<p>In the original sentence, 要 is a verb with the following meanings - 想要，希望 [wish to; want to], and 应当;必须 [should; must; have/ought to].</p>
<ul>
<li>我已经预习了明天要讲的内容。- I've prepared in advance the contents that <strong>must/have to</strong> speak tomorrow.</li>
</ul>
<p>IMO, your translation is also correct.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-05-13T16:42:23.990Z
2023-05-13T20:27:10.693Z
2023-05-13T20:27:10.693Z
r13
<p>I'm a Chinese speaker and I'm attempting to explain how I perceive the comparison with English.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Or is the 要 within the original sentence still associated with the speaker of the sentence (the person who has already studied in advance)?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The short answer is yes. The more accurate sentence should be:</p>
<pre><code>我已经预习了（我）明天要讲的内容。
</code></pre>
<p>However, it is common for the second &quot;我&quot; to be omitted, and nobody would actually speak that way.</p>
<p>Additionally, I don't think marking &quot;要&quot; as a verb here is correct. It is more like an adjective when combined with &quot;讲&quot; and &quot;的&quot; to form &quot;要讲的,&quot; modifying the word &quot;内容,&quot; which means &quot;the content that needs to be spoken.&quot;</p>
<p>In Chinese, you should not attempt to understand the sentence character by character. It's like trying to understand English by reading the alphabet one by one.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-07-10T12:46:32.393Z
2023-07-10T12:46:32.393Z
Tsingyi
<p>Even though have read the 2 posts of zagrycha and r13, I've been unable to understand what I want to know.</p>
<p>BTW here's what has been got from gpt4.</p>
<p><strong>Responses from GPT4 :</strong></p>
<p>In the sentence &quot;我已经预习了明天要讲的内容&quot;, the verb &quot;要&quot; is used to indicate the future tense or the intention of doing something. Here, &quot;要讲的内容&quot; can be translated as &quot;the contents that will be spoken (or discussed)&quot;.</p>
<p>In this case, the subject of &quot;要&quot; is indeed not explicitly stated in the sentence, but it can be inferred from the context. For example, if the speaker is a student, then &quot;要讲的内容&quot; could imply &quot;the contents that the teacher will discuss&quot;. If the speaker is a presenter or a lecturer, then &quot;要讲的内容&quot; could mean &quot;the contents that I will present&quot;.</p>
<p>So, you're right, the subject of &quot;要&quot; can be the speaker or another person, depending on the context. This is a common usage in Chinese where the subject is understood from the context and hence is omitted in the sentence.</p>
<p>Your translation, &quot;I've already studied in advance the contents which are to be spoken tomorrow&quot; is correct and captures the meaning of the sentence well.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-05-16T01:28:20.077Z
If you want definitely wait to see if their is someone who posts an answer you like besides ours, or you can comment under our answers for more help explaining.  I just wanted to let you know that chatgpt said a whole lot of nothing here, it doesn't make any sense, reccomend to disregard.  Also note there is no such thing as tense in chinese, only implying the time something happens from context, or actually directly stating the time (tomorrow here is the only part that guarantees future here, without additional context).  :)
zagrycha
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-05-16T21:09:06.477Z
@zagrycha Understood.
TG24
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-05-14T11:39:57.233Z
2023-05-14T11:48:27.870Z
2023-05-14T11:48:27.870Z
TG24
<p>我I</p>
<p>已经already</p>
<p>预习prepare lessons 了(completed action)</p>
<p>明天 tomorrow</p>
<p>要 essential</p>
<p>讲的内容 lecture's content</p>
<p>my translation: I have already prepared the essential content of the lecture in tomorrow's class lesson.</p>
<p>This is the adjective use of 要, denoting essential/necessary needs/supplies :)</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-05-14T17:52:06.480Z
要 is not "essential" here. I only see 要 used as essential when forming other words, like 要点, 要领, 要塞. 要讲的内容 is not such use case.
charlesz
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-05-13T14:01:44.250Z
2023-05-13T14:01:44.250Z
zagrycha
<blockquote>
<p>我已经预习了明天要讲的内容。</p>
</blockquote>
<p><strong>My translation</strong> : <em>I've already studied(in advance) the contents which are to be spoken tomorrow.</em></p>
<p>Seems subject(s) of 要 inside the original sentence is/are missing.</p>
<p>I want you to help me get accustomed of this usage of 要 (i.e. 要 with no subject) enumerating sentences.</p>
<p>Or the 要 inside the original sentence is still tagged with the speaker of the sentence(the person who has already studied in advance)?</p>

