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Mythic Mandarin

About to leave: 要…了 and 快…了

HSK 2 Unit 4: Travel and transport · Lesson 5 of 5 · About 17 minutes

Preview version — Chinese review in progress.

Your mission: By the end of this lesson, you can say that something is about to happen with 要…了, 快…了 and 快要…了, and handle a rushed departure.

Warm-up: do you remember?

Two quick questions from earlier lessons. Recalling before you learn makes the new material stick.

  1. Meaning

    What does 鱼 mean?

    1. fish
    2. of course
    3. maybe, possible
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, fish.

    鱼 (yú) means fish.

  2. Characters

    Which word means “(for people, polite)”?

    1. 位
    2. 往
    3. 对
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, 位.

    “(for people, polite)” is 位 (wèi).

  3. Listening

    From an earlier unit. Listen. What does the word mean?

    Cannot listen? Read it instead

    眼镜 yǎnjìng

    1. gift, present
    2. glasses
    3. new
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, glasses.

    You heard 眼镜 (yǎnjìng): glasses.

New words

  • 出发chūfāto set out, to depart
  • 起飞qǐfēito take off
  • 宾馆bīnguǎnhotel
  • 行李xíngliluggage

About to happen

要…了, 快…了 and 快要…了 all mean something is about to happen. With an exact time, use 要 (often 就要).

  • 飞机要起飞了。

    Fēijī yào qǐfēi le.

    The plane is about to take off.

  • 快八点了。

    Kuài bā diǎn le.

    It's nearly eight.

  • 飞机十点就要起飞了。

    Fēijī shí diǎn jiù yào qǐfēi le.

    The plane takes off at ten.

  • Not: 飞机十点快起飞了。

    But: 飞机十点就要起飞了。 Fēijī shí diǎn jiù yào qǐfēi le.

    With an exact time, use 就要, not 快.

快点儿 is hurry up.

  • 快点儿！我们要出发了。

    Kuàidiǎnr! Wǒmen yào chūfā le.

    Hurry up! We're about to leave.

Characters

  • 李 = 木

Open a character to see how it is written, stroke by stroke, with its meanings and words.

Hurry up!

Anna and Mark are leaving their hotel for the airport.

Listen first

Play the whole conversation and answer the questions before you open the transcript.

  1. Listening

    Listen first. What time is it nearly?

    1. eight
    2. ten
    3. nine
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, eight.

    快八点了: nearly eight.

  2. Listening

    When does the plane take off?

    1. at eight
    2. at ten
    3. at nine
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, at ten.

    飞机十点就要起飞了.

Show the transcript
Pinyin
Translation

  1. 安娜

    马克Mǎkè，快kuài八bā点diǎn了le！我们Wǒmen要yào出发chūfā了le。

    Mark, it's nearly eight! We're about to leave.

  2. 马克

    我Wǒ的de行李xíngli还hái没méi准备zhǔnbèi好hǎo呢ne！

    My luggage isn't ready yet!

  3. 安娜

    快点儿Kuàidiǎnr！飞机Fēijī十shí点diǎn就jiù要yào起飞qǐfēi了le。

    Hurry up! The plane takes off at ten.

  4. 马克

    好Hǎo了le！我们Wǒmen走zǒu。

    Done! Let's go.

  5. 安娜

    你Nǐ带dài护照hùzhào了le吗ma？

    Have you got your passport?

  6. 马克

    带Dài了le！

    Yes!

Speak: listen, record, compare

Listen to each model, record yourself, then play both and compare: the rhythm, the tones, the vowels. No automatic score: your ear is the judge.

  • 我的行李还没准备好呢！

    Wǒ de xíngli hái méi zhǔnbèi hǎo ne!

    My luggage isn't ready yet!

  • 快点儿！飞机十点就要起飞了。

    Kuàidiǎnr! Fēijī shí diǎn jiù yào qǐfēi le.

    Hurry up! The plane takes off at ten.

  • 马克，快八点了！我们要出发了。

    Mǎkè, kuài bā diǎn le! Wǒmen yào chūfā le.

    Mark, it's nearly eight! We're about to leave.

Practice

  1. Meaning

    What does 出发 mean?

    1. time
    2. tasty, delicious
    3. to set out, to depart
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, to set out, to depart.

    出发 (chūfā) means to set out, to depart.

  2. Characters

    Which word means “to take off”?

    1. 起飞
    2. 电梯
    3. 公里
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, 起飞.

    “to take off” is 起飞 (qǐfēi).

  3. Pinyin

    How do you read 宾馆 (hotel)?

    1. bìnguǎn
    2. bīnguǎn
    3. bínguǎn
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, bīnguǎn.

    宾馆 is read bīnguǎn. Check the tone mark on every syllable.

  4. Listening

    Listen. What does the word mean?

    Cannot listen? Read it instead

    行李 xíngli

    1. luggage
    2. happy
    3. in the middle of (doing)
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, luggage.

    You heard 行李 (xíngli): luggage.

  5. Pinyin

    Type the pinyin of 出发 (to set out, to depart). Tone marks or tone numbers are welcome.

    Show the answer

    Answer: chūfā

    出发 is chūfā in pinyin.

  6. Listening

    Listen. Which sentence did you hear?

    Cannot listen? Read it instead

    好了！我们走。 Hǎo le! Wǒmen zǒu.

    1. Hurry up! The plane takes off at ten.
    2. Have you got your passport?
    3. Done! Let's go.
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, Done! Let's go..

    You heard 好了！我们走。 (Hǎo le! Wǒmen zǒu.): Done! Let's go.

  7. Grammar

    Which sentence means The train is about to leave?

    1. 火车要出发了。
    2. 火车出发了。
    3. 火车出发要了。
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, 火车要出发了。.

    火车要出发了。 要 + verb + 了: about to.

  8. Fill the gap

    Complete: It's nearly twelve.

    ＿＿十二点了。

    1. 就
    2. 才
    3. 快
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, 快.

    快十二点了: nearly twelve.

  9. Reading

    Read: 我们的飞机九点就要起飞了。现在七点，我们还在宾馆。我的行李准备好了，马克的还没有！ Whose luggage isn't ready?

    1. the writer's
    2. nobody's
    3. Mark's
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, Mark's.

    马克的还没有: Mark's isn't ready.

  10. In context

    Your friend is too slow and you will be late. What do you say?

    1. 慢一点儿！
    2. 快点儿！
    3. 一会儿！
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, 快点儿！.

    快点儿！: 快点儿: hurry up!

Before departure

Act out the last ten minutes before leaving for a trip, out loud. Record yourself.

  1. Say what time it nearly is with 快…了.
  2. Say what is about to happen with 要…了.
  3. Check luggage, tickets and passport.

Sentence frames

  • 快＿＿点了！我们要出发了。

    Kuài ＿＿ diǎn le! Wǒmen yào chūfā le.

    It's nearly ...! We're about to leave.

Record your attempt (three and a half minutes at most) and listen back:

Review and finish

Can you do this? If a line feels shaky, go back to that part before you move on.

  • I say about to with 要…了 or 快…了.
  • With an exact time, I use 就要…了.

Review works best spaced out: answer these exercises again tomorrow, then after a few days. Your progress is saved in this browser.

Completing records that you finished the lesson. Mastery is separate: it grows as reviews bring the exercises back and you answer them correctly.

Next: HSK 2 Unit 5: Skills and advice, where you talk about how well people do things and give advice.