要 for wants, plans and the near future
要 before a noun means “I want / I’ll have”; before a verb it means “I’m going to”. Its negative is 不想 or 不用 — 不要 is an order, not a refusal.
Structure
主语 + 要 + 名词／动词短语 ｜ 主语 + 要 + 动词 + 了（即将发生）
Explanation
Chinese words in this text can be activated to show a dictionary gloss.
One word covers both a wish and a plan. Before a noun, is “want, would like to have”: “I’ll have a coffee.” Before a verb it announces an intention or a scheduled future: “I’m going to Beijing tomorrow.” Add at the very end and the future becomes imminent: “I’m off now”, “It’s about to rain.” The negative is where nearly everyone slips. is not “don’t want” — it is an instruction: “Don’t go.” To decline, use (“I don’t feel like it”): . To say something is unnecessary, use : “No need to thank me.” One more limit: introduces a verb, so a future state is expressed with a time word and an ordinary adjective sentence — “I’ll be busy tomorrow”, not .
Correct
Say each one out loud before moving on. The audio is a reference pronunciation, not a model to imitate exactly — match the tone contour, not the voice.
我明天要去北京。
Wǒ (third tone, dipping) míngtiān (second tone, rising) yào (fourth tone, falling) qù (fourth tone, falling) Běijīng. (third tone, dipping)···
I’m going to Beijing tomorrow.
我要一杯咖啡，谢谢。我要一杯咖啡，謝謝。
Wǒ (third tone, dipping) yào (fourth tone, falling) yì (fourth tone, falling) bēi (first tone, high and level) kāfēi, (first tone, high and level) xièxie. (fourth tone, falling)···
I’ll have a coffee, please.
我要走了，明天见。我要走了，明天見。
Wǒ (third tone, dipping) yào (fourth tone, falling) zǒu (third tone, dipping) le, (neutral tone) míngtiān (second tone, rising) jiàn. (fourth tone, falling)···
I’m off now — see you tomorrow.
Incorrect — Common mistakes
These sentences are wrong. They are printed here on purpose, each one paired with the repair and the reason, because the error you can recognise is the error you stop making.
Not quite
Incorrect sentence: 我不要去，我很累。
Correct
Correct sentence: 我不想去，我很累。
Why: 不要 tells the other person not to go. To say you would rather not, use 不想.
Not quite
Incorrect sentence: 我要去了北京。
Correct
Correct sentence: 我要走了。／我要去北京了。
Why: The 了 of imminence closes the sentence, after the object. It never sits between the verb and its object.
Not quite
Incorrect sentence: 我要忙。
Correct
Correct sentence: 我明天很忙。
Why: 要 introduces an action you intend to do, not a quality. Future states are shown by a time word plus the ordinary 很 + adjective pattern.
Compared with
Most errors with this pattern are not errors about this pattern — they are a neighbouring pattern arriving at the wrong moment. Read these side by side.
要 and 会 both point forward, and both are translated “will”. 要 is the speaker’s own intention or a fixed arrangement: 我明天要去北京 “I’m going to Beijing tomorrow (it’s decided).” 会 is a prediction about what will turn out to be the case, very often about someone else or about the weather: 他明天会来吗？ “Do you think he’ll come tomorrow?”, 明天会下雨. If “I plan to” fits the English, use 要; if “it is likely that” fits, use 会.
Saying “can”: 会, 能 and 可以 →Mini quiz
Question 1 / 3Total score: 0
Choose the form that means “I don’t want to go, I’m tired.”
我 ___ 去，我很累。