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plYào 要 is a modal verb that always combines with another verb. It is usually used to express strong desire, willingness, necessity or possibility of future event.
Structure
Basic form
Like other modal verbs, yào 要 is generally placed before the verb it refers to.
Negation
When expressing ‘not want to’, the commonly used negation form for yào 要 is bù xiǎng 不想.
Some native speakers also say bú yào 不要. However, this sounds stronger and more direct than bù xiǎng 不想.
Question
There are two ways of asking questions with yào 要. One is to add the question particle ma 吗/嗎 at the end of the sentence.
The other is to use the “modal verb bù 不 modal verb” structure before the verb.
With adverbs
Adverbs, such as dōu 都 ‘all, both’ and yě 也 ‘also’, are usually placed before yào 要.
Note that the degree adverbs such as hěn 很 ‘very’ cannot be used to modify yào 要.
With verbs preceded by a prepositional phrase
Like other modal verbs, when a verb is preceded by a prepositional phrase, yào 要 is placed before this phrase.
Note that when there is no particular emphasis, the typical place of a time noun is before yào 要. Otherwise, the time expressions is placed after yào 要.
Functions
1. yào 要 indicating strong desire or willingness
yào 要 can indicate a speaker’s strong desire, willingness or determination and can be translated as ‘want to, desire to’.
Compared to the modal adverb xiǎng 想 ‘would like to, want to’, which can also express speaker’s willingness or intention, the sentence with yào 要 sounds stronger. Wǒ xiǎng qù wàiguó lǚxíng 我想去外国旅行/我想去外國旅行 is commonly perceived as ‘I would like to go abroad and travel’, which sounds less determined than the sentence with yào 要.
As mentioned above, the commonly used negation form for yào 要 is bù xiǎng 不想.
For some native speakers, bú yào 不要 is also acceptable. However, compared to bù xiǎng 不想, bú yào不要 sounds stronger and more direct, because it indicates a strong desire NOT to do something.
Therefore, to make a refusal less direct or more polite, bù xiǎng 不想 is to be preferred over bú yào 不要.
Note that In contrast to xiǎng 想, yào 要 cannot be modified by degree adverbs such as hěn 很 ‘very’ because the focus is on whether the strong desire or strong determination exists and not on the degree of desire.
2. yào 要 indicating a necessity
When used in affirmative sentences or questions, yào 要 can indicate a necessity, corresponding to ‘have to’ or ‘need to’ in English. In this usage, the adverb yídìng 一定 ‘certainly, surely’ can be placed before yào 要 to strengthen the tone.
When indicating a necessity, the negation form is not bú yào 不要, but bú yòng 不用 ‘need not’.
3. yào 要 indicating the possibility of a future event
Yào 要 can indicate the possibility of a future event when a time expression is added. Sometimes it can be translated as ‘will (have to)’. Other than sentences with huì 会/會, a sentence with yào 要 is usually related to a scheduled or planned event, or a necessity.
Sometimes, the possibility is related to willingness.
Affirmative sentences with yào 要 are likely to be interpreted in different ways or with an overlapping meaning. The specific meaning can only be decided by the context in which an utterance occurs.
To avoid ambiguity, some speakers tend to use xiǎng 想 or hěn xiǎng 很想 to show strong willingness in this kind of context.
4. bú yào 不要 used for negative imperative
The negation form bú yào 不要 is often used for negative imperatives as if saying ‘don’t…’. This use is interchangeable with the negative adverb bié 别 ‘don’t’.