到校 (dào jiào) — to arrive at school (for classes or work)

Definition

Compound of 到 ('arrive') + 校 ('school'): 'to arrive at / get to school'. It focuses on physically reaching the school gates or campus, not on attending class — use 到 (HSK 2) for the motion, 校 to specify the place.

verb
to arrive at school (for classes or work)
Easily confused

Examples

  • 到校。
    Xué shēng měi tiān zǎo shàng bā diǎn dào jiào.
    Students arrive at school every morning at eight.
  • 到校，。
    Wǒ jīn tiān dào jiào bǐ jiào wǎn, chí dào le shí fēn zhōng.
    I arrived at school quite late today and was ten minutes late.
  • ？
    Nǐ zuó tiān dào guò xiào ma?
    Did you come to school yesterday?

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
校xiàoschool

到 (arrive) is directed to 校 (school), meaning get to school.

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
木木mùtree
Sound part声符shēngfú
交
交jiāo校jiào
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

校 is built from 木 (tree) on the left and 交 on the right, which supplies the sound.

Open 校 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.