The Difference Between 想 Xiang and 要 Yao (Chinese Grammar) Learn Chinese Now

想 Xiang and 要 Yao are both chinese words meaning want, but they are used quite differently.
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[@williampennjr.4448]

xiang= would like yao= want xuyao= need

[@JoeBergy122]

I've always thought about it like this: 要 = intend, 想 = desire. Not totally accurate, but it helps to remember when in conversation.

[@KillerTacos54]

That's a very helpful way to think about it, 谢谢！

[@maelstrom57]

Random baby is random.

[@KaylaDeStefano]

Thank you for this! Interchangeable words are the hardest part of Chinese for me at the moment. (表示vs表达，明白／了解／懂, 等等）

[@kevinthehouse2445]

I'm loving these kind of videos. it's been awesome lately 👌👌

[@JoachimderZweite]

This is really good and it gives details details details which non native speakers need.

[@jawzzy3]

Great presentation of the differences between 想念，想要，需要，and the usage of their shortened forms. It cleared up a lot of confusion I had from learning it from the textbook/classroom.

[@esbendayo]

I actually thought of looking this difference up this very morning! Just came to Taiwan for the first time yesterday, and noticed this video by accident because I already was subscriped. 非常感謝

[@UCanRockMyRazorblade]

Thank you so much! This is very helpful. I'm trying to learn Mandarin (husband is Taiwanese and needs me to learn Mandarin so that one day we can move to Taiwan) and these types of videos are extremely helpful for me since I'm having a hard time learning the language. I subscribed to you!

[@tracypanglei]

It’s so interesting to watch your videos teaching Chinese. I am a native Mandarin speaker and I can tell your Chinese is quite good. I always told people that the grammar of Chinese is so easy. But maybe I was totally wrong lol BTW - Usually we say 我要走了, with a le in the end of the sentence. And I was from the video explaining 了 😉

[@yangguangsunshine8647]

your baby is really cute !! 😍 you explain the words in a very good way, that's soo kind of you

[@hiddengems2844]

GREAT explanation

[@gregoryashley7963]

I was confused by the two words. Thank you for breaking it down and clearing it up. Much thanks!

[@xingou6345]

我不想要、我需要。This will become part of my everyday lexicon. I have been trying to figure out how to say this sentence for SO LONG, OMG. You are my hero.

[@zzychannel6534]

You got a subscriber. Living in China while listening to your videos is really helpful

[@lakersrull]

explained very well, thanks.

[@AmirlanTV]

Thank you, man! For explaining such a 头疼的thing!

[@NeedMoreChicken]

This is incredibly helpful, I'm studying Chinese at SOAS (London), and your videos just make learning Mandarin simple. I am such a super big fan of your videos (y), please don't stop! :)

[@learnchinesenow]

Hey, great to hear that, I graduated from SOAS too, class of 2011. Do any of the Chinese teachers know our show?

[@NeedMoreChicken]

I will bring it up in our next lecture, one of our lecturers talked about you, and how your show is good learning resource :)

[@simlab8857]

I am Chinese，do you want to help each other? contract me,facebook: [e-mail]

[@aloneboarder]

Great lesson.

[@bluelightsaber1098]

I really enjoyed this video, thank you for your great descriptions. :)

[@MathiaLiu]

Hello, I from hong kong, and your video is great!! I learn mandarin from your video

[@MelissaAtwell]

谢谢你！ Thank you for your videos. They are so helpful! Please make one about acknowledgement words. For example, when someone is talking and you want to respond or acknowledge what they're saying… like, "ok", "right", "yes/yeah". I've been struggling with the subtleties of using 对， 好， 好的， 行， and when is the appropriate time to use them. Thanks again for all your great videos!

[@funmandarin1536]

There is actually no counterpart for Yes in Chinese, while you have many other alternatives as you listed. 对--right， 好/好的--good， 行--ok/way to go. Although 是 is usually regarded as the counterpart for Yes, it's actually "be" (It is, They are, I am, ......). You can interchange them as you like.

[@jimmy4406]

easy dor exemple when ur boss ask u to do something. u can say 好 or 好的 or 我知道了 when u teacher ask u if u doing allright? u can say 行or 沒問題

[@ELSA6118]

Great job!!! Love your T-shirt!

[@Johanneslol11]

Very helpfull thanks :)!!

[@slashlakers2320]

Thank you very much, it was very useful

[@g00glian0]

Very helpful!

[@burhantea4295]

thank you so much, its really useful

[@consequenceable]

your videos are so useful and helping

[@adrien6363]

Cool videos, very well explained, keep it up!

