<p>我 去 吃飯 sounds that you will go somewhere(eg. A restaurant) to have an eat. The sentence is used in response to  你干什么去？，干嘛去？</p>

<p>我 要 吃飯 了 sounds like, you have your meal handy/ready and you are just about to eat it. Or it's time for me to eat. Or just simply I am going to eat. Basically, the sentence is used when you want to tell somebody you are going to have a meal.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-06-30T21:42:58.697Z
2018-07-01T07:28:35.797Z
2018-07-01T07:28:35.797Z
dan
<p>我 去 吃飯 I'm going to get something to eat.<br>
我 要 吃飯 了 I wanna get my teeth into something.</p>

<p>我 去食堂 吃飯 I'm going to the canteen to get something to eat.<br>
我要吃午饭。I want some lunch.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-01T02:26:53.880Z
我 去食堂 吃飯 = I go to the canteen to have a meal.
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-01T02:03:23.270Z
2018-07-01T02:03:23.270Z
Pedroski
<p>You are correct, both can be translated as 'I am going to eat'. Yet "going" has completely different meanings in the two sentences.</p>

<p>The first one is "actually going / moving yourself to a place where you have food" and the second is "planning to, intending to have food".</p>

<p>This question is about ambiguity of English, not Chinese ;)</p>

<p>PS A better translation of the first phrase using "going" would be "I am going to have food / to a restaurant etc"</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-02T08:03:00.123Z
2018-07-02T08:03:00.123Z
Vitaly Osipov
<ul>
<li><p>我去吃饭 literally means "I go to have my meal" because 去 can be    translated as "go" in Chinese.  我要吃饭了 literally means "I am going to
have my meal". And in some context, it can also mean "I must have my
meal".</p></li>
<li><p>The first one sounds more like you have already known or      planned
what you are going to eat and now all you have to do is to   eat it
directly.</p></li>
<li><p>Q：You seem to be in a hurry. (你似乎急急忙忙的) What are you    going to do?
(你要去做什么？) </p></li>
<li><p>A：I go to have my dinner. (我去吃晚饭) I'm gonna be    late.    (我要迟到了)</p></li>
<li><p>The second one is more frequently used in the context that it's time to have a meal and you decide to eat it.</p></li>
<li><p>E.g. Sorry to interrupt you. But I have to take a leave. I'm going to have a meal.
(抱歉打断你了，但是我得离开一会。我要吃饭了。)</p></li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-07T06:52:33.027Z
2018-07-07T07:07:22.687Z
2018-07-07T07:07:22.687Z
user20025
<ul>
<li><p>我吃飯 =  I eat dinner (meal)</p></li>
<li><p>我(去)吃飯 = I (go) eat dinner</p></li>
<li><p>我(要)吃飯 = I (have to/ want to) eat dinner</p></li>
<li><p>我(要)(去)吃飯  = I (have to/ want to) (go) eat dinner</p></li>
</ul>

<p>You can add final particle '了' (indicate change of situation) to all the above examples :</p>

<ul>
<li><p>我吃飯了 =  I eat dinner (meal) now- <em>了 indicates situation change from not eating to eating</em></p></li>
<li><p>我(去)吃飯了 = I (go) eat dinner now- <em>了 indicates situation change from not going to going</em> </p></li>
<li><p>我(要)吃飯了 = I (have to/ want to) eat dinner now - <em>了 indicates situation change from not have eat to have to eat</em> </p></li>
<li><p>我(要)(去)吃飯了  = I (have to/ want to)(go) eat my dinner now - <em>了 indicates situation change from not have to go to have to go</em> </p></li>
</ul>

<blockquote>
  <p>去 + Action vs 要+Action+了</p>
</blockquote>

<p>More examples:</p>

<ul>
<li><p>我看電影 = I watch movies</p></li>
<li><p>我(要)看電影 = I (have to/ want to) watch movies</p></li>
<li><p>我(去)看電影 = I (go) watch movies</p></li>
<li><p>我(要)(去)看電影了 = I (have to/ want to) (go) watch movies now- 了 indicates situation change from not going to going</p></li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-06-30T22:23:36.803Z
2018-08-19T04:49:06.727Z
2018-08-19T04:49:06.727Z
Tang Ho
<p>What is the difference among the following two sentences?</p>

