Level 2 · Elementary
About to happen: 要…了
(快)要 + Verb + 了
要…了 wraps a verb to say something is about to happen: 火车要开了 "the train is about to leave". 快…了 and 快要…了 mean the same with extra urgency: 快下雨了 "it's about to rain".
The 了 here is the change-of-state 了 — a new situation is arriving.
Examples
火车要开了。
火車要開了。
huǒ chē yào kāi le
The train is about to leave.
快下雨了。
kuài xià yǔ le
It's about to rain.
电影快要开始了。
電影快要開始了。
diàn yǐng kuài yào kāi shǐ le
The movie is about to start.
我们要到了。
我們要到了。
wǒ men yào dào le
We're almost there.
Related grammar points
See it in a story
Read this pattern in context: The Proud Engines (Part 2) · The Child Who Forgot His Lunch (Part 2) — free graded stories with tap-to-reveal pinyin and translations.