[@gavinwhyte941]

Great video again, mate. Please do one for 跟

[@DanielTschudi]

Thank you! Your podcasts on Chinese grammar are very helpful! Could you do one in the future on the difference in usage between 需要 and 须要?

[@yuzhaoyang3648]

需要: need 须要: must, 语气更强烈 须要 was used by people decades ago and is not commonly used nowadays. Hope this helps :)

[@zeroeye0]

須要 more like an order, and it's usually written down or typed on documents, we aren't used to saying 須要 in conversation

[@wanyinleung912]

Even Chinese can't distinguish between the two...

[@ting8157]

需=need 須=have to

[@Aprendiz07]

Thanks! This video helped me a lot, please keep up!.

[@Timelord918273645]

cute baby is cute :3

[@eliljeho]

Only Oni ke'ai baobei ke'ai!

[@KillerTacos54]

Very helpful video!

[@hahang735]

Quite clear! Thanks sir!!!!

[@pawelczubinski6413]

Exactly what I needed;) Great video!

[@andrewvelasco6224]

awesome vid!

[@safdjqw0]

More vlogs please :)

[@dankhnw8]

Thank you!

[@alissapurplebunnies5955]

thanks, i was confused about the difference between xiang and yao

[@arunvashist1411]

So much helpful ❤❤❤

[@laurayatzilaguirrenamur3645]

what i needed to know. thanks!

[@SasaKowloon]

Thanks for the videos, it's very helpful for us. I start watching with my son (he's in P1) and start learning Mandarin at school. Ps: let (your) cute baby there next to you ☺️

[@whityhepute1716]

AWESOME VIDEO

[@jasonfenderson5372]

So xiang expresses longing or wistfulness ("Man, I sure could go for some ice cream..."), while yao expresses a need or necessity that requires more immediate sating (e.g. "I want ice cream, please", when somebody asks what you want at a restaurant)?

[@shambhukumar3158]

Very nice class

[@shambhukumar3158]

Send video duration of compleament

[@kharmsouvannaly]

Thanks for making this vdo it's useful, I'm laos 老挝人

[@rara8977]

Thanks so much ❤️😍😘

[@annostrander1628]

FYI My KFP OC is a Chinese Dragon Light Goddess named Yiao-Xiang Lung. (Pronounced Yo Shong Lung

[@ivonne030892]

Your baby is so beautiful, you should make video about parenting and baby vocabulary. Also, she can stay!!

[@ureibosatsu]

Excellent video, as always! Is there any chance you'll do a '把' video at some point? Thanks, and greetings from 以色列!

[@avigail3593]

היי גם אני

[@ruthlahpai12]

great

[@OmeidaYangshuo]

A great video! Very useful for people learning Mandarin. Plus the baby is super cute :)

[@gabrielsalvador5706]

Hi, your channel its been a great source for me to practice my Chinese, now that I'm learning this language. My question is When and how to use 有点儿 and 一点儿?

[@sak2407]

有点儿 and 一点儿 both means "a little". 有点儿 is used when you are talking about something bad or negative not necessarily something very bad but mostly something that isn't good. for example if you are going to be little late and that is not a good thing so you will tell the person waiting for you "我可能有点晚"。or you've got a little headache so you will say "我的头有点疼"。for other things you can use 一点 like ”我会说一点汉语“。 Also 儿 doesn't need to be used all the time it's just a sound that northern chinese people make after a lot of words. like 玩 is 玩儿， 宝贝 is 宝贝儿。

[@gabrielsalvador5706]

Sarfaraz Ahmad Khan cool! Thanks Bro

[@jerryjerry6880]

有点儿means有”一点儿“。

[@mikael3659]

@@sak2407 And usually 有点儿(有点儿 + Adj.) comes before an adjective. And 一点儿(adj+一点儿)comes after the adjective.

[@eddyegan8804]

Could you make a video about differently ways to use 的时候 and 当?

[@LanyBright]

good explication! thank you ! greetings from Russia

[@RakibIslam-ov1kc]

that's awesome

[@johnchin3734]

can you make a tutorial on what type of music do you listen. what is hard rock, slow rock, ballad song , pop song, rap etc.

[@JonesNoahT]

YOU’RE SO TIRED, BEN. I AM SO PROUD OF YOU, MY DUDE.

[@kaimetatron1635]

any help would be welcomed 😊

[@dcrock8978]

When using xiang or yao along with words describing time such as xian zai, guo yi huir, or shen me shi hou, is it wrong to put the time after xiang/yao , or is it normal for natives to use both ways?

