Level 4 · Upper Intermediate
Pressing a question with 到底
Subj. + 到底 + Verb / Question word
到底 (dàodǐ) adds impatience to a question — "…already?!": 你到底去不去？"Are you going or not, already?" Use it when you've asked before, or the situation is confusing, and you want a straight answer NOW.
Two rules: in this pressing sense it only works in questions — you can't use it for "really" in a statement (use 真的). (In statements 到底 means something else: "in the end / after all", as in 他到底还是来了 "he came in the end".) And it goes before the verb or question word: 他到底是谁？ If the subject is a question word itself, 到底 can open the sentence: 到底谁是你的老师？
Examples
你到底去不去？
nǐ dào dǐ qù bù qù
Are you going or not?!
他到底是谁？
他到底是誰？
tā dào dǐ shì shéi
Who on earth is he?
你到底想说什么？
你到底想說什麼？
nǐ dào dǐ xiǎng shuō shén me
What exactly are you trying to say?
这到底是怎么回事？
這到底是怎麼回事？
zhè dào dǐ shì zěn me huí shì
What on earth is going on here?
Common mistakes
✗ 你去不去到底？
✓ 你到底去不去？
到底 goes before the verb or question word, never at the end.
✗ 我到底很累。
✓ 我真的很累。
到底 only works in questions — in a statement, use 真的.
Related grammar points
See it in a story
Read this pattern in context: The Cat in Boots — free graded stories with tap-to-reveal pinyin and translations.
