得到
dé dào · HSK 1
to get
🎁 得 = obtain + 到 = arrive; together: it arrives to you, you get it
得 carries the sense of acquiring, 到 means to arrive or reach. The pair literally reads as obtain-arrive, i.e. something reaches you and becomes yours. Common in results: 找到 find, 收到 receive, 学到 learn-and-get.
得 — 彳 (step) + 旦 (sun/day) + 寸 (hand)
Originally depicted a hand 寸 reaching for a cowrie shell 貝 (later simplified to 旦), with 彳 'step' added to show going out and obtaining something. The core meaning is 'to get' or 'obtain'. The reading děi extends this to 'must/have to' — what one is obliged to get done.
到 — 刂 knife + 至 (phonetic, 'arrive')
到 is a semantic-phonetic compound. 至 ('to arrive') gives both meaning and sound, while 刂 (knife) was added later, likely as a phonetic reinforcer or to distinguish the written form. The core sense 'to arrive, reach' comes directly from 至, and 到 has carried that meaning since early script forms.