děng dào
wait until; by the time
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我等到他回来才睡觉。
wǒ děng dào tā huí lái cái shuì jiào.
I waited until he came back before going to bed.
我们等到天黑才出发。
wǒ men děng dào tiān hēi cái chū fā.
We waited until dark before setting off.
他等到她同意才求婚。
tā děng dào tā tóng yì cái qiú hūn.
He waited until she agreed before proposing.
等待 (děng dài)
wait
直到 (zhì dào)
until
先到 (xiān dào)
arrive first
早到 (zǎo dào)
arrive early
The Chinese word 等到 (děngdào) is composed of two characters: 等 (děng) and 到 (dào). The character 等 originally meant "to wait" or "to expect", and it is often used in the sense of "to wait for someone or something to arrive". The character 到 originally meant "to arrive" or "to reach", and it is often used in the sense of "to come to a place or a point in time". When these two characters are combined, they form the word 等到, which means "to wait until" or "to wait for something to happen". For example, the sentence 我等到他来了才出门 (wǒ děngdào tā lái le cái chūmén) means "I waited until he came before I went out".
