要 (yào): to want, to need, to ask for, will, shall, about to, (bound form) to demand, to coerce
要 (yào) is a Chinese character meaning “to want.” Classified as HSK Level 1 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 覀 (structural) and 女 (structural). It ranks #26 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 要 a woman 女 with hands on her waist 覀. Its radical form 西 (west) appears in many related characters such as 西 (xī, the West), 覆 (fù, to cover).
Definitions
- to want
- to need
- to ask for
- will
- shall
- about to
- (bound form) to demand
- to coerce
Etymology & Origin
ideographicA woman 女 with hands on her waist 覀
Decomposition: ⿱覀女 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 要 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 要
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 需要verb/noun | xū yào | to need | 3 |
| 不要adverb | bù yào | don't! | 1 |
| 重要adjective | zhòng yào | important | 3 |
| 只要conjunction | zhǐ yào | so long as | 3 |
| 要求verb/noun | yāo qiú | to request | 3 |
| 必要adjective | bì yào | necessary | 5 |
| 要是conjunction | yào shi | (coll.) if | 4 |
| 要么conjunction | yào me | or | 6 |
| 主要adjective | zhǔ yào | main | 3 |
| 快要adverb | kuài yào | nearly at the point of (doing sth) | 2 |
| 将要adverb | jiāng yào | will | 4 |
| 要不然conjunction | yào bù rán | otherwise | 5 |
| 不要紧adjective | bù yào jǐn | unimportant | 5 |
| 要不conjunction | yào bù | otherwise | 5 |
| 首要adjective | shǒu yào | the most important | 6 |
| 至关重要phrase | zhì guān zhòng yào | extremely important | 6 |
| 要点noun | yào diǎn | main point | 6 |
| 要素noun | yào sù | essential factor | 6 |
| 要不是conjunction | yào bu shì | if it were not for | 5 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 就要adverb | jiù yào | will |
| 提要noun | tí yào | summary |
| 无关紧要phrase | wú guān jǐn yào | indifferent |
| 要命verb | yào mìng | to cause sb's death |
| 要紧adjective | yào jǐn | important |
| 正要 | zhèng yào | to be just about to |
| 要害noun | yào hài | vital part |
| 重要性 | zhòng yào xìng | importance |
| 要塞noun | yào sài | stronghold |
| 不要脸verb | bù yào liǎn | to have no sense of shame |
| 要挟verb | yāo xié | to threaten |
| 要好adjective | yào hǎo | to be on good terms |
要 appears in 105 compound words: 55 as the first character, 41 as the last, and 4 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 要 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (7)
Showing 6 of 7 idioms containing 要.
Example Sentences
这个要字在古汉语中有不同的含义。
zhè gě yāo zì zài gǔ hàn yǔ zhōng yǒu bù tóng de hán yì .
The character "要" carries different meanings in classical Chinese.
默茨访华前警告不要抱有“幻想”
mò 茨 fǎng huá qián jǐng gào bù yāo bào yǒu huàn xiǎng
Mertz warned against "illusions" before visiting China
这谁要啦?马年刮刮乐送“小强标本”引热议 台北...
zhè shéi yāo lā ? mǎ nián guā guā lè sòng xiǎo qiáng biāo běn yǐn rè yì tái běi . . .
Who wants this? The Year of the Horse scratch card sends "Xiaoqiang specimens" to arouse heated discussions in Taipei...
牙痛要人命!蛀牙不补死亡风险增1.7倍
yá tòng yāo rén mìng ! zhù yá bù bǔ sǐ wáng fēng xiǎn zēng 1 . 7 bèi
Toothache can kill people! The risk of death without tooth decay increased by 1.7 times
美国这座机场要改名“唐纳德·特朗普国际机场”
měi guó zhè zuò jī chǎng yāo gǎi míng táng nà dé tè lǎng pǔ guó jì jī chǎng
The airport in the United States will be renamed "Donald Trump International Airport"
你想要什么喝的吗？
Nǐ xiǎngyào shénme hē de ma?
Do you want something to drink?
我需要写一封信。你有纸吗？
Wǒ xūyào xiě yī fēng xìn. nǐ yǒu zhǐ ma?
I have to write a letter. Do you have some paper?
我为什么一定要知道呢？
Wǒ wèishénme yīdìng yào zhīdào ne?
Why must I know about it?
他们现在要去哪里？
Tāmen xiànzài yào qù nǎlǐ?
Where are they going to right now?
你在上海要住多少时间？
Nǐ zài Shànghǎi yào zhù duōshao shíjiān?
How long are you going to stay in Shanghai?
Character Family
西 Radical Family — Characters sharing the west radical
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 要 (yào) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 要 and 答?
How many strokes does 要 have?
What is the radical of 要?
What are the components of 要?
What are common words containing 要?
What characters sound the same as 要 (yào)?
Is 要 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 要 with real-time feedback
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