<grammar>
Subject(s) of 要 is/are missing inside 我已经预习了明天要讲的内容。
# Subject(s) of 要 is/are missing inside 我已经预习了明天要讲的内容。

(Asked by: username_0 on 2023-05-13)

> 我已经预习了明天要讲的内容。

**My translation** : *I've already studied(in advance) the contents which are to be spoken tomorrow.*

Seems subject(s) of 要 inside the original sentence is/are missing.

I want you to help me get accustomed of this usage of 要 (i.e. 要 with no subject) enumerating sentences.

Or the 要 inside the original sentence is still tagged with the speaker of the sentence(the person who has already studied in advance)?

**Tags:** grammar

---

## 4 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2023-05-13. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

In the original sentence, 要 is a verb with the following meanings - 想要，希望 [wish to; want to], and 应当;必须 [should; must; have/ought to].

* 我已经预习了明天要讲的内容。- I've prepared in advance the contents that **must/have to** speak tomorrow.

IMO, your translation is also correct.


---

### Answer by username_2 on 2023-07-10. Score: 1

I'm a Chinese speaker and I'm attempting to explain how I perceive the comparison with English.

Or is the 要 within the original sentence still associated with the speaker of the sentence (the person who has already studied in advance)?

The short answer is yes. The more accurate sentence should be:
我已经预习了（我）明天要讲的内容。

However, it is common for the second "我" to be omitted, and nobody would actually speak that way.
Additionally, I don't think marking "要" as a verb here is correct. It is more like an adjective when combined with "讲" and "的" to form "要讲的," modifying the word "内容," which means "the content that needs to be spoken."
In Chinese, you should not attempt to understand the sentence character by character. It's like trying to understand English by reading the alphabet one by one.


---

### Answer by username_0 on 2023-05-14. Score: 1

Even though have read the 2 posts of zagrycha and r13, I've been unable to understand what I want to know.

BTW here's what has been got from gpt4.

**Responses from GPT4 :**

In the sentence "我已经预习了明天要讲的内容", the verb "要" is used to indicate the future tense or the intention of doing something. Here, "要讲的内容" can be translated as "the contents that will be spoken (or discussed)".

In this case, the subject of "要" is indeed not explicitly stated in the sentence, but it can be inferred from the context. For example, if the speaker is a student, then "要讲的内容" could imply "the contents that the teacher will discuss". If the speaker is a presenter or a lecturer, then "要讲的内容" could mean "the contents that I will present".

So, you're right, the subject of "要" can be the speaker or another person, depending on the context. This is a common usage in Chinese where the subject is understood from the context and hence is omitted in the sentence.

Your translation, "I've already studied in advance the contents which are to be spoken tomorrow" is correct and captures the meaning of the sentence well.

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: If you want definitely wait to see if their is someone who posts an answer you like besides ours, or you can comment under our answers for more help explaining.  I just wanted to let you know that chatgpt said a whole lot of nothing here, it doesn't make any sense, reccomend to disregard.  Also note there is no such thing as tense in chinese, only implying the time something happens from context, or actually directly stating the time (tomorrow here is the only part that guarantees future here, without additional context).  :)  
> **username_0**: @zagrycha Understood.  

---

### Answer by username_3 on 2023-05-13. Score: 0

我I

已经already

预习prepare lessons 了(completed action)

明天 tomorrow

要 essential

讲的内容 lecture's content

my translation: I have already prepared the essential content of the lecture in tomorrow's class lesson.

This is the adjective use of 要, denoting essential/necessary needs/supplies :)

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: 要 is not "essential" here. I only see 要 used as essential when forming other words, like 要点, 要领, 要塞. 要讲的内容 is not such use case.  

---