<ul>
<li>我 去 吃飯</li>
<li>我 要 吃飯 了</li>
</ul>

<p>According to my current knowledge, both translate to <em>''I am going to eat''</em>.</p>

<difference>
What's the difference between 我去吃飯 (去 + Action) and 我要吃飯了 (要+Action+了)?
# What's the difference between 我去吃飯 (去 + Action) and 我要吃飯了 (要+Action+了)?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-06-30)

What is the difference among the following two sentences?

* 我 去 吃飯
* 我 要 吃飯 了

According to my current knowledge, both translate to *''I am going to eat''*.

**Tags:** difference


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## 5 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2018-06-30. Score: 8 | Accepted answer

* 我吃飯 = I eat dinner (meal)
* 我(去)吃飯 = I (go) eat dinner
* 我(要)吃飯 = I (have to/ want to) eat dinner
* 我(要)(去)吃飯 = I (have to/ want to) (go) eat dinner

You can add final particle '了' (indicate change of situation) to all the above examples :

* 我吃飯了 = I eat dinner (meal) now- *了 indicates situation change from not eating to eating*
* 我(去)吃飯了 = I (go) eat dinner now- *了 indicates situation change from not going to going*
* 我(要)吃飯了 = I (have to/ want to) eat dinner now - *了 indicates situation change from not have eat to have to eat*
* 我(要)(去)吃飯了 = I (have to/ want to)(go) eat my dinner now - *了 indicates situation change from not have to go to have to go*

> 去 + Action vs 要+Action+了

More examples:

* 我看電影 = I watch movies
* 我(要)看電影 = I (have to/ want to) watch movies
* 我(去)看電影 = I (go) watch movies
* 我(要)(去)看電影了 = I (have to/ want to) (go) watch movies now- 了 indicates situation change from not going to going


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### Answer by username_1 on 2018-06-30. Score: 5

我 去 吃飯 sounds that you will go somewhere(eg. A restaurant) to have an eat. The sentence is used in response to 你干什么去？，干嘛去？

我 要 吃飯 了 sounds like, you have your meal handy/ready and you are just about to eat it. Or it's time for me to eat. Or just simply I am going to eat. Basically, the sentence is used when you want to tell somebody you are going to have a meal.


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### Answer by username_2 on 2018-07-01. Score: 3

我 去 吃飯 I'm going to get something to eat.  
我 要 吃飯 了 I wanna get my teeth into something.

我 去食堂 吃飯 I'm going to the canteen to get something to eat.  
我要吃午饭。I want some lunch.

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: 我 去食堂 吃飯 = I go to the canteen to have a meal.  

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### Answer by username_4 on 2018-07-02. Score: 2

You are correct, both can be translated as 'I am going to eat'. Yet "going" has completely different meanings in the two sentences.

The first one is "actually going / moving yourself to a place where you have food" and the second is "planning to, intending to have food".

This question is about ambiguity of English, not Chinese ;)

PS A better translation of the first phrase using "going" would be "I am going to have food / to a restaurant etc"


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### Answer by username_5 on 2018-07-07. Score: 2

* 我去吃饭 literally means "I go to have my meal" because 去 can be translated as "go" in Chinese. 我要吃饭了 literally means "I am going to
  have my meal". And in some context, it can also mean "I must have my
  meal".
* The first one sounds more like you have already known or planned
  what you are going to eat and now all you have to do is to eat it
  directly.
* Q：You seem to be in a hurry. (你似乎急急忙忙的) What are you going to do?
  (你要去做什么？)
* A：I go to have my dinner. (我去吃晚饭) I'm gonna be late. (我要迟到了)
* The second one is more frequently used in the context that it's time to have a meal and you decide to eat it.
* E.g. Sorry to interrupt you. But I have to take a leave. I'm going to have a meal.
  (抱歉打断你了，但是我得离开一会。我要吃饭了。)


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