要
yào
Pinyin
Definition
要
-
- important
- vital
- to want
- to ask for
- will
- going to (as future auxiliary)
- may
- must
- (used in a comparison) must be
- probably
- if
要
-
- to demand
- to request
- to coerce
Character Decomposition
Compounds (1)
- 1 contraction of 勿要
- 2 must not
- 3 please don't
Idioms (11)
不要在一棵树上吊死
- 1 don't insist on only taking one road to Rome (idiom)
- 2 there's more than one way to skin a cat
刀不磨要生锈,人不学要落后
- 1 a blade will get rusty if it is not sharpened; a man will fall behind if he doesn't study (idiom)
切中要害
- 1 to hit the target and do real damage (idiom)
- 2 fig. to hit where it hurts
- 3 fig. to hit home
- 4 an argument that hits the nail on the head
又要马儿跑,又要马儿不吃草
- 1 lit. you can't expect the horse to run fast but not let it graze (idiom)
- 2 fig. you can't have your cake and eat it, too
只要功夫深,铁杵磨成针
- 1 If you work at it hard enough, you can grind an iron bar into a needle.
- 2 cf idiom 磨杵成針|磨杵成针, to grind an iron bar down to a fine needle (idiom); fig. to persevere in a difficult task
- 3 to study diligently
Sample Sentences
王总,这份合同草案请您过目,看看有哪里需要修改的。
Mr. Wang, please take a look at the contract draft, to see if there is anything needs to be revised.
你需要一个团队,我明白。可是老板还没同意。
I understand that you need a team. But our boss hasn’t given us the green light/
你的计划好是好,就是需要的人力很多
Your project is great, except that it will require a lot of manpower.
我先生今儿出门儿的时候,说要和大学同学聚餐,我总觉得不对劲儿,一定有事儿,就打电话问了一个熟人,他就露馅儿了,我压根儿没想到他会这样骗我。
When my husband went out today and said he was going to have dinner with his college friends, I couldn’t help feeling that something was wrong. I called an acquaintance and he gave my husband away. I had no idea he would lie to me like that.
听到消息有新的上司要来,同事就开始出馊主意,说要热热闹闹地为新上司办个欢迎派对,看来他是想和新上司套交情。
When hearing of the news that a new boss was coming, my colleague began to make silly suggestions, saying that we should have a welcoming party for the new boss. It seemed that he was trying to curry favor with the new boss.
我有个护士朋友说是家长想要女婿了,所以想认识认识新朋友。但是她可挑剔了,她开出来的征友条件,让人看了都傻眼。
I have a nurse friend who says that her parents want a son-in-law, so she wants to meet new friends. But she’s very picky, and her list of boyfriend criteria is really shocking.
她要她的白马王子眼睛大,眉毛浓,头发微微自然卷,个子还要高,最重要的是要有钱,要能常常买新衣服,买她想要的东西给她。
She wants her Prince Charming to have big eyes, thick eyebrows, slightly curly hair, to be tall, and above all, to have money, to be able to buy new clothes and what she wants all the time.
你行的,振作起来,不要放弃!
You can do it. Cheer up! Don’t give up!
他常说:“凡事只要差不多,就好了。何必太精明呢?”
He would often say, "Things only have to be close enough to be good. Why bother to do things precisely all the time?”
老板,我要加点。加点一碗牛肉面。
Boss, I would like to order something in addition. An additional bowl of beef noodles.