第四十三天

[nnozomi]

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）

Comments

[nnozomi]

…I'm so sorry to say this but it's all context LOL.
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?

[presumenothing]

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).

[nnozomi]

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).
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!)