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Mythic Mandarin

到底 (dào dǐ): meaning and stroke order

到底 (dào dǐ) means finally, in the end, when all is said and done, after all, to the end, to the last.

到底

Simplified
到底
Traditional
到底 (same form)
Pinyin
dào dǐ

Stroke order of 到底

到

  • dào to reach; to arrive; to leave for; to go to
  • 8 strokes

Stroke by stroke

底

  • de (equivalent to 的 as possessive particle)
  • dǐ bottom; base; background; foundation
  • 8 strokes

Stroke by stroke

Meaning of 到底

  1. dào dǐ
    • finally
    • in the end
    • when all is said and done
    • after all
    • to the end
    • to the last

Radicals of the characters

到
Radical 刀 (Kangxi radical 18) · 8 strokes · 至 on the left, 刂 on the right
底
Radical 广 (Kangxi radical 53) · 8 strokes · built from 广 and 氐

Radicals and stroke counts: Unicode Unihan database. Structure: the shapes a character is written with (BabelStone IDS), not necessarily parts that carry meaning or sound.

到底 in our stories

Preview version — Chinese review in progress.

  • 星期天晚上，他决定留在图书馆里，看看到底是谁。

    xīngqītiān wǎnshang tā juédìng liú zài túshūguǎn lǐ kànkan dàodǐ shì shéi

    On Sunday evening he decided to stay in the library and find out who it was.

    From the story Flowers in the book return HSK 5

  • 窗外是纽约灯火辉煌的夜景，他第一次认真地问自己：为了走到今天，我到底丢掉了什么？

    chuāngwài shì Niǔyuē dēnghuǒ huīhuáng de yèjǐng tā dì-yī cì rènzhēn de wèn zìjǐ wèile zǒu dào jīntiān wǒ dàodǐ diūdiào le shénme

    Outside the window New York blazed with light, and for the first time he seriously asked himself: to get here, what exactly did I throw away?

    From the story The day he rang the bell HSK 7–9 · Level 7

  • 两千年来，人们一直在讨论这场辩论到底谁赢了。有人说惠子更讲道理，也有人说庄子看到了逻辑看不到的东西。

    liǎngqiān nián lái rénmen yìzhí zài tǎolùn zhè chǎng biànlùn dàodǐ shéi yíng le yǒu rén shuō Huìzǐ gèng jiǎng dàoli yě yǒu rén shuō Zhuāngzǐ kàndào le luójí kàn bú dào de dōngxi

    For two thousand years people have argued about who really won. Some say Huizi was more rational; others say Zhuangzi saw what logic cannot.

    From the story The happiness of fish HSK 7–9 · Level 8

Stories using 到底

Dictionary data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Stroke data: Hanzi Writer data, derived from Make Me a Hanzi (Arphic Public License). Animation: Hanzi Writer (MIT licence). Radicals and stroke counts: Unicode Unihan (Unicode License v3).