What does 要 mean in Chinese?

要 (yào) means "important; vital; to want; to ask for; will; going to (as future auxiliary); may; must; (used in a comparison) must be; probably; if" in Chinese. It is an HSK Level 1 word.

How do you pronounce 要?

要 is pronounced "yào" in Mandarin Chinese. The tone number is 4.

What HSK level is 要?

要 is an HSK Level 1 word (HSK 2.0: Level 1, HSK 3.0: Level 1).

What words contain the character 要?

Common words with 要 include 主要 (main), 只要 (if only), 不要 (don't!), 不要紧 (unimportant), 偏要 (to insist on doing sth).

How do you write 要?

要 has 9 strokes. Its radical is 覀. You can view the stroke order animation on our stroke order tool.

要 (yào), important

要

yào

important; vital; to want; to ask for

HSK 1verb9 strokes

Character Breakdown

要 = 覀 + 女

A woman under a cover — wanting shelter

Radical: 覀 (no. 146)Strokes: 9

View stroke order →

Definitions

(verb) important
vital
to want
to ask for
will
going to (as future auxiliary)
may
must
(used in a comparison) must be
probably
if

Example Sentences

我想要一杯水。

Wǒ xiǎng yào yī bēi shuǐ

I want a glass of water

Words Containing 要

Word	Pinyin	Meaning	HSK
主要	zhǔ yào	main	HSK 2
只要	zhǐ yào	if only	HSK 2
不要	bù yào	don't!	HSK 2
不要紧	bù yào jǐn	unimportant	HSK 4
偏要	piān yào	to insist on doing sth
切要	qiè yào	essential
势要	shì yào	influential figure
一定要	yī dìng yào	must
不必要	bù bì yào	needless
不要脸	bù yào liǎn	to have no sense of shame