B1 · Grammar reference
Expressing "when" with "dengdao"
The word 等到 (děngdào) can trip up learners, because while it can literally mean "to wait until," it also has the less literal translation meaning "when (the time comes)" or "by the time (something happens)." This is a pattern that appears in complex sentences, with 等到 acting as a conjunction and appearing in the first part as the first word in the sentence.
- Keywords
- 等到 · 等 · 到 · 就 · 再 · 才 · when · once · until
- Used for
- Expressing time and date
- Classification
- HSK0
Examples (10)
等到老板知道就麻烦了。
等雨停了我再出门。
等到秋天，这些树叶就会变黄。
等做完这个项目，我就休假。
等到老板签了字，我再做安排。
等我回了家，才发现手机忘在了出租车上。
等到孩子上了小学，她才开始工作。
等学生都安静了，老师才开始上课。
等他有了孩子，才知道做父母多么不容易。
等到他到家了，才发现他没有带钥匙。
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Summary, structure, classification, and adapted sentence examples draw from the AllSet Learning Chinese Grammar Wiki under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0; changes were made. This noncommercial reference is based on an October 2023 snapshot.
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