<p>Before you provide more context, I would say this could be perfectly understood by people except that it might not sound that natural.</p>

<p>Depending on the context, you would prefer to say:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>我刚到</p>
</blockquote>

<p>or </p>

<blockquote>
  <p>我到了</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-05-23T06:34:15.980Z
Dunno. My southwestern friends put "ne" after just about every present-tense sentence, and "le" after ever past-tense sentence. One calls it a "go" word (as in: every sentence needs a word at the end to "go" ). Sure it's redundant, but bejeezus, just about all modern written Chinese has redundancy, given that one character words would often suffice where dual-character words are used today.
Mark Gerolimatos
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-01-09T21:50:49.500Z
How about sentences like 他到了没有？， 你看到了没有,？他什么时候到了? etc. These all sound natural to me? Is it only in the context of "刚到" that using 了 sounds unnatural? If so why?
going
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-01-09T23:31:23.937Z
@xiaohouzi79 I guess it has to do with 刚，which in this case means just (arrived). On the other hand, 了 indicates have arrived (complete tense). So I believe you are right, 刚 makes it unnatural. By the way, 他什么时候到了? sounds unnatural to my ears.
Terry Li
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-01-09T23:45:23.550Z
For 他什么时候到了 how about if an old friend has been in the country for a couple of months and you only just heard about it and you want to ask when they arrived? I thought it should be 他什么时候到悉尼？ _When will she be arriving in Sydney_ and 他什么时候到悉尼了？ _When did she arrive in Sydney?_ Can this second sentence be shortened to 他什么时候到了? when used in context? Or can you suggest a better alternative I should use? Thanks!
going
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-01-10T00:35:54.953Z
@xiaohouzi79 You should say 他什么时候到的悉尼 instead. In other words, replace 了 with 的.
Terry Li
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-01-09T21:25:31.787Z
2012-01-09T21:25:31.787Z
Terry Li
<p>我刚到了 is perfectly understandable in oral communication. Your teacher probably thinks this is verbose because:</p>

<p>刚 = just</p>

<p>了 = already</p>

<p>我刚到了 = I just arrived already</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-01-09T23:08:28.357Z
2012-01-09T23:08:28.357Z
HK Bboy
<p>I have been taught that the sentence 我刚到了 (wǒ gāng dào le) is not correct because 了 cannot be used as a complement of 到. Is this right? If so, why?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-01-09T20:02:25.567Z
Hello ncasas, I removed the "strong" tags because characters this way are thinner and therefore, ironically, more visible. :)
Alenanno
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-01-09T21:22:21.307Z
Can you provide some context, e.g., the conversation setting?
Terry Li
<word-choice><grammar><usage>
Why can't 了 be used to complement 到?
# Why can't 了 be used to complement 到?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2012-01-09)

I have been taught that the sentence 我刚到了 (wǒ gāng dào le) is not correct because 了 cannot be used as a complement of 到. Is this right? If so, why?

**Tags:** word-choice, grammar, usage

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Hello ncasas, I removed the "strong" tags because characters this way are thinner and therefore, ironically, more visible. :)  
> **username_2**: Can you provide some context, e.g., the conversation setting?  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_5 on 2012-01-09. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

我刚到了 is perfectly understandable in oral communication. Your teacher probably thinks this is verbose because:

刚 = just

了 = already

我刚到了 = I just arrived already


---

### Answer by username_2 on 2012-01-09. Score: 1

Before you provide more context, I would say this could be perfectly understood by people except that it might not sound that natural.

Depending on the context, you would prefer to say:

> 我刚到

or

> 我到了

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: How about sentences like 他到了没有？， 你看到了没有,？他什么时候到了? etc. These all sound natural to me? Is it only in the context of "刚到" that using 了 sounds unnatural? If so why?  
> **username_2**: @xiaohouzi79 I guess it has to do with 刚，which in this case means just (arrived). On the other hand, 了 indicates have arrived (complete tense). So I believe you are right, 刚 makes it unnatural. By the way, 他什么时候到了? sounds unnatural to my ears.  
> **username_4**: For 他什么时候到了 how about if an old friend has been in the country for a couple of months and you only just heard about it and you want to ask when they arrived? I thought it should be 他什么时候到悉尼？ _When will she be arriving in Sydney_ and 他什么时候到悉尼了？ _When did she arrive in Sydney?_ Can this second sentence be shortened to 他什么时候到了? when used in context? Or can you suggest a better alternative I should use? Thanks!  
> **username_2**: @xiaohouzi79 You should say 他什么时候到的悉尼 instead. In other words, replace 了 with 的.  
> **username_3**: Dunno. My southwestern friends put "ne" after just about every present-tense sentence, and "le" after ever past-tense sentence. One calls it a "go" word (as in: every sentence needs a word at the end to "go" ). Sure it's redundant, but bejeezus, just about all modern written Chinese has redundancy, given that one character words would often suffice where dual-character words are used today.  

---

