# 要 Before a Verb: 5,044 Bible Clauses

> 要 stands before a verb in 5,044 clauses of the Chinese Union Version (和合本, simplified), covering wanting, intending and being obliged with one word.

**Pattern:** subject + 要 + verb
**HSK level:** 1 — the highest HSK level of the point's own function words, as data/dict.json grades them; a word the HSK lists do not grade sends the point to 'beyond'
**Rule used to find it:** 要 immediately before a word with a verb sense.
**Confidence:** counted — 30 of 5,044 matches checked, 100% correct, by Claude Opus 5, reading each sampled clause in context; not a native speaker

要 is the workhorse modal of this translation. 你要取细面 is you shall take fine flour — an instruction. 我要作王 is I will be king — an intention. 若要杀我们 is if he wanted to kill us — a desire. Nothing in 要 itself picks between them; the clause around it does.

The Chinese Union Version (和合本, simplified) uses 要 6,364 times. 1,320 of those occurrences are the same words doing something else.

For a reader, the practical consequence is that the law codes of Exodus and Leviticus are readable much earlier than they look. Their commands are built almost entirely out of 要 plus a verb, and once that frame is recognised the rest of the clause is vocabulary.

It is commonest in Psalms, with 479 of them, and 78% of all of them fall in the Old Testament — which is mostly a statement about length, since the Old Testament is the longer part of the book.

## Examples

- **Job 35:4** — 我要回答你和在你这里的朋友。
  - wǒ yào huí dá nǐ hé zài nǐ zhè lǐ de péng you 。
  - I will answer you, and your companions with you.
  - construction: 要回答
- **Leviticus 26:29** — 并且你们要吃儿子的肉，也要吃女儿的肉。
  - bìng qiě nǐ men yào chī ér zi de ròu ， yě yào chī nǚ ér de ròu 。
  - You will eat the flesh of your sons, and you will eat the flesh of your daughters.
  - construction: 要吃
- **Matthew 10:12** — 进他家里去，要请他的安。
  - jìn tā jiā lǐ qù ， yào qǐng tā de ān 。
  - As you enter into the household, greet it.
  - construction: 要请
- **Exodus 33:21** — 耶和华说：「看哪，在我这里有地方，你要站在磐石上。
  - yē hé huá shuō ：「 kàn nǎ ， zài wǒ zhè lǐ yǒu dì fāng ， nǐ yào zhàn zài pán shí shàng 。
  - The LORD also said, “Behold, there is a place by me, and you shall stand on the rock.
  - construction: 要站
- **1 Samuel 14:8** — 约拿单说：「我们要过到那些人那里去，使他们看见我们。
  - yuē ná dān shuō ：「 wǒ men yào guò dào nà xiē rén nà li qù ， shǐ tā men kàn jiàn wǒ men 。
  - Then Jonathan said, “Behold, we will pass over to the men, and we will reveal ourselves to them.
  - construction: 要过
- **1 Kings 18:11** — 现在你说，要去告诉你主人说，以利亚在这里；
  - xiàn zài nǐ shuō ， yào qù gào sù nǐ zhǔ rén shuō ， yǐ lì yà zài zhè lǐ ；
  - Now you say, ‘Go, tell your lord, “Behold, Elijah is here.”’
  - construction: 要去

## The words this point is built on

| Word | Reading | HSK | Occurrences |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 要 | yào | 1 | 6,364 |

The HSK column is the level data/dict.json gives the word, and it is what puts this point at level 1.

## What those occurrences are doing

|  | Occurrences | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| the construction | 5,044 | 79% |
| the same words doing something else | 1,320 | 21% |

## Where it occurs most

| Book | Clauses |
| --- | --- |
| Psalms | 479 |
| Exodus | 415 |
| Leviticus | 407 |
| Ezekiel | 326 |
| Jeremiah | 312 |

Counted from what the rule matched, before the audit — a ranking, not a published total.

## Questions

**How is 要 different from 必?**

要 is intention or instruction, 必 is certainty — what is bound to happen. This translation uses 必 heavily for promises and judgements, which is why the two appear in such different places despite both being translated will.

**How often does it occur in the Chinese Bible?**

5,044 clauses in the Chinese Union Version (和合本, simplified), out of 6,364 occurrences of the words that mark it.

**Which book of the Bible uses it most?**

Psalms, with 479 — followed by Exodus (415), Leviticus (407), Ezekiel (326).

**How do you know the count is right?**

The rule is: 要 immediately before a word with a verb sense. 30 of its 5,044 matches were drawn at random and checked one by one; 100% were right. Recall is not measured, so the figure is what this rule finds, not everything the translation contains.

Page: https://chinese-bible.com/en/grammar/yao-modal

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