How to Say ‘I have to go first.’ in Traditional Chinese
我要先走了。
wǒ yào xiān zǒu le
[wo yào xiān zǒu le]
🇹🇼 In Taiwan: Saying you're leaving "first" with 先 (xiān) is the polite Taiwanese way to excuse yourself — a graceful exit after getting someone's contact.
Phrase Breakdown
我要
wǒ yào
I'm going to
要 here means 'about to / going to'.
我要回家了。
I'm going home now.
Words in this phrase
我
wǒ
[wo]
I; me
The first-person pronoun used to talk about yourself.
我想多了解你們公司的制度，所以先自我介紹。
I want to learn more about your company’s system, so I’ll introduce myself first.
要
yào
[yào]
about to; going to
With 了, shows something is about to happen.
比賽要開始了。
The match is about to start.
先走了。
xiān zǒu le
leave first
先走 means 'to leave first'. 了 shows a change of situation.
他先走了。
He left first.
Words in this phrase
先
xiān
[xiān]
first; in advance
Indicates doing something before something else.
我先點餐。
I'll order first.
走
zǒu
[zǒu]
to leave; to go
To depart from a place.
時間不早了，我要走了。
It's late, I have to leave.
了
le
[le]
change-of-state particle
With 快…了, shows something is about to happen.
火車快來了。
The train is about to arrive.
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