到底

到底

1. actually; are or are not; after all

   你到底爱不爱我？  ―  Nǐ dàodǐ ài bù ài wǒ?  ―  Do you love me or not?

2. finally; in the end; when all is said and done

   離異家庭到底還是會影響到孩子。 [MSC, trad.]
   离异家庭到底还是会影响到孩子。 [MSC, simp.]

   Líyì jiātíng dàodǐ háishì huì yǐngxiǎng dào háizi. [Pinyin]

   Children from divorced families will be affected in the end.

3. until the end; to the finish; until something is done

   既然已經幫助他了，就索性幫到底。 [MSC, trad.]
   既然已经帮助他了，就索性帮到底。 [MSC, simp.]

   Jìrán yǐjīng bāngzhù tā le, jiù suǒxìng bāng dàodǐ. [Pinyin]

   Since we've already helped him out, we might as well help until the job is done.

• (finally):

• (Min Nan) “Entry #3656”, in 臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwan Minnan] (in Chinese and Min Nan), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2011.

• On’yomi
  • (Tokyo) とーてー [tòótéé] (Heiban – [0])[1]
  • IPA^(key): [to̞ːte̞ː]

到底 (hiragana とうてい, rōmaji tōtei)

1. absolutely, (with negative verb) possibly (as in "couldn't possibly"), utterly
   • 1908, 夏目漱石 (Natsume Sōseki), 夢十夜 (Ten nights of dreams),

     とうてい死 (し)にそうには見 (み)えない。

     Tōtei shinisō ni wa mienai.

     It didn't appear possible that [she] was about to die.

• 2002, Ineko Kondō; Fumi Takano; Mary E Althaus; et. al., Shogakukan Progressive Japanese-English Dictionary, Third Edition, Tokyo: Shōgakukan, →ISBN.