grammar → V到/V在
TSUMUGU · TBCL 2 (est.) · 語法
V到/V在 grammar point · tier 1 · post-verb locative 到 / 在 (move to a place / settle at a place)
Post-verb place complement: 到 sends the verb to an endpoint it reaches; 在 leaves the verb settled at the spot it lands on.

Hook inherited from 趨向補語.

Post-verb place complement
框 · Frame
[subj] [verb] 到 [place] (motion reaching it) / [subj] [verb] 在 [place] (position held there)
觸 · Trigger
You want a place straight after the verb: one you moved to, or one the action leaves you at.
序 · The move
1Ask whether the verb travels to the place or comes to rest at it.Did the subject cross to the place (到) or end up sited there (在)?
2For motion arriving, put 到 + place after the verb.The verb reaches an endpoint: 走到、開到、送到. Movement lands on the place.
3For a settled position, put 在 + place after the verb.The verb fixes the subject at a spot: 住在、坐在、放在. No further travel implied.
例 · Examples
1阿姨走到walk (reaching) to對面the opposite side超市supermarket去買菜。叔叔一直住在live (settled) in臺北Taipei
Auntie walked over to the supermarket across the street to buy groceries. Uncle has lived in Taipei the whole time.
界 · Boundary
locative 在 (他在學校)
Pre-verb 在 + place says where the whole event happens (他在家吃飯); post-verb V在 + place says where the verb leaves the subject (他坐在椅子上). Setting of the action vs landing spot of the action.
post-verb 到
到 is motion that arrives at an endpoint (走到門口 — you traveled there); 在 is position settled at a spot (站在門口 — you are standing there). Where you went vs where you are.
阿姨走在超市。 (for reaching it) → 阿姨走到超市。 (motion to a place takes 到, not 在)
叔叔住到臺北。 (for residing) → 叔叔住在臺北。 (a settled position takes 在, not 到)
叔叔在臺北住。 → 叔叔住在臺北。 (the place rides 在 after the verb when 在 names where living lands)
English 'to' and 'in' both come before the place ('walk to the shop', 'live in Taipei'); Chinese hangs both 到 and 在 after the verb, and splits them by reaching vs settling, not by the English preposition.