A2
快要…了 — about to happen
How Chinese says something is on the point of happening, why the sentence ends in 了 despite being about the future, and which version of the pattern can take a time word.
要…了 says something is about to happen, and 快 makes it sooner. The sentence ends in 了 — the change-of-state one — because a change is exactly what is about to arrive.
快要下雨了。
Kuài yào xià yǔ le.
It’s about to rain.
火车快要开了。
Huǒchē kuài yào kāi le.
The train’s about to leave.
我要走了。
Wǒ yào zǒu le.
I’m off.
That last one is the everyday version. 我要走了 said at a party is right, I’m going — the decision has been made and the leaving is imminent.
The four forms
They shade from neutral to urgent, and all of them end in 了:
- 要…了 — going to, soon
- 快要…了 — about to, quite soon
- 就要…了 — about to, and often with a stated time
- 快…了 — about to; 快 alone, without 要
他快三十岁了。
Tā kuài sānshí suì le.
He’s nearly thirty.
Note that one has no verb at all. 快…了 works on an age or an amount as readily as on an action.
Only 就要 takes a time word
This is the one rule in the pattern that catches people. 快要 means soon and resists being pinned to a clock; 就要 is comfortable with one.
他明天快要走了。
他明天就要走了。
快要 already says soon, and 明天 argues with it — like saying he’s about to leave tomorrow in English. 就要 has no such problem.
Do not add a future word
There is no will to include. The 了 and the 要 between them carry the whole meaning, and reaching for 会 as well produces a sentence that says its future twice.
天要黑了。
Tiān yào hēi le.
It’s getting dark.
Asking
The usual 吗, or the A-not-A on 要.
火车快要开了吗？
Huǒchē kuài yào kāi le ma?
Is the train about to leave?
要 in this pattern is not quite the 要 that means want, though they are the same word underneath — the wanting one is about intention, and this one is about what is coming whether anyone wants it or not.