▎到, dào, (Prep), Post-verbal Preposition, up to, till (3)

 

Function When a verb is followed by the preposition 到, 到 marks the spatial or temporal end point, the terminal point.

1 中國人過年要一直過到一月十五號。

Zhōngguó rén guònián yào yìzhí guò dào yīyuè shíwǔhào.

The Chinese celebrate the Lunar New Year all the way to the 15th of the first lunar month.

2 我們吃年夜飯，吃到晚上快十二點。

Wǒmen chī niányèfàn, chī dào wǎnshàng kuài shí’èrdiǎn.

We eat New Year’s Eve dinner until almost midnight.

3 這學期的課上到下星期五。

Zhè xuéqí de kè shàng dào xià xīngqíwǔ.

Classes for this semester will be held until next Friday.

4 他們想走到火車站。

Tāmen xiǎng zǒu dào huǒchē zhàn.

They want to walk to the train station.

5 他們爬到屋頂上。

Tāmen pá dào wūdǐng shàng.

They climbed to the roof.

 

Structures

Negation：

1 老師今天上課，沒上到五點就下課了。

Lǎoshī jīntiān shàngkè, méi shàng dào wǔdiǎn jiù xiàkè le.

Our teacher ended the class before 5 p.m. today.

2 小張沒做到月底，就決定不上班了。

Xiǎo Zhāng méi zuò dào yuèdǐ, jiù juédìng bú shàngbān le.

Xiao Zhang decided to quit his job without finishing out the month.

3 那家店的水果還沒賣到中午，就已經賣光了。

Nà jiā diàn de shuǐguǒ hái méi mài dào zhōngwǔ, jiù yǐjīng màiguāng le.

It wasn’t even evening and the fruit in that store were already sold out.

Questions：

1 星期六你都睡到幾點才起床？

Xīngqíliù nǐ dōu shuì dào jǐ diǎn cái qǐchuáng?

What time do you sleep until on Saturdays? (i.e., What time do you finally get up at on Saturdays?)

2 這本書是不是可以借到下個月五號？

Zhè běn shū shìbúshì kěyǐ jiè dào xià ge yuè wǔhào?

This book can be checked out until the 5th of next month, right?

3 作業，你昨天寫到什麼時候才寫完？

Zuòyè, nǐ zuótiān xiě dào shénme shíhòu cái xiěwán?

Until what time did you work on your homework yesterday?

 

Usage A 從cóng phrase can be added to this pattern to indicate the originating point.

1 中國人過年，要從除夕過到一月十五。

Zhōngguó rén guònián, yào cóng chúxì guò dào yīyuè shíwǔ.

Chinese people celebrate the lunar new year from New Year’s Eve to the 15th of the first month of the lunar year.

2 他們包水餃，從下午包到晚上才包完。

Tāmen bāo shuǐjiǎo, cóng xiàwǔ bāo dào wǎnshàng cái bāowán.

They wrapped the dumplings starting from afternoon and did not finish until evening.