HSK Guide

到 dào — to arrive, to get to

dào (fourth tone, falling)dao4

to arrive, to get to

HSK 2· HSK 1–4 (classic)Level 2· Three-band, nine-level standardverbpreposition
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Meanings

  1. to arrive, to get to

    To reach a place. The destination follows directly — 到学校, 到机场 — and 到了 on its own means "we’re here" or "they’ve arrived".

    verb

  2. to, up to, until (an end point)

    preposition

    Paired with 从 it frames a span in space or time: 从八点到十点, 从家到学校.

Character breakdown

  • 到
    dào (fourth tone, falling)

    to arrive, to reach, to get to; to go to; up to, until; (as a verb complement) successfully

    8 strokes⿰至刂Radical 刀

Example sentences

  • 老师到了吗？老師到了嗎？Lǎoshī (third tone, dipping) dào (fourth tone, falling) le (neutral tone) ma? (neutral tone)···

    Has the teacher arrived?

  • 我从家到公司要一个小时。我從家到公司要一個小時。Wǒ (third tone, dipping) cóng (second tone, rising) jiā (first tone, high and level) dào (fourth tone, falling) gōngsī (first tone, high and level) yào (fourth tone, falling) yí (second tone, rising) ge (neutral tone) xiǎoshí. (third tone, dipping)···

    It takes me an hour to get from home to the office.

Common mistakes

  • Not quite我去到学校。

    Correct我去学校。

    去 already means "go to" and takes its destination directly. 到 is a separate verb of arrival, so stacking the two is redundant.

Similar words

Words containing 到