Mandarin speakers generally use the term “yao” to refer to both the present and future. However, in particular instances it cannot be specifically ascertained if the speaker is talking about the present of the future. For example:
“Ni yao zai fanguan chi ma?” could mean any of the following:
- Do you want to eat at the restaurant?
Or - Will you be eating at the restaurant?
The first sentence is in present tense while the second is in future tense. In this example, “yao” can mean, “want” or it can mean, “will be”. Since there is no time, one has to judge time based on the context. Chinese Mandarin is very casual about tense. In the strictest sense, the sentence can be added a future time indicator (“jianglai”) for emphasis. Thus the sentence would read:
“Ni jianglai yao zai fanguan chi ma?”
In English it would specifically be read:
“Shall you be eating at the restaurant in future?”