Dao

To express movement, we can use the Mandarin Chinese dào 到, which translates as to.

Dào is used with qù 去 to indicate movement to a place – away from the speaker. Dào can also be used with lái 來 to give a reason for coming to a place. Qù and lái are placed after the place word.

The construction of this sentence is:

    SUBJECT dào PLACE qù.

    or

    SUBJECT dào PLACE lái REASON.

Examples of Dao

    Tā dào yóujú qù le.
    He went to the post office.
    (trad) 他到郵局去了｡
    (simp) 他到邮局去了｡

    Tāmen dào gōngsī qù le.
    They went to the office.
    (trad) 他們到公司去了｡
    (simp) 他们到公司去了｡

Dao in Negative Sentences

    Wǒ bù dào tā jiā qù le.
    I didn’t go to her house.
    我不到她家去了｡

    Tā bù dào xuéxiào qù le.
    She didn’t go to school.
    (trad) 她不到學校去了｡
    (simp) 她不到学校去了｡

Dao in Questions

    Nǐmen dào fǎguó qù ma?
    Are you going to France?
    (trad) 你們到法國去嗎?
    (simp) 你们到法国去吗?

    Nǐ dào yínháng qù ma?
    Are you going to the bank?
    (trad) 你到銀行去嗎?
    (simp) 你到银行去吗?

Giving Reasons

    Wǒmen dào gōngyuán lái sànbù.
    We came to the park to take a walk.
    (trad) 我們到公園來散步｡
    (simp) 我们到公园来散步｡

    Tā dào Měiguó lái zuò shēngyi.
    He came to America on business.
    (trad) 他到美國來做生意｡
    (simp) 他到美国来做生意｡

Is Not Coming

    Tā bù dào Táiběi lái le.
    She is not coming to Taipei.
    她不到台北來了｡

    Wǒ bù dào nǐ jiā lái le.
    I am not coming to your house.
    我不到你家來了｡

Why Did You Come?

    Nǐ dào xuéxiào lái zuò shénme?
    Why did you come to school?
    (trad) 妳到學校來做什麼?
    (simp) 妳到学校来做什么?

    Tāmen lái nǐ jiā zuò shénme?
    Why did they come to your house?
    (trad) 他們來你家做什麼?
    (simp) 他们来你家做什么?