<p>For me it's also a matter of emphasis. I feel when used to mean "soon", 快要 is more emphatic than 快.</p>

<p>For example, in the Chinese version of "If you keep doing that, I'm going to go nuts soon", I would prefer to use 快要 to emphasize that I'm going to go nuts soon.</p>

<p>But this is no different from English where people use formality for emphasis. For example, a mother might call her daughter Lucille when she's angry at her but call her Lucy when she's not.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-08-22T05:19:20.453Z
2012-08-22T05:19:20.453Z
Dan
<p>You can ignore the difference between them when they are used in front of a verb in a sentence. Otherwise we can say "快了" but not "快要了". For example, when asked "他什么时候来？”，one can say "快了" but cannot say "快要了”</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-09-11T16:27:59.830Z
2012-09-11T16:27:59.830Z
raycamus
<p>There isn't really a difference in the two if you are using it to mean <em>&quot;soon&quot;</em>, except that <code>快要</code> is more formal than <code>快</code>.</p>
<p>For example:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>他快死了。</p>
<p>他快要死了。</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Both mean:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>He is dying soon.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><code>快</code> is just a shorten form of <code>快要</code> when used in such context and it is quite commonly used in speech.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-08-08T13:53:35.477Z
Note: The sentence final `了` is pretty much required.
Stumpy Joe Pete
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-08-07T15:45:36.970Z
2012-08-07T16:05:40.797Z
2020-06-17T09:50:11.587Z
杨以轩
<p>I started to learn Chinese like one month ago and I'm facing a first misunderstanding. </p>

<p>In my book it says that <code>快</code> can be used to say <em>"soon"</em> but <code>快要</code> is also used to express the same thing. Is there a difference or I can use both in every situation?</p>

<usage><difference>
What's the difference between 快 and 快要?
# What's the difference between 快 and 快要?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2012-08-07)

I started to learn Chinese like one month ago and I'm facing a first misunderstanding.

In my book it says that `快` can be used to say *"soon"* but `快要` is also used to express the same thing. Is there a difference or I can use both in every situation?

**Tags:** usage, difference

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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2012-08-07. Score: 7 | Accepted answer

There isn't really a difference in the two if you are using it to mean *"soon"*, except that `快要` is more formal than `快`.

For example:

> 他快死了。
>
> 他快要死了。

Both mean:

> He is dying soon.

`快` is just a shorten form of `快要` when used in such context and it is quite commonly used in speech.

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: Note: The sentence final `了` is pretty much required.  

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### Answer by username_1 on 2012-08-22. Score: 2

For me it's also a matter of emphasis. I feel when used to mean "soon", 快要 is more emphatic than 快.

For example, in the Chinese version of "If you keep doing that, I'm going to go nuts soon", I would prefer to use 快要 to emphasize that I'm going to go nuts soon.

But this is no different from English where people use formality for emphasis. For example, a mother might call her daughter Lucille when she's angry at her but call her Lucy when she's not.


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### Answer by username_2 on 2012-09-11. Score: 2

You can ignore the difference between them when they are used in front of a verb in a sentence. Otherwise we can say "快了" but not "快要了". For example, when asked "他什么时候来？”，one can say "快了" but cannot say "快要了”


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