▎到, dào, (Prep), Destination Marker for Movement Verbs (2)

 

Function The preposition 到 marks a destination, following a movement. As a result of the action performed, an item has been moved to a location marked by 到.

1 他在踢足球，踢著踢著就踢到學校外面了。

Tā zài tī zúqiú, tīzhe tīzhe jiù tī dào xuéxiào wàimiàn le.

He was playing soccer and ended up kicking the soccer ball outside the school grounds.

2 他上星期從台北騎機車騎到花蓮。

Tā shàng xīngqí cóng Táiběi qí jīchē qí dào Huālián.

Last week he rode his scooter from Taipei to Hualien.

3 這個蛋糕，我打算拿到學校請同學吃。

Zhè ge dàngāo, wǒ dǎsuàn ná dào xuéxiào qǐng tóngxué chī.

I plan to take this cake to the school to share it with my classmates.

 

Structures

Negation：The entire preposition phrase (PP) follows the main movement verb, which can be negated.

1 我在師大下車，沒搭到臺北火車站。

Wǒ zài Shīdà xiàchē, méi dā dào Táiběi huǒchē zhàn.

I got off the bus at NTNU. I did not ride as far as the Taipei Station.

2 張老師跟他太太決定不搬到西班牙了。

Zhāng lǎoshī gēn tā tàitai juédìng bù bān dào Xībānyá le.

Teacher Zhang and his wife decided against moving to Spain.

3 我太累了，沒走到故宮，就回家了。

Wǒ tài lèi le, méi zǒu dào Gùgōng, jiù huíjiā le.

I was too tired. I went home before I got to the Palace Museum.

Questions：

1 我的書，妳明天會拿到學校給我嗎？

Wǒ de shū, nǐ míngtiān huì ná dào xuéxiào gěi wǒ ma?

Will you give me my book back at school tomorrow?

2 那個電腦，你送到他家去了沒有？

Nà ge diànnǎo, nǐ sòng dào tā jiā qù le méi yǒu?

Did you take that computer to his home?

3 本子和筆，你是不是都放到背包裡了？

Běnzi hàn bǐ, nǐ shìbúshì dōu fàng dào bēibāo lǐ le?

Did you put the notebooks and pens into the backpack?

 

Usage

(1) Another PP, ‘從＋noun’, can be added before the verb to indicate the starting point.

1 他從家裡走到學校，需要三十分鐘的時間。

Tā cóng jiā lǐ zǒu dào xuéxiào, xūyào sānshí fēnzhōng de shíjiān.

It takes 30 minutes for him to walk from his home to the school.

2 放假的時候，我從台北開車開到台南，真的太累了。

Fàngjià de shíhòu, wǒ cóng Táiběi kāi chē kāi dào Táinán, zhēn de tài lèi le.

During the holidays, I drove from Taipei to Tainan. It was really tiring.

(2) The ‘到 PP’ can be placed either before or after the verb, with distinct meanings. Compare the following examples.

1 他到火車站搭高鐵。

Tā dào huǒchē zhàn dā gāotiě.

He went to the train station to take the high speed train.

2 他搭巴士搭到火車站附近。

Tā dā bāshì dā dào huǒchē zhàn fùjìn.

He took the bus to somewhere near the train station.

(3) Either 來lái or 去qù can be added after the location. 來 indicates a movement towards the speaker, whereas 去 indicates a movement away from the speaker.

1 球踢到公園裡去了。還好沒踢到人。

Qiú tī dào gōngyuán lǐ qù le. Háihǎo méi tī dào rén.

The ball was kicked (from here) into the park over there. Good thing it didn’t hit anyone.

2 球踢到公園裡來了。

Qiú tī dào gōngyuán lǐ lái le.

The ball was kicked here into the park (from there).