到
dào
The instant the arrowhead touches: 到
The picture A flying arrow's tip finally touching the target and stopping there. 到 touches the target and stops there; 去 only leaves here heading that way, and says nothing about arriving.
Where the picture shows up in 到
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your body touched the place
我到公司了。
wǒ dào gōngsī le
I'm at the office.
Walking feet stopping dead at the company gate, toes against the threshold
-
when does it touch down
火车几点到？
huǒchē jǐ diǎn dào
What time does the train get in?
The nose of an incoming train coming to rest right at the platform's end marker
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reaching the far end of the time
我从九点工作到六点。
wǒ cóng jiǔ diǎn gōngzuò dào liù diǎn
I work from nine to six.
A clock hand setting off from nine and stopping exactly on the six
-
it never reached your ear
不好意思，我没听到。
bù hǎoyìsi, wǒ méi tīngdào
Sorry, I didn't catch that.
A spoken sentence thinning out in the air and dying before it reaches the ear
听 is aiming your ear; 听到 is the sound actually landing in it. If you listened but nothing landed, it's 没听到.
-
your hand touched what you were after
钥匙找到了吗？
yàoshi zhǎodào le ma
Did you find the keys?
Fingers groping under the sofa and finally closing on the keys
All of it in one picture
到 is a single frame: the arrow's tip touching the target and stopping there. Your body touches the office and you have arrived; the train's nose touches the platform and that's its arrival time; the clock hand touches the six and the day's work ends there. A sound that never touches the ear was never heard; a hand that touches the keys has found them. So a verb with 到 on it is always a verb whose motion made contact and finished.