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guardian_learning要， be going to do something
https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Expressing_%22be_going_to%22_with_%22yao%22
(The CGW page says coyly "The auxiliary verb 要 has several different meanings..." YOU DON'T SAY. Just the straightforward future tense for the moment.)
Guardian:
小郭今天要去墓地扫墓, Xiao Guo is going to visit the graveyard today
我要让你明白为自己的家人而牺牲值！(I'm not sure if this is "I'm going to make you understand that it's worth sacrificing yourself for family" or "I need to make you understand," but maybe the former?)
我要告诉你一件事情，那个镇魂令主好像已经在来的路上了。 (Same problem. "I'm going to tell you" or "I need to tell you"?)
My practice:
我今天要去邮局买一些邮票。
那你一定要去明天，因为今天是节日，所以邮局是要关门的。
(谢谢你们写很多评论，我晚点要回复，不好意思啊）
https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Expressing_%22be_going_to%22_with_%22yao%22
(The CGW page says coyly "The auxiliary verb 要 has several different meanings..." YOU DON'T SAY. Just the straightforward future tense for the moment.)
Guardian:
小郭今天要去墓地扫墓, Xiao Guo is going to visit the graveyard today
我要让你明白为自己的家人而牺牲值！(I'm not sure if this is "I'm going to make you understand that it's worth sacrificing yourself for family" or "I need to make you understand," but maybe the former?)
我要告诉你一件事情，那个镇魂令主好像已经在来的路上了。 (Same problem. "I'm going to tell you" or "I need to tell you"?)
My practice:
我今天要去邮局买一些邮票。
那你一定要去明天，因为今天是节日，所以邮局是要关门的。
(谢谢你们写很多评论，我晚点要回复，不好意思啊）
no subject
Date: 2022-02-22 12:31 am (UTC)I'd love to know the answer to this, too. I originally learned 要 as "need/want," so that's always the first way I interpret it, but I feel like I'm never really sure how to distinguish a genuine instance of wanting/needing to do something versus just being "going to do" something. "我要睡觉" -- "I need to sleep" or "I want to sleep" or just "I'm going to sleep"?
no subject
Date: 2022-02-22 12:42 am (UTC)THIS!!!!!! Even with the 我要去 stuff, how do you tell the difference between "I want to go" and "I'm going to go"?! /o\
(This comm is so great for not feeling alone with these puzzles! ♥)
no subject
Date: 2022-02-23 12:48 am (UTC)seriously, oh dear.
(This comm is so great for not feeling alone with these puzzles! ♥)
<3 <3 <3 Frustration shared is ...well, not halved, but at least slightly easier to deal with...
no subject
Date: 2022-02-23 12:47 am (UTC)YES, is there some mysterious clue or is it just really that context-dependent?
no subject
Date: 2022-02-22 07:02 pm (UTC)Plus the extra question of what the difference in future use between 会 and 要 is...
no subject
Date: 2022-02-23 12:56 am (UTC)Oh dear, too true. Like we were saying, the ratio of meanings to phrases is a mess!
no subject
Date: 2022-02-23 03:07 am (UTC)…I'm so sorry to say this but it's all context LOL. (我問天.wav /dramatically yells at the sky in the rain like a good Taiwan drama protag)
Very generally off the top of my head, I'd take "want" as the default meaning (dialled up to "need" only if context suggests it and/or words like 一定要 are involved), and "gonna do" only if a timeframe is specified. I also suspect the difference may be at least in part a false dichotomy, since 要 tends to be fairly certain wants anyway (unless softened by like, 我想要 or similar) and from there it's not that far to needing or going to do something.
Arbitrarily adapting the various examples: 明天是清明节，我们要去扫墓 is justifiably translated as either need or going to imo. 我今天要早点睡 by itself is ambiguous, but when the context of 为了养成早睡早起的好习惯，我决定要早点睡 or 你要早点睡，别整天熬夜啊 or 我明天七点开会，今天要早点睡… I'm not sure there's a point here besides that words IRL rarely occur in the context vacuum of practice sentences?
