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到家 (dào jiā) — to arrive home; to get home; (figurative) to reach a very high level; to be perfect or consummate (of skill, craftsmanship)

Definition

到家 literally means 'arrive home', but in figurative use it praises a skill as reaching the highest possible level — 'perfect, consummate' (e.g. 功夫到家).

verb
to arrive hometo get home(figurative) to reach a very high levelto be perfect or consummate (of skill, craftsmanship)

Examples

  • 到家。
    Wǒ dào jiā de shí hou tiān yǐ jīng hēi le.
    By the time I got home, it was already dark.
  • 。
    Wǒ men dào le jiā zài liáo.
    We'll chat after we get home.
  • 到家。
    Tā de gōng fu yǐ jīng liàn dào jiā le.
    His kung fu has reached perfection.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

到dàoarrive
家jiāhome

到 means arrive and 家 means home, together get home.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
至至zhìto arrive
Sound part声符shēngfú
刀
刀dāo到dào
Same sound today

到 combines 至, meaning 'to arrive', with 刀 as the sound part. The 至 part points to the idea of reaching a stopping point.

Open 到 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
宀宀miánroof
Sound part声符shēngfú
𢑓
𢑓𢑓家jiā
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The early drawing of 家 showed a roof 宀 over a male-pig sign 𢑓 that gave the pronunciation; the lower part later changed shape.

Open 家 →
Appears in
Daily RoutineHome & Housing

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