北京机场。Zhāng bùzhǎng chéngzuò de fēijī jiāng zài wǎnshang liù diǎn sān kè dàodá Běijīng
jīchǎng. The airplane Minister Zhang is traveling in will arrive at Beijing Airport at 6:45.
dàodǐ 到底 [v+obj: 到 get to + 底 bottom] ADV 1 in the end, finally ■ 她到底还是找到了理想的丈 夫。
Tā dàodǐ háishì zhǎodàole lǐxiǎng de zhàngfu. Finally she found her ideal husband. 2 after all
(used in a question) ■ 你到底去不去啊？Nǐ dàodǐ qù bu qù a? Are you going or not? ■ 他到底想
要 什么？Tā dàodǐ xiǎng yào shénme? What does he want after all?
dào 倒¹ V 1 put upside down ■ 他把画挂倒了。Tā bǎ huà guà dào le. He hung the picture upside
down. 2 pour (water), make (tea) ■ 她给客人倒了 一杯水。Tā gěi kèrén dàole yì bēi shuǐ. She
gave the visitor a glass of water.
dào 倒² ADV contrary to what may be expected (used before a verb or an adjective to indicate an
unexpected action or state) ■ 弟弟倒比哥哥 高。Dìdi dào bǐ gēge gāo. The younger brother is
unexpectedly taller than his elder brother. ■ 用了 电脑人们倒好象更忙了。Yòngle diànnǎo
rénmen dào hǎoxiàng gèng máng le. With the use of computers people seem to be busier.
dào 盗 N robber, bandit
dàoqiè 盗窃 [comp: 盗 rob + 窃 steal] V steal, embezzle, commit larceny 盗窃犯 dàoqièfàn thief, larcener
dào 道¹ N way, path
dàodé 道德 [modif: 道 the way + 德 virtue] N moral, ethics ■ 赚钱也要讲道德。Zhuànqián yě yào
jiǎng dàodé. When making money you should also pay attention to ethics. 不道德 bú dàodé immoral
■ 这样做是不道德 的。Zhèyàng zuò shì bú dàodé de. Such conduct is immoral.
dàolǐ 道理 [comp: 道 way, principle + 理 pattern, reason] N principle, reason, hows and whys ■ 这 个道
理人人都懂。Zhège dàolǐ rénrén dōu dǒng. Everybody understands this principle. (→ Everybody
understands why this is true/correct.) 讲道理 jiǎng dàolǐ (of a person) reasonable ■ 他这 个人很不讲
道理。Tā zhège rén hěn bù jiǎng dàolǐ. This man is very unreasonable. 有道理 yǒu dàolǐ reasonable,
true ■ 你说的话很 有道理。Nǐ shuō de huà hěn yǒu dàolǐ. What you said is reasonable/true. ■ 他
说得很好听，其实 没有什么道理。Tā shuō de hěn hǎotīng, qíshí méiyǒu shénme dàolǐ. He
mouthed fine words but in fact was not quite right.
NOTE: 道 dào and 理 lǐ are two important concepts in Chinese thought. The original meaning of 道 dào is
path, way. By extension it denotes the fundamental principle of the universe. 理 lǐ originally meant the
grain of a piece of jade and came to mean the underlying logic of things.
dàolù 道路 [comp: 道 way + 路 road] N road, path ■ 盖房子以前，先要修道路。Gài fángzi yǐqián,
xiān yào xiū dàolù. Before putting up houses, roads must be built. ■ 车辆把前面的道路堵住 了。
Chēliàng bǎ qiánmiàn de dàolù dǔzhù le. Traffic has blocked the road ahead.
dào 道² V same as 说 shuō, used only in old-fashioned writing
dàoqiàn 道歉 [v+obj: 道 say + 歉 apology] V & n apologize, say sorry; apology ■ 你应该向他们道 歉。
Nǐ yīnggāi xiàng tāmen dàoqiàn. You should apologize to them.
dào 道³ MEASURE WORD 1 (for things in the shape of a line) 一道光线 yí dào guāngxiàn a ray of sunshine 2 (for
questions in school exercises, examinations, etc.) 两道难题 liǎng dào nántí two difficult questions
dào 稻 N rice, paddy
dàogǔ 稻谷 N seeds of rice with husk on
dé 得 V get, obtain ■ 她去年英文考试得了A。Tā qùnián Yīngwén kǎoshì déle A. She got A for the
English examination last year.
dé bù cháng shī 得不偿失 IDIOM the loss outweighing the gain, not worth power and shot
dédào 得到 V succeed in getting/obtaining ■ 他 得到一个去中国学汉语的机会。Tā dédào yí ge qù
Zhōngguó xué Hànyǔ de jīhuì. He got a chance to go to China to study Chinese. ■ 我得到他们很
大帮助。Wǒ dédào tāmen hěn dà bāngzhù. I was greatly helped by them.
NOTE: The verb 得 dé is seldom used alone. It is often followed by 到 dào, grammatically a complement,