要【yào】

要 covers wanting something and intending to do it. Before a noun it means "want"; before a verb it means "want to" or "am going to".

要 or 想

xiǎng想 wishes, 要 decides. 我要买 is a plan already made; 我想买 is still under consideration.

The negative

Before a noun, 不要 turns something down: "I don't want it".

Before a verb, 不要 is usually heard as "don't", a prohibition. To say you don't want to or don't plan to do something, use bù xiǎng不想 or bù不dǎ suàn打算.

我不要去 is not wrong, but it is a flat refusal – "I won't go!" – rather than a statement of what you want.

Usage notes

These go beyond wanting and intending.

Need or have to

要 can state a requirement with no sense of wanting.

Will

要 can also say what is going to happen.

要…了 for something about to happen

With 了 at the end, 要 says the event is imminent.