Difference

[agines124]

How to use each of these following structures:

1. 要。。。了 

2. 快。。。了

3.就要。。。了

I was told that those three structures mean almost the same - almost, just about to , but there is a slight difference between them and I don't know how to use each of them and what the difference is.

[Dandy Jiang]

I'm a Chinese teacher and not good at English. I'll try my best to explain your question.

 

You're right. "要……了、快……了、就要……了" mean almost the same - almost, just about to . For example:

• （S.+要/快/就要+Verb Phrases+了）
• 我们要走了；我们快走了；我们就要走了。（We are about to go.）
• 他要毕业了；他快毕业了；他就要毕业了。（He's about to graduate.）

And the slight difference is:

1. Time

In the structure Time+S.+___+Verb phrases, you can only use “就要……了”. For example:

明天我们就要回家了。（We going home tomorrow.）

*明天我们要回家了。×

*明天我们快回家了。×

 

晚上他就要来了。(He's about to come here tonight.)

*晚上他要来了。×

*晚上他快来了。×

2. Urgency

The urgency degree of these three structures: 就要＞快＞要。

When you say “他就要来了”, it means he'll come right away/at once. “他快来了/他要来了”means he'll come soon, but maybe not immediately.

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Hope my answer will help you.

[hoshinoumi]

@Dandy Jiang Where can we sign up for Chinese teachers like you? 

[Dandy Jiang]

2 hours ago, hoshinoumi said:

 

@Dandy Jiang Where can we sign up for Chinese teachers like you? 

 

 

hahaha，you can follow my Wechat official account 【DandyChinese】. And you can ask me everything about Chinese. I'd love to help foreign friends know more about China.

[Lu]

17 hours ago, Dandy Jiang said:

I'd love to help foreign friends know more about China.

You've come to the right place then :-) Glad to have you around, I hope you continue to find interesting questions here! It's always very useful to have input from a native speaker, especially when the native speaker is also a teacher of Chinese.

[Dandy Jiang]

12 minutes ago, Lu said:

I hope you continue to find interesting questions here!

 

I will!

[agines124]

I need someone's help to tell me what the difference is between 位 and 位置. Can I use both of them interchangeably?

For example:

1. 我心中全是他，根本就没有你的位置。

2.这次比赛我排在第三位。