到 (dào): to reach, to arrive, to leave for, to go to, to (a place), until (a time), up to (a point)
到 (dào) is a Chinese character meaning “to reach.” Classified as HSK Level 1 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 至 (semantic) and 刂 (phonetic). It ranks #22 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 到 arrive. Its radical form 刂 (knife) appears in many related characters such as 分 (fēn, to divide), 别 (bié, to leave), 前 (qián, front).
Definitions
- to reach
- to arrive
- to leave for
- to go to
- to (a place)
- until (a time)
- up to (a point)
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 到 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 到
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 得到verb | dé dào | to get | 3 |
| 到底adverb | dào dǐ | finally | 4 |
| 感到verb | gǎn dào | to feel | 3 |
| 直到verb | zhí dào | until | 3 |
| 收到verb | shōu dào | to receive | 3 |
| 遇到verb | yù dào | to meet | 3 |
| 到处adverb | dào chù | everywhere | 3 |
| 受到verb | shòu dào | to receive (praise, an education, punishment etc) | 3 |
| 迟到verb | chí dào | to arrive late | 3 |
| 到达verb | dào dá | to reach | 5 |
| 提到verb | tí dào | to mention | 4 |
| 达到verb | dá dào | to reach | 4 |
| 到来verb | dào lái | to arrive | 4 |
| 遭到verb | zāo dào | to suffer | 6 |
| 等到preposition | děng dào | to wait until | 4 |
| 报到verb | bào dào | to report for duty | 5 |
| 周到adjective | zhōu dào | thoughtful | 6 |
| 到期verb | dào qī | to fall due (loan etc) | 5 |
| 起到verb | qǐ dào | (in an expression of the form 起到 + … + 作用) to have (a (motivating etc) effect) | 4 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 看到verb | kàn dào | to see |
| 找到 | zhǎo dào | to find |
| 见到verb | jiàn dào | to see |
| 听到 | tīng dào | to hear |
| 想到verb | xiǎng dào | to think of |
| 回到verb | huí dào | to return to |
| 做到 | zuò dào | to accomplish |
| 来到verb | lái dào | to arrive |
| 接到verb | jiē dào | to receive (letter etc) |
| 碰到verb | pèng dào | to come across |
| 不到verb | bù dào | not to arrive |
| 赶到verb | gǎn dào | to hurry (to some place) |
| 到此为止phrase | dào cǐ wéi zhǐ | to stop at this point |
| 想不到adverb | xiǎng bu dào | unexpected |
| 料到verb | liào dào | to foresee |
到 appears in 105 compound words: 29 as the first character, 60 as the last, and 11 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 到 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (18)
from start to finish; from beginning to end; from A to Z; from first to last; all the way through
to achieve something without effort; effortless; something which comes naturally
Showing 12 of 18 idioms containing 到.
Example Sentences
到达目的地时，已经是晚上十点了，大家都感到有些疲惫。
Dàodá mùdìdì shí, yǐjīng shì wǎnshang shí diǎn le, dàjiā dōu gǎndào yǒuxiē píbèi.
When we arrived at our destination, it was already ten o'clock in the evening, and everyone felt somewhat tired.
(新春走基层)从塔里木河到钱塘江:一颗“石榴籽”的..
xīn chūn zǒu jī céng cóng tǎ lǐ mù hé dào qián táng jiāng yī kē shí 榴 籽 de . .
(Chinese New Year) From Tarim River to Qiantang River: A "Pomegranate Seed" of...
一路走来,到了春节!上海静安祝您龙马精神、马到成功....
yī lù zǒu lái , dào le chūn jié ! shǎng hǎi jìng ān zhù nín lóng mǎ jīng shén mǎ dào chéng gōng . . . .
All the way to Chinese New Year! Shanghai Jing'an wishes you the spirit of dragon and horse, horse to success ....
从“舞台秀”到“真干活”,北京卫视春晚机器人从“舞..
cóng wǔ tái xiù dào zhēn gān huó , běi jīng wèi shì chūn wǎn jī qì rén cóng wǔ . .
From "stage show" to "real work", Beijing TV Spring Festival Gala robot from "dance...
新春走基层|最长假期开启:从“赶路”到“享受路”,..
xīn chūn zǒu jī céng zuì cháng jiǎ qī kāi qǐ cóng gǎn lù dào xiǎng shòu lù , . .
Spring Festival Grassroots Report | Longest Holiday Begins: From "Rushing to Destination" to "Savoring the Journey"...
这场新春之约,让更多家庭感受到浓浓暖意
zhè chǎng xīn chūn zhī yāo , ràng gēng duō jiā tíng gǎn shòu dào nóng nóng nuǎn yì
This New Year gathering brought warmth to many families.
你能猜到我有什么吗？
Nǐ néng cāi dào wǒ yǒu shénme ma?
Can you guess what I have?
我们很快就到这儿了，不是吗？
Wǒmen hěn kuài jiù dào zhèr le, bù shì ma?
We arrived here fast, didn't we?
为什么您想到外国读书？
Wèishénme nín xiǎngdào wàiguó dúshū?
Why do you want to study abroad?
你在大学碰到他了？
Nǐ zài dàxué pèngdào tā le?
You met him at the university?
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 至 (arrive) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 到 (dào) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 到 and 来?
How many strokes does 到 have?
What is the radical of 到?
What are the components of 到?
What are common words containing 到?
What characters sound the same as 到 (dào)?
Is 到 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 到 with real-time feedback
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