▎到, dào, (Prep), Destination Marker (1)

 

Function The preposition 到 indicates the destination of a movement.

1 他這個週末到臺灣來。

Tā zhè ge zhōumò dào Táiwān lái.

He is coming to Taiwan this weekend.

2 老師明天到臺北來。我們要和他一起吃晚飯。

Lǎoshī míngtiān dào Táiběi lái. Wǒmen yào hàn tā yìqǐ chī wǎnfàn.

The teacher is coming to Taipei tomorrow. We are having dinner with him.

3 想吃牛肉麵嗎？明天我們可以到那家店去。

Xiǎng chī niúròu miàn ma? Míngtiān wǒmen kěyǐ dào nà jiā diàn qù.

Would you like to have beef noodles? We can go to that shop tomorrow.

4 我可以教你中文，明天到我家來吧！

Wǒ kěyǐ jiāo nǐ Zhōngwén, míngtiān dào wǒ jiā lái ba!

I can teach you Chinese. Go ahead and come to my house tomorrow.

 

Structures

Negation：Negation is always done by placing a negator in front of a preposition, not the main verb.

1 王先生明天不到臺北來。

Wáng xiānshēng míngtiān bú dào Táiběi lái.

Mr. Wang is not coming to Taipei tomorrow.

2 那家的越南菜不好吃。他們不到那家餐廳去。

Nà jiā de Yuènán cài bù hǎochī. Tāmen bú dào nà jiā cāntīng qù.

That shop’s Vietnamese food doesn’t taste good. They don’t go to that restaurant.

3 他晚上去看電影，不到我家來，你呢？

Tā wǎnshàng qù kàn diànyǐng, bú dào wǒ jiā lái, nǐ ne?

He is going to go to a movie tonight and will not be coming to my house. How about you?

Questions：到 can be used to form A-not-A questions, as in the case of a certain number of Preps, e.g., 在zài, 替tì, 給gěi, 跟gēn.

1 你妹妹到不到臺灣來？

Nǐ mèimei dào bú dào Táiwān lái?

Is your younger sister coming to Taiwan?

2 他們到不到我家來？

Tāmen dào bú dào wǒ jiā lái?

Are they coming to my house?

3 你明天到不到學校來？

Nǐ míngtiān dào bú dào xuéxiào lái?

Are you coming to school tomorrow?

 

Usage 到 can also be a main verb in a sentence, similar to 來lái ‘come’ or 去qù ‘go’. In Taiwan, 到 is mostly used as a verb, e.g.,

1 這麼多家餐廳，我們要到哪一家？

Zhème duō jiā cāntīng, wǒmen yào dào nǎ yì jiā?

There are so many restaurants. Which one should we go?

2 他們明天晚上要到王老師家。你想去嗎？

Tāmen míngtiān wǎnshàng yào dào Wáng lǎoshī jiā. Nǐ xiǎng qù ma?

They are going to teacher Wang’s house tomorrow evening. Would you like to go?

3 歡迎你到我家。

Huānyíng nǐ dào wǒ jiā.

Welcome to my home.