要

yào
HSK 3
#26 most
frequent character
important, vital, to want, will
verb
adjective

Character breakdown

Source: Make Me a Hanzi.

要 first showed two hands grabbing a woman's waist, so it meant 'waist'. The modern form keeps 女 woman, while 覀 is now an empty part. The meaning 'to want' was borrowed for its sound, and from there came 'will' and 'must'.

Drawn as: hands grabbing waist; woman

要 as a component in other characters

meaning1 character
腰
sound2 characters
腰崾

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Example Sentences

我想要一个苹果。
wǒ xiǎngyào yígè píngguǒ 。
I want an apple.
你要去哪里？
nǐyào qù nǎlǐ ？
Where are you going?
这件事情很重要。
zhè jiàn shìqíng hěn zhòngyào 。
This matter is very important.

Words with similar meanings

想要xiǎngyào
to desire
A more formal expression of wishing for something.
必须bìxū
must
Conveys obligation or necessity, a stronger sense than '要'.

Words Starting With 要

要不yào bù
"otherwise; or; or else; how about...? (one choice or the other); either this, or else..."
要是yào shi
if
要不然yào bù rán
otherwise; or else; or
要命yào mìng
to cause sb's death; very; extremely; frightening; annoying
要点yào diǎn
main point; essential

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