HSK 3.0 Level 3 · Time

直到 zhídào “until” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 直到 means

  1. until
  2. up to

How to say 直到

  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale直zhí2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale到dào4th tone, falling

直到 in a sentence

  1. 直到我自己有了孩子我才明白了什么是母爱。

    Zhídào wǒ zìjǐ yǒu le háizi wǒ cái míngbai le shénme shì mǔ'ài.

    It was only when I had a child of my own that I understood what a mother’s love is.

    Sentence #333962 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 你可以保管这个行李直到下午三点吗？

    Nǐ kěyǐ bǎoguǎn zhè ge xíngli zhídào xiàwǔ sān diǎn ma?

    Could you look after this luggage until 3 pm?

    Sentence #5401617 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

  3. 直到今早我才知道了真相。

    Zhídào jīnzǎo wǒ cái zhīdao le zhēnxiàng.

    It wasn’t until this morning that I learnt the truth.

    Sentence #342202 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 直到 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 直 (zhí) with each of its parts in a different colour
直zhístraight
  • 十ten · shí
  • 目eye · mù
  • 一one · yī

Memory aidPicture an eye 目 looking straight down a line: straight.

The character 到 (dào) with each of its parts in a different colour
到dàoto reach; to arrive
  • 至arrive · zhìMeaning part
  • 刂knife form of 刀 · dāoSound part

至 hints at the meaning (arrive); 刂 (dāo) hints at the sound. Compare it with dào.

Memory aidArrive 至 gives the meaning; the knife 刂 (刀 dāo) gives the sound: to arrive.

How to write 直到

直 8 strokes · 到 8 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

直到 (zhídào) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 直到 (zhídào). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 直到

Words with 直

一直yìzhí · always直接zhíjiē · direct (opposite: indirect 间接)直zhí · straight简直jiǎnzhí · simply垂直chuízhí · vertical直径zhíjìng · diameter直播zhíbō · live broadcast理直气壮lǐzhíqìzhuàng · bold and confident (being in the right)

Words with 到

到dào · to迟到chídào · arrive late遇到yùdào · to meet想到xiǎngdào · to think of感到gǎndào · to feel见到jiàndào · to see做到zuòdào · to accomplish得到dédào · to get收到shōudào · to receive受到shòudào · to receive (praise

More words: Time & Dates

时shí · o’clock小时候xiǎoshíhou · in one’s childhood有时yǒushí · sometimes周zhōu · week季jì · season不久bùjiǔ · soon好久hǎojiǔ · a long time夏天xiàtiān · summer

FAQs

直到 (zhídào) means “until” or “up to”. It is an HSK 3.0 Level 3 word.
Say it zhídào: zhí with a 2nd tone, then dào with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 直到 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type zhidao with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 直到 from the suggestions. Typing zhidao into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
直到 is an HSK 3.0 Level 3 word in the official 2021 syllabus, and it is on our HSK 3.0 Band 4 word list. It is not on the older HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.