看到 (kàn dào) — to see (successfully), to catch sight of, to no… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

看到 emphasizes the successful completion of seeing — you actually caught sight of it, unlike 看见 which is more neutral.

verb

to see (successfully)to catch sight ofto notice

Examples

看到。
Wǒ gāng cái zài jiē shàng kàn dào tā le.
I saw him on the street just now.
看到？
Nǐ kàn dào nà ge guǎng gào le ma?
Did you see that advertisement?
看到。
Cóng shān dǐng shàng kě yǐ kàn dào zhěng gè chéng shì.
From the mountaintop you can see the whole city.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

看 (look) and 到 (reach) combine to mean the look reaches its target.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

手手shǒuhand
目目mùeye

The shape 看 puts 手 (hand) over 目 (eye), showing a hand placed above the eyes to gaze into the distance.

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.

Appears in

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