<p>到。。。。中 quite literally says 'to .... in'</p>

<p>Chinese nearly always has these double-barrelled prepositions, like here, 到。。。中 = in, into</p>

<p>还有一种办法，他可能会[到地址目录中]查找。</p>

<p>人们应该将正确的理论应用[到实践中]。</p>

<p>到事业中去<br>
到打字机中<br>
到空气中</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-05T22:39:28.887Z
2017-11-05T22:39:28.887Z
Pedroski
<p>到...中 in this context could be interpreted as <strong>'get into'</strong>. </p>

<p>他可能会到地址目录中查找?: he might get into the address catalogue to have a search. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-05T12:41:52.360Z
2017-11-05T12:41:52.360Z
dan
<p>A <a href="http://www.jukuu.com/search.php?q=%E5%8A%9E%E6%B3%95" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Jukuu.com</a> example sentence:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>还有一种办法，他可能会到地址目录中查找。<br>
  Alternatively, he could look the address up in a directory.<br>
  <sub>Hái yǒuyī zhǒng bànfǎ, tā kěnéng huì dào dìzhǐ mùlù zhōng cházhǎo.</sub></p>
</blockquote>

<p>Everything here makes sense to me except 到.</p>

<p><strong>Question</strong>: What is 到 doing in the sentence 他可能会到地址目录中查找?</p>

<p>Breaking it down:</p>

<ul>
<li>还有一种<a href="http://dict.cn/%E5%8A%9E%E6%B3%95" rel="nofollow noreferrer">办法</a> = still have one kind of solution</li>
<li>他<a href="http://dict.cn/%E5%8F%AF%E8%83%BD" rel="nofollow noreferrer">可能</a><a href="http://dict.cn/%E4%BC%9A" rel="nofollow noreferrer">会</a> (tā kěnéng huì) = he possibly can ...</li>
<li><a href="http://dict.cn/%E5%88%B0" rel="nofollow noreferrer">到</a> (dào) = to arrive (???)</li>
<li><a href="http://dict.cn/%E5%9C%B0%E5%9D%80" rel="nofollow noreferrer">地址</a><a href="http://dict.cn/%E7%9B%AE%E5%BD%95" rel="nofollow noreferrer">目录</a> (dìzhǐ mùlù) = "address table of contents" likely means "address book"</li>
<li>中 (zhōng) = within</li>
<li><a href="http://dict.cn/%E6%9F%A5%E6%89%BE" rel="nofollow noreferrer">查找</a> (cházhǎo) = to look up</li>
</ul>

<p>It seems possible that I might be breaking this up incorrectly: instead 到地址 go together as "destination address", which is separate from 目录.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-05T15:44:55.063Z
到 is used preverbially as "coverb" (CCG use)：more examples:  您可以到电梯旁的指南上查找。你到哪儿去？他下午到医院看病去。
user6065
<grammar>
What is 到 doing in the sentence 他可能会到地址目录中查找?
# What is 到 doing in the sentence 他可能会到地址目录中查找?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-11-05)

A [Jukuu.com](http://www.jukuu.com/search.php?q=%E5%8A%9E%E6%B3%95) example sentence:

> 还有一种办法，他可能会到地址目录中查找。  
> Alternatively, he could look the address up in a directory.  
> Hái yǒuyī zhǒng bànfǎ, tā kěnéng huì dào dìzhǐ mùlù zhōng cházhǎo.

Everything here makes sense to me except 到.

**Question**: What is 到 doing in the sentence 他可能会到地址目录中查找?

Breaking it down:

* 还有一种[办法](http://dict.cn/%E5%8A%9E%E6%B3%95) = still have one kind of solution
* 他[可能](http://dict.cn/%E5%8F%AF%E8%83%BD)[会](http://dict.cn/%E4%BC%9A) (tā kěnéng huì) = he possibly can ...
* [到](http://dict.cn/%E5%88%B0) (dào) = to arrive (???)
* [地址](http://dict.cn/%E5%9C%B0%E5%9D%80)[目录](http://dict.cn/%E7%9B%AE%E5%BD%95) (dìzhǐ mùlù) = "address table of contents" likely means "address book"
* 中 (zhōng) = within
* [查找](http://dict.cn/%E6%9F%A5%E6%89%BE) (cházhǎo) = to look up

It seems possible that I might be breaking this up incorrectly: instead 到地址 go together as "destination address", which is separate from 目录.

**Tags:** grammar

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: 到 is used preverbially as "coverb" (CCG use)：more examples:  您可以到电梯旁的指南上查找。你到哪儿去？他下午到医院看病去。  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2017-11-05. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

到。。。。中 quite literally says 'to .... in'

Chinese nearly always has these double-barrelled prepositions, like here, 到。。。中 = in, into

还有一种办法，他可能会[到地址目录中]查找。

人们应该将正确的理论应用[到实践中]。

到事业中去  
到打字机中  
到空气中


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### Answer by username_3 on 2017-11-05. Score: 1

到...中 in this context could be interpreted as **'get into'**.

他可能会到地址目录中查找?: he might get into the address catalogue to have a search.


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