"Where do we go for dinner?"
Translation:我们到哪儿吃晚饭？
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So is this literally "we to where eat dinner?"? So far I only know 到 from the "from ... to" construction.
1625
The ' 到 ' character also appeared in a previous lesson for getting directions. My understanding is that it also means "to go to" or "to get to". In the 从..到 construction, it's like saying from 7 and going to 9.
https://www.duolingo.com/skill/zs/Location-3/tips https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/25275082
https://chinese.yabla.com/chinese-english-pinyin-dictionary.php?define=%E5%88%B0
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In my Chinese class, we learned 到 as "arrive." I find this often helps understanding, though it is usually awkward in a literal translation.
What happen if instead of 到 we use 去, will it sounds weird ? is it incorrect? Is there any reason you should use it or because of the region?
If you are going to a place to do something else, you can first use 到 (dào) to indicate where you're going, then add another verb after that. This has the meaning of "going to the place to do something," and it's one case where the "arrive" translation doesn't really work anymore.
Subj. + 到 + Place + Verb Phrase
Examples 明天 我 要 到 南京 路 买 衣服。 Míngtiān wǒ yào dào Nánjīng Lù mǎi yīfu. Tomorrow I'll go to Nanjing Road to buy clothes.
我们在哪儿吃晚饭？Not literally "go for dinner" but should be a perfectly acceptable translation
Hmmm. Years ago I was taught the way to say "to go to" (someplace) was "to (someplace) go". E.g. 你到哪儿去? = "To where are you going?", i.e. in regular English "where are you going?".
But I tried several sentences about going to places using Google translate, and they all came back with just ”去” functioning by itself as ”go to”, rather than as the "go" element in a "to .. somewhere... go" ("到 ... somewhere... 去") construction.
I use Google translate and reverse the translation to be sure it means what I think it means. However Google translate has limitations for teaching language. Look for the community tick next to translation to have more confidence in the translation given. It really works on frequency of requests to translate and usually gives the simplest and not necessarily most accurate translation
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The zai is used to describe a place and isn't generally used as a verb. So it would translate more closely to 'where are we eating' (or literally we are where eat dinner) rather than 'where are we going to eat'. I don't agree with using dao and was taught to use qu instead.
In English, "Where do we go for dinner?" and "Where do we eat dinner" have pretty much the same sense.
吃完饭 chīwán fàn means 'finish eating'. You want 吃晚饭 chī wǎnfàn 'eat dinner'.
Even though "go" does not appear in the given sentence, the translation either with or without 去 before 吃晚饭 is correct.
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The verb for "to go" is 到.
https://chinese.yabla.com/chinese-english-pinyin-dictionary.php?define=%E5%88%B0
I think part of the confusion is that 到 (dao) functions like a verb in some contexts, like this one, and in others, like a preposition (the "from .... to..." construction we learned such as "from 6 to 10"). As a native speaker of English, I'm not aware of English words that function this way, so we'll probably have to learn them as exceptions (remembering the word 到 works in a unique way in Chinese). It's difficult and irregular enough that it should have been taught separately, though, with at least a note in the lesson.
回 literally means "return" or "come back". You don't "return" to where you're from when you're looking for a place to have dinner, you "go out" of your place to look for somewhere to eat
You just need a verb between subject and location. Could be 在 （at, in), 去（go), 到 (arrive). 都可以！
Oh I see, then that would mean "Where do we go/arrive for dinner?"
But without the 到 it would still make sense and mean:
"Where do we eat dinner?"
Is that right?
Yes but then you would still need 在, you can’t just say ”我们哪儿吃晚饭”。I think the difference between those verbs is subtle and it’s more to do with Chinese speaking habits rather than a literal word by word translation.
