Kilo Lingo

(jiāng yào) - will, be going to, be about to in Mandarin

jiāngyào

Traditional: 將要

#2938 of 5,000 Core 5000

Translation

will, be going to, be about to

Word origin

A compound of 将 (jiāng, about to, shall) and 要 (yào, will, to be going to), two future markers stacked for emphasis.

Origin
compound
Root
将 (jiāng, about to) + 要 (yào, will)

Stroke order

Stroke order for 将

Stroke order for 要

Examples

The meeting will be held next week.

He is going to Beijing to work for two years.

It is about to get dark, let us hurry.

bǎn

This book is about to be published.

We are going to face a great many difficulties.

将要 (jiāng yào) marks the future, and it is a written register word. You meet it in reports, notices, announcements and formal narration far more than in conversation. It sits directly before the verb: 将要举行, 将要出版, 将要开始.

Spoken Chinese does the same job with 要 on its own, or with 快要 and 就要 for something imminent, both of which want a 了 at the end of the sentence. 将要 does not need one, which is part of what makes it sound written.

The trap for English speakers is reaching for 将要 as the default translation of "will". It is not. Most future statements in Chinese need no marker at all, because a time word does the work: 明天我去北京 is already the future. Pile 将要 onto ordinary chat and you sound like a press release. Keep it for formal writing, and note that 将 alone is even more formal again.

Where this fits

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Mandarin · Free printables

将要: worksheet, infographic and listicle

Free printable study downloads for the Mandarin word "将要" (will, be going to, be about to): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.

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This word is part of lesson 59.