要

[david lam]

Hi Chaps.

I've never really understood the verb 要 outside the meaning of "to want".

I understand it can also be used to indicate something happening very soon, eg. "電梯門要關了" (the lift/elevator doors are about to close).

But how about "明天要考試". Can this be translated as "tomorrow there will be a test", in which case can you say "明天會考試"?

Similarly for "天氣報告說今天要下雨".

And also, from my text book "媽媽教育我要誠實". I'm guessing this can be translated here as "must be". Is this translation acceptable for other sentences, or would it be safer to use a 一定 in front of it?

Thankyou once again!

Incidentally does anyone know how to get 簡體字 onto your keyboard?

Cheers!

[muddy]

All your translations are right.congratulations.

要yào

想要,希望 [wish to;want to]:e.g.我要看电影.(I want to watch movies)

应当;必须 [should;must]:e.g.妈妈教育我要好好学习(My mother told me that I should study hard.) You can add 一定(must) in front of it.妈妈教育我一定要好好学习(My mother told me that I must study hard)

即将来临 [be going to]:e.g.明天要考试(tomorrow there will be a test) We don't say 明天会考试. We just say 明天会考试吗?(Is there a test tomorrow?)

About chinese simplified character ,you should set the code of you IE as GB2312 or unicode(utf-. You could have a try.

P.S.my os is chinese editon.

[skylee]

Take a look -> http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/cgi-bin/agrep-lindict?query=%ADn&category=wholerecord&boo=or&order=all

Vb. aux.

(1) Want: 我要走 I want to go;

他不要 he does not want (to, it).

(2) Going to: 將要 ditto: (將)要下雨了 it is going to rain;

天快要黑了 it is going to be dark soon.

(3) Should: 你要知道，要小心 you should know, should be careful.

Traditional characters look good.

[skylee]

Incidentally does anyone know how to get 簡體字 onto your keyboard?

Take a look at these threads (or use the search function to search for "IME" or "toggle" etc and you could find something useful) ->

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/12-horse-horse-tiger-tiger-slang-and-idioms859

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/10604-ime-chinese-how-to-make-it-work

[gamerfu]

要 means "must" or "want". THat one was difficult for me also!

[adrianlondon]

要 means "must" or "want". THat one was difficult for me also!

It can also mean "will".

[david lam]

Rightio, thanks chaps. Am a little clearer now.

Can I just check about this old 会/要 disparity a little more please?

So I can say 明天会考试吗 but I can't say 明天会考试。Is this an informal use of the language whereby I can't use 会 for other future tense questions or statements (e.g. asking if it will rain tomorrow)? And what is the difference between 明天会考试吗 and 明天要考试吗 ？？

My teacher said that I can't say 我要把作业放在您信箱里as this would translate as "I want to put my homework in your pigeon hole" rather than "I will.....".

Does this mean that using 会 to indicate future tense refers only to actions that a person will undertake, rather than something that will 'just' happen, eg. rain, tests???

谢了。

P.S. As you can tell I managed to install that simplified stuff. Cheers!

[muyongshi]

In that situation you should say 想. I'm suprised no one has mentioned this until now but this was a difference that took me awhile to get clear. 要 has a will, desire (consideration) or going to meaning. Which in english if we said I want to do something it has almost more of the desire aspect. I.e. I want to buy this. Whereas if we say I am thinking of buying something we are more likely to buy it/considering getting it. But in Chinese saying 要 is more of our thinking of it. 想 then would imply more of the desire side.

The 会 is simply a 强调. It implies a firmness that you will positively do it that way.

In your example if you were saying I would like to put it there you could say 想 like if you are asking if that is okay 我想把桌子放在。。可以吗？ But if you want to say I am going to (with empasis use the 会 and if you are simply saying where it will be you could say 要. But then it doesn't have the want aspect it is simply stating that you are going to do it.

[david lam]

Got it! I'll doubtlessly muck it up again, but I just about get the idea.

Thanks once again.

[david lam]

So what if I said 我要买一本书？

Does this mean 'I want to buy a book' or 'I'm going to buy a book'?

Would it make a difference if I put on a 了on the end?

[skylee]

So what if I said 我要买一本书？

Does this mean 'I want to buy a book' or 'I'm going to buy a book'?

It could mean both. It is not OK to add a 了at the end.

[semantic nuance]

So what if I said 我要买一本书？

Does this mean 'I want to buy a book' or 'I'm going to buy a book'?

Would it make a difference if I put on a 了on the end?

If you add 了 in this case, it will mean that you finally decide to buy a book.

Ex: 我(終於)要買一本書了. ( like you've never bought a book probably you're not into any book or probably you just borrow books from the library.)

A few examples with 了 at the end.

1. 我要買車了---I'm going to buy a car.

*Perhaps it's a dream that you've planned for a long time and you finally make it true.

2 我要當爸爸了--I'm going to be a father.

3 我(終於)要去爬聖母峰了--I'm going to climb Mount Everest.

4 我要結婚了---I'm going to get married.

* 我(想)要結婚!!!---I want to get married.

Hope it helps!

[skylee]

Yeah I agree with semantic nuance's explanation on the use of 了 here. I couldn't imagine applying the situation to buying a book, though.

[cdn_in_bj]

So what if I said 我要买一本书？

Does this mean 'I want to buy a book' or 'I'm going to buy a book'?

It's a bit ambiguous by itself like that, but I would take it to mean "I'm going to buy a book". However, you would usually specify when you are going to buy the book:

I'm going to (go) buy a book today -> 我今天要（去）买一本书

Also, note the difference between the following:

I want to buy a book -> 我想买一本书

I want a book -> 我要一本书

Confused yet?

[david lam]

Confused? I think I've managed to regress in my knowledge! But that's very helpful thankyou.