Though 所以邮局是要关门的 reads odd to me for reasons unclear – I'd probably use 会 here unless the holiday wasn't a regular one (literally my first thought was "what, is it closed for some national mourning" LMAO. idk)
no subject
Date: 2022-02-23 08:31 pm (UTC)That really helps, thank you! ♥
words IRL rarely occur in the context vacuum of practice sentences
Which is why the practice sentences can sometimes be so frustrating ...
no subject
Date: 2022-02-24 01:37 am (UTC)谢谢，sigh... at least it's good to have it confirmed...
I'd take "want" as the default meaning (dialled up to "need" only if context suggests it and/or words like 一定要 are involved), and "gonna do" only if a timeframe is specified.
This is an excellent baseline to work with, thank you very much.
Though 所以邮局是要关门的 reads odd to me for reasons unclear – I'd probably use 会 here unless the holiday wasn't a regular one (literally my first thought was "what, is it closed for some national mourning" LMAO. idk)
不好意思！ Based on your explanation, maybe this ought to be 会 as another "habitual" thing, as opposed to 要 like, out of deliberate intent?
no subject
Date: 2022-02-24 12:39 pm (UTC)maybe this ought to be 会 as another "habitual" thing, as opposed to 要 like, out of deliberate intent?
Yeah, that sounds about right! Like, 要-ing something like going to school also sounds a bit "duh??" (unless, of course, you're not a student and it's just a once-off 我明天要去学校一趟 excursion).
no subject
Date: 2022-02-24 11:51 pm (UTC)Very tangentially related to the distinction between "I'm going to school" and "I'm going to the school" in English, which I have often struggled to explain...
(also thanks for 一趟, new to me!)
no subject
Date: 2022-03-09 07:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-03-12 08:20 am (UTC)Heh, yeah, 要 is a case where there isn't hidden rules (that I can think of, at least…)
no subject
Date: 2022-02-23 07:29 am (UTC)我要去图书馆
no subject
Date: 2022-02-24 01:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-02-24 05:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-02-24 11:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-03-09 09:59 am (UTC)My personal example sentence today (or whenever, ahem) :
我要你在我身旁， 我要看着你梳妆
I would have said that's clearly "I "want" you by my side" - but now that I think about it, "I need you by my side" is not impossible either. (Although the second part feels more like want than need. Not sure anyone really needs to watch someone else get dressed/ready... hm. ;))
no subject
Date: 2022-03-10 10:37 am (UTC)Absolutely agree on all these points! I'm very grateful to presumenothing and other people kindly providing explanations.
我要你在我身旁， 我要看着你梳妆
I would have said that's clearly "I "want" you by my side" - but now that I think about it, "I need you by my side" is not impossible either. (Although the second part feels more like want than need. Not sure anyone really needs to watch someone else get dressed/ready... hm. ;))
哈哈，I see your point. (I like the woman's version, 我要你为我梳妆, better (if I'm remembering the lyrics right)--is that something like "comb my hair for me"? Only "need" if it's very tangled...)
no subject
Date: 2022-03-15 10:32 am (UTC)我要帮助你梳妆
(omg z1l + kids = kills me dead)
no subject
Date: 2022-03-16 09:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-03-16 10:22 am (UTC)The way the one child policy has stunted family trees is very sad. (我要哭.)
no subject
Date: 2022-03-18 09:51 am (UTC)According to my Taiwanese friend, 我也希望啊, or more negatively, 别做梦了...
The way the one child policy has stunted family trees is very sad. (我要哭.)
你说得对。:( I hope people of his generation and environs can at least compensate a little with friends and friends' children...
no subject
Date: 2022-03-18 10:04 am (UTC)Oooh, thank you! These both make sense to me, and I'll try to remember them.