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到底

On earth / after all; finally

HSK 4HSK 3.0 · 4

S + 到底 + question (question word / A不A) | 到底 + 谁/什么… | 到底 + V了 (finally)

到底 in questions shows impatience to get a final answer, 'on earth': 你到底去不去？. A 到底 question must use a question word or A不A form, NEVER 吗 (*你到底去吗). If the subject is a question word, 到底 precedes it: 到底谁说得对？. 到底 can also mean 'finally (after effort)' (他到底成功了) and 'after all' (他到底是个孩子), close to 终于 and 毕竟.

HSK 4–5 listening (impatience) and gap fills.

Examples

  • 你到底去不去？

    Are you going or not?

  • 这到底是怎么回事？

    What on earth is going on?

  • 到底谁说的是真的？

    Who on earth is telling the truth?

  • 经过多次实验，他到底成功了。

    After many experiments, he finally succeeded.

Exercises

  1. 1.你 想吃什么？快点儿决定吧。

  2. 2.Choose the correct sentence:

  3. 3. 谁拿了我的书？

  4. 4.这件事 是怎么回事？

More grammar points