How to say 要

  • Traditional characters: 要
  • Pinyin (Taiwan standard): yào
  • Zhuyin (bopomofo): ㄧㄠˋ
  • Meaning: to want

Hear it in a Taiwan accent:

要 in example sentences

Real lines from CiaoSpeak’s graded stories, each with pinyin, an English translation and Taiwan-accent audio.

魚？你要養魚，還是要吃魚？

yú nǐ yào yǎng yú hái shì yào chī yú

Fish? Do you want fish as a pet, or fish for dinner?

From the story 狗！ (The Dog!)

我要吃飯！

wǒ yào chī fàn

I want FOOD!

From the story 你要吃什麼？ (What Do You Want to Eat?)

十二點！我要吃麵！

shí èr diǎn wǒ yào chī miàn

Twelve o'clock! I want noodles!

From the story 你要吃什麼？ (What Do You Want to Eat?)

你要喝什麼？

nǐ yào hē shén me

And what do you want to drink?

From the story 你要吃什麼？ (What Do You Want to Eat?)

誰要喝湯？

shéi yào hē tāng

So who wanted the soup?

From the story 你要吃什麼？ (What Do You Want to Eat?)

Where 要 is taught

  • Unit level: TOCFL Novice 2 (CiaoSpeak’s placement, not the official TOCFL word list)
  • Unit: People, Actions & Questions
  • Lesson: Everyday Verbs
  • Taught just before: 有
  • Taught just after: 來