Beh and ài

[Ah-bin]

I think the basic difference between beh and ài is that ài indicates volition and beh does not necessarily indicate volition and is more similar to a future tense. I wonder, is that right?

Lú má-chài beh khì tó-lóh?
Where are you going tomorrow? Where will you go tomorrow?

Lú má-chài ài khì tó-lóh?
Where do you want to go tomorrow?

I was also wondering, can beh be used when referring to the past?

I think you can say

Lú cha-huiⁿ ài khì tó-lóh?
Where did you want to go yesterday?

But not
*Lú cha-huiⁿ beh khì tó-lóh?

Does this last sentence sound strange to a native speaker?

I do know that you can say

Wá cha-mê• beh chhut khì ê sî...
Yesterday when I was about to go out/ before I went out...

and that is in the past, so maybe there is no rule after all.

Thank you in advance for your advice.

[AndrewAndrew]

Lú cha-huiⁿ ài khì tó-lóh?
Where did you want to go yesterday?

But not
*Lú cha-huiⁿ beh khì tó-lóh?

Does this last sentence sound strange to a native speaker?

In both cases I would put "sīơⁿ" before the verb.

[hokkien_learner]

Mind if I ask, Can you post characters for "Lú má-chài beh khì tó-lóh?" Please.

[Ah-bin]

"Lú má-chài beh khì tó-lóh?"

Well, I myself write it like this:

汝(明仔載)欲去倒落.
But be warned! First this is Penang Hokkien, and other varieties will say it differently. Taiwanese, for example, will say something like

Lí bîn-á-chài beh khì tó-ūi.
Which I would write:
汝(明仔載)欲去倒位.

Second, there aren't really any characters that fit properly to the two syllables of "má-chài", because it is a contraction of bîn-á-chài.

Finally....those are just my own ways of writing things, copying what I have seen in most recent books and dictionaries, but other people will write these sentences in other ways!

[SimL]

Lú cha-huiⁿ ài khì tó-lóh?
Where did you want to go yesterday?

But not
*Lú cha-huiⁿ beh khì tó-lóh?

Does this last sentence sound strange to a native speaker?

In both cases I would put "sīơⁿ" before the verb.

Nice improvement. I think the sentences as originally proposed by Ah-bin were ok, but the added "sioN7" is nice. I pronounce it "siauN7" myself.