39.2 The Verbal Particle 到 / 倒 dou2 (‘to be able to’)
We use the verbal particle 到 dou2 (also written as 倒) to indicate that we are able to complete an action or have completed an action successfully. It functions like to be able to in English (as in I was able to find the subway station).
We put 唔 m4 (‘not’) before 到 dou2 to negate 到 dou2.
We also add 到 dou2 after a verb of perception (見 gin3 ‘to see’, 聽 teng1 ‘to hear’, 聞 man4 ‘to smell’, etc.) to indicate that we are able to perceive something. We put the thing we perceive after 到 dou2.
Notice we don’t add a classifier before 公園 gung1 jyun2 for this meaning.We can also add 到 dou2 when forming yes-no questions with the X-not-X construction.
To answer the questions, we can give a long answer or a short answer. We give a short answer more often. In the short answers, we will keep 到 dou2.
⚠️ The verbal particle 到 dou2 (‘to be able to’) and the verbal particle 到 dou3 (arrival) are different in their tone. We say 到 dou2 with the high rising tone and 到 dou3 with the mid level tone.