Chinese journey and a question

[mekare]

So, I am on day 115 of doing Duolingo Chinese and I think finally feel ready to check out some vocab posts here ^^ I didn‘t expect to stick to learning since I started super casually, but let‘s say Duolingo seems to be working for me.

I have also signed up for a beginner level A1 course to finally be able to talk to real people (hopefully) and ask specific questions. The course description says beginners with some prior knowledge and course topics will include introducing family members and ordering food. Both are topics I have covered in Duolingo before, but I‘m hoping to practise some writing and learn more vocab.

Some sentences on my current level:

我要面。
我吃饭也吃面。
我不喝冰茶。

Regarding 要， is there a more polite way to phrase that? So far I have learned nothing about register on the app.

Comments

[grayswandir]

Awesome, I hope your class goes well!

I think 想要 is more polite and a bit more formal than just 要, but as far as I understand it's also pretty common for native speakers to just use 要 for things like ordering food or asking for something at a shop. If you're asking to buy/order something, you can also say 我想买[thing], which I think is also a bit more polite than just 要. There seem to be a lot of webpages devoted to explaining the differences between 想 vs. 要 vs. 想要, and I think it can get a bit complicated, but here's one page that keeps it fairly simple!

[mekare]

Thanks a lot, that is a very helpful explanation!

[sakana17]

That's a nice, clear explanation on the page you linked! Thank you!

[nnozomi]

Good luck with your course! Keep us posted.

Regarding 要，is there a more polite way to phrase that? So far I have learned nothing about register on the app.

You have some good answers below already. My impression so far is that with the exception of 你 vs 您 and some stuff like that, register is less of a THING in Chinese than in Japanese, t/v European languages, etc., which feels really weird if that's where you're coming from... .

[mekare]

I will!

t/v European languages

I'm not sure what the t/v stands for here? And I agree with your point about register being handled differently and it being a strange feeling to switch from one mode of language to another. (for instance, when I learned my very first English words I remember being really uncomfortable with everyone being called "you". The markers for politeness/formality came later ;-)).

[nnozomi]

Sorry! t/v for tu/vous in French, but I think it's used as a general term for languages with formal/informal "you" distinction: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%E2%80%93V_distinction_in_the_world%27s_languages

[mekare]

Ah! I actually took French at school, but I didn't recognise it in this context.

[unspeakablehorror]

I don't have anything to add to answer your question, but in regards to your statement:

我要面。

I can only say：

我也是。我享受吃面。

[mekare]

:-)