Meaning of 快要
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- nearly at the point of (doing sth); about to (do sth)
How to use 快要
快要 goes before a verb or adjective, and the sentence usually ends with 了 (le). It describes something that will happen very soon. Example: 火车快要开了。(Huǒchē kuàiyào kāi le.) The train is about to leave.
快 (kuài) means fast and 要 (yào) means to want or be going to. Something that is fast going to happen is about to happen.
Common mistake: Learners often drop the 了 at the end, saying 我快要到 instead of 我快要到了 (wǒ kuàiyào dào le). Another trap is adding a specific time: you cannot say 明天快要下雨了. Use 就要 (jiùyào) when a time word is present, as in 明天就要下雨了.
快要 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
快 kuài · rapid · 7 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
要 yào · to want · 9 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
Related words
Words that share a character with 快要.
| 重要 | zhòngyào | important; significant; major |
| 不要 | bùyào | don't!; must not |
| 只要 | zhǐyào | so long as; provided; if |
| 就要 | jiùyào | will; shall |
| 要求 | yāoqiú | to request; to require |
| 快乐 | kuàilè | happy; joyful |
| 主要 | zhǔyào | main; principal; major; primary |
| 快点儿 | kuài diǎnr | erhua variant of 快點|快点[kuai4 dian3] |
| 凉快 | liángkuai | pleasantly cool (weather etc); to cool oneself; to cool off |
| 快餐 | kuàicān | fast food; snack |
| 需要 | xūyào | to need; to want; to demand; to require; needs |
| 要是 | yàoshi | (coll.) if |
Questions about 快要
What does 快要 mean?
快要 (kuàiyào) means "nearly at the point of (doing sth); about to (do sth)" and is used as a adverb.
How do you write 快要?
快要 is made of 2 characters: 快 (7 strokes), 要 (9 strokes). That is 16 strokes in total.
Is 快要 an HSK word?
Yes. 快要 is on the HSK 2 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 快要 and 快 alone?
In the pattern 快…了, 快 alone means the same as 快要, so 快下雨了 and 快要下雨了 both mean it is about to rain. 快要 sounds slightly fuller, and 快 is common in quick speech. Before a number, 快 alone is used more often, as in 快十点了 (kuài shí diǎn le), it is almost ten o'clock.
Can 快要 be used for the past?
Yes, if the whole story is set in the past. For example, 我快要睡着的时候，电话响了 (wǒ kuàiyào shuìzháo de shíhou, diànhuà xiǎng le) means I was about to fall asleep when the phone rang. It always describes the moment just before an event.