Meaning
demand; ask; request; coerce; important; vital
Chinese: 需要、想要，也可表示将要。
Hear the Four Tones
The same syllable “yao” becomes a different word in each tone. 要 is the 4th tone. Tap any tone to hear a native voice and see its pitch shape.
Stroke Order
Tap Animate to watch the strokes in order, or Practice to trace it yourself.
Common Words
- 不要bù yàodon't!; must not
- 重要zhòng yàoimportant; significant; major
- 要求yāo qiúto request; to require; requirement; to stake a claim
- 只要zhǐ yàoso long as; provided; if
- 主要zhǔ yàomain; principal; major; primary
Example Sentence
明天我要去图书馆看书。Míng tiān wǒ yào qù tú shū guǎn kàn shū.Tomorrow I will go to the library to read.
明天Míng tiāntomorrow我wǒI要yàoto want去qùto go图书馆tú shū guǎnlibrary看书kàn shūto read。
Go deeper
Where this character comes from
Originally a picture of a waist (西 over 女, a person's midsection) — the source of 腰 'waist'. Borrowed for ‘to want, need; important; will’ (yào / yāo).
A way to remember it
Once the waist (now 腰); borrowed for ‘want, need, important’.