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LEARN + CHINESE / 93 of 300 HSK 3

Find It, Bring It In, Understand It例 · 我找了半天

“Did you find the keys?” “Yes—on the way in.” A complement can tell you whether an action reached its goal, where something moved, or whether the result was possible. 到 marks a result, 进来 brings movement toward the speaker, and 得/不 before a complement gives the action a green light or blocks it.

我找了半天，终于在抽屉里找到护照了。
wǒ zhǎo le bàntiān, zhōngyú zài chōuti lǐ zhǎodào hùzhào le.
I searched for ages and finally found the passport in the drawer.
外面很冷，快把门关上吧。
wàimiàn hěn lěng, kuài bǎ mén guān shàng ba.
It’s cold outside, so please close the door.
医生刚进来，请你先坐下等一会儿。
yīshēng gāng jìnlái, qǐng nǐ xiān zuò xià děng yíhuìr.
The doctor just came in; please sit down and wait a moment.
这里太吵，我听不清你说什么。
zhèlǐ tài chǎo, wǒ tīng bu qīng nǐ shuō shénme.
It’s too noisy here; I can’t hear what you’re saying clearly.
Hint · 힌트
到 shows that the action reaches its result: 找到. A compound direction such as 进来 shows movement relative to the speaker. In 听不清, 不 says that the result 清楚 cannot be reached.

Vocabulary

ChineseEnglish
zhǎodào
to find
zhǎo
to look for
bàntiān
a long while
zhōngyú
finally
chōuti
drawer
hùzhào
passport
wàimiàn
outside
guān shàng
to close
mén
door
yīshēng
doctor
jìnlái
to come in
zuò xià
to sit down
děng yíhuìr
to wait a moment
tài chǎo
too noisy
tīng bu qīng
cannot hear clearly
shuō
to say
chūlái
to come out
ná chūlái
to take out
huíqù
to go back
kàn de dǒng
can understand by looking

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