇㄟˊ·ㄧㄡˇmei2·yu3) before the main verb.

Note that you still keep (dàoㄉㄠˋtao4) in the sentence to indicate what result you failed to reach.

我没看到他在哪里.
wǒ méi kàn·dào tā zài nǎ·lǐ.ㄨㄛˇ ㄇㄟˊ ㄎㄢˋ·ㄉㄠˋ ㄊㄚㄗㄞˋ ㄋㄚˇ·ㄌㄧˇ.wo3 mei2 k'an4·tao4 t'a1 tsai4 na3·li3.
I didn't see where he is.
我没买到票.
wǒ méi mǎi·dào piào.ㄨㄛˇ ㄇㄟˊ ㄇㄞˇ·ㄉㄠˋ ㄆㄧㄠˋ.wo3 mei2 mai3·tao4 p'iao4.
I didn't manage to buy a ticket (e.g., they were sold out).

Placement of Objects

When using a verb + (dàoㄉㄠˋtao4), the object of the sentence comes immediately after (dàoㄉㄠˋtao4). If you are using the particle (le˙ㄌㄜlê) to mark a completed action, it also comes after (dàoㄉㄠˋtao4).

Structure: Subject + Verb + (dàoㄉㄠˋtao4) + ( (le˙ㄌㄜlê)) + Object

我们学到了很多东西.
wǒ·men xué·dào le hěn duō dōng·xi.ㄨㄛˇ·˙ㄇㄣㄒㄩㄝˊ·ㄉㄠˋ ˙ㄌㄜㄏㄣˇ ㄉㄨㄛㄉㄨㄥ·˙ㄒㄧ.wo3·mên shüeh2·tao4 lê hên3 to1 tung1·shi.
We learned (successfully acquired knowledge of) a lot of things.

In the course

Sentences from Lingora’s Mandarin course

15 of the course's 500 sentences use this, the first in lesson 18. A few of them, with the words “Indicating Results with '到'” is about in bold:

你是第一个注意到的人!
nǐ shì dì yī gè zhù·yì dào de rén!ㄋㄧˇ ㄕˋ ㄉㄧˋ ㄧㄍㄜˋ ㄓㄨˋ·ㄧˋ ㄉㄠˋ ˙ㄉㄜㄖㄣˊ!ni3 shih4 ti4 yi1 ko4 chu4·yi4 tao4 tê jên2!
You are the first person to notice!
Lesson 337

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