直到 from HSK Level 3 Vocabulary List

The Chinese word 直到 (zhí dào) is a preposition that means "until" or "up to". It is composed of two characters: 直 (zhí), which means "straight" or "direct", and 到 (dào), which means "to arrive" or "to reach". The combination of these two characters suggests the idea of continuing or extending in a straight line until a certain point is reached.Historically, the character 直 (zhí) was originally a pictograph depicting a person standing upright with their arms outstretched. This character was later used to represent the concept of "straight" or "direct". The character 到 (dào) was originally a pictograph depicting a person arriving at a destination. This character was later used to represent the concept of "to arrive" or "to reach".When combined, the characters 直 (zhí) and 到 (dào) form the word 直到 (zhí dào), which means "until" or "up to". This word is used to indicate a point in time or a condition that must be met before something else can happen. For example, the sentence "我一直在等他直到他回来" (wǒ yī zhí zài děng tā zhí dào tā huí lái) means "I kept waiting for him until he came back".The word 直到 (zhí dào) can also be used to indicate a purpose or goal. For example, the sentence "我努力学习直到考上大学" (wǒ nǔ lì xué xí zhí dào kǎo shàng dà xué) means "I studied hard until I got into college".In summary, the Chinese word 直到 (zhí dào) is a preposition that means "until" or "up to". It is composed of two characters: 直 (zhí), which means "straight" or "direct", and 到 (dào), which means "to arrive" or "to reach". The combination of these two characters suggests the idea of continuing or extending in a straight line until a certain point is reached.