想得到

xiǎngdédào

verb #18,971

Meanings

1 to be able to imagine
2 to expect
3 conceivable

Characters

to think; to imagine

potential complement marker (able to)

to reach; to arrive at

Examples

你想得到他会这样做吗？

Nǐ xiǎngdédào tā huì zhèyàng zuò ma?

Could you have imagined he would do this?

谁都想不到会发生这种事。

Shéi dōu xiǎngbudào huì fāshēng zhèzhǒng shì.

Nobody could have expected this to happen.

Tips

grammar

想得到 uses the potential complement structure (V + 得 + result). Its negative form is 想不到 (cannot imagine/expect). This pattern is very productive: 看得到/看不到, 听得到/听不到, etc.

Stroke Order

想 xiǎng

得 de

到 dào