How to say “want” in Chinese
want, be going to
“Want” in Chinese is 要, yào: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.
How to pronounce it
要 is read yào. The tone is part of the word: with another melody you get another word, or just a jumble of sounds.
How to write it
Below, 女 “woman”.
Strokes go in order: top to bottom and left to right, horizontal before vertical. Tap a character to open its page, with the strokes shown large and the words it appears in. To train your hand, print a handwriting sheet for “要”.
Examples
Sentences from the course lessons with 要. Tap the sound icon to listen.
- 我要一个苹果wǒyàoyígepíngguǒOne apple for me.
- 我要一杯水wǒyàoyìbēishuǐA glass of water for me.
- 你还要什么？nǐháiyàoshénmeAnything else?
- 我不要米饭wǒbúyàomǐfànI don't want rice.
- 你要米饭吗？nǐyàomǐfànmaDo you want rice?
- 你要哪个nǐyàonǎgeWhich one do you want?
More characters by topic — happiness, luck, strength, nature — on the page “Chinese characters with meanings”.
More words from the lesson “Fruit and breakfast”
Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say “want” in Chinese?
“Want” in Chinese is 要, pinyin yào.
What does 要 mean?
要 (yào) means “want, be going to”.
How do you write 要?
要 is 1 character. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.
How do you pronounce 要?
要 is read yào. Tones: yào — fourth tone. The page has a native speaker recording.
“want” in the lesson “Fruit and breakfast”
This word is from the topic “Food and shopping” of HSK 1. In the lesson you hear it in a dialogue, build a sentence with it and say it out loud. Start for free, no sign-up needed.
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