[@samfcarvalho]

Nice to see episodes! With a new baby I see where you've been fr so long! How about the difference between 想法的想 and 覺得/感覺 的覺

[@hyunjoon.watterson]

Hello thanks for your enjoyable videos!! I have a serious question! I find the answer very mysterious! which is making the verb (or the action ) in senses ( expresssing: past & present& future) is 了 the only way to express past tense? hoping for answer 😁

[@liangyu2560]

Of cause not, '了' is frequently used for past tense, but there are also 已、 已经 、曾、曾经、过、过去、以前、当初、当时、完 and so on. They can be used in different situation with different emotion, and sometimes are used together with each other.

[@user-zy4xk2zl5l]

So, using 想 expresses thought whereas 要 expressing request when talking to somebody, right?

[@pinklemonade1531]

I'm so glad I am understanding this now. Haha, I was confused like Westeners

[@roberthollon4664]

Can you maybe do a video on 想 and 喜歡? Or possibly a combo of 要 , 想 , and 喜歡?

[@georgl914]

Thanks a lot. I've just started to learn Mandarin and stumbled over these two little words. They seemed to be used arbitrarily, but now I got a better picture. BTW, you fluent Putonghua guys have the attitude to pronounce words very clearly if you say them standalone. However if they come into a sentence you do not continue with this pronounciation. Of course the ends of the words will be concatenated and everything becomes fluent and slurred. But in parallel, your voice becomes somehow more hollow, more dark, more spoken in the back part of your oral cavity. I assume it's sth particular for Chinese, isn't it? How can I do it by myself? Any particular excercise? As a German I can speak English with only a very small accent, but the tone and the timing is still like German: distinct words with clear boundaries. But what about Chinese? How can I get this "mumble" sound for Chinese?

[@roxannec1775]

你的女兒好可愛 哈哈 課程很棒 適合初學者 講的很詳細

[@PlanetGreat]

thanks for this.. got confused

[@worldtravel101]

4:10 *Indeed!*

[@Eternal_Flux]

Really appreciate this type of mini tutorial at your home. Anyway can you do a short tutorial on usage of sentence connectors in mandarin? like "However,Because,So,If,Then,Altough etc" .

[@jimmy4406]

我想出國 (然而 or可是 )我沒有錢 i wanna go abroad (however) i don't have money 我喜歡妳 (因為)妳很漂亮 i like u (because) u are pretty （所以你要吃飯還是麵呢？ （so）do u wanna eat rice or noodle？ (假如or如果)明天下雨 我們就待在家裡 (if )it rains tomorrow we stay home. 我們先洗手(然後)在吃飯 we wash hand first.(then)we eat. (雖然)我求他別走，他還是走了 he decided to leave (although) i begged him not to. 她一個人走路回家 (儘管)她知道很危險 she walked home by herself (although )she knew that it was dangerous

[@user-gv7uh4of2h]

老哥说得很标准啊

[@tzyinchen4623]

Nice T-shirt

[@yuantian838]

好帅啊tutor

[@AndyRiot]

Perfect for beginners like ME

[@WhitneyChakara]

Such a precious baby. 😍😍😍

[@QuizmasterLaw]

xiang4 = "would like"?

[@jeanyevenes]

The example at 0:42 "Wo xiang wo jia" , is it correct? (without "de" = wo xiang wo de jia)

[@user-me9io6os4u]

Jean Yévenes As a Chinese, I will say you are correct. Adding “de” will be the common way to say

[@henripei3012]

Jean Yévenes the two ways are right bothe

[@wanyinleung912]

"de" is not necessary here.

[@ruralsquirrel5158]

Very helpful comment!

[@SelfPropelledDestiny]

Your t-shirt?

[@raziahussain9119]

I am new subscriber , I read Chinese ..

[@darrenc3979]

wow! you look really tired here....hope you feel better by now :) Thanks for the great instruction!

[@lilibethcamiguing1375]

so cute baby...

[@nvdawahyaify]

So xiang is like a longing?

[@lamo543]

difference*

[@blahblah24681357]

xiang = to long for something? yao = to intend? xiangyao = to want? xuyao = to need?

[@ellmatic]

Is it weird to do the westerner thing, specifying need vs want? Or, do some Chinese do this as well?

[@TheViolaBuddy]

4:36 I guess this goes back to the 了 episode, but is there a difference between "我要走" and "我要走了"?

[@learnchinesenow]

+Viola Buddy you can add 了 that would be the correct usage (something about to happen, change of state). But sometimes in colloquial speech you might omit it

[@freddylowe4900]

Viola Buddy 我要走了 is more authentic as it indicates a change of state: you didn't need to leave before, but now you do. 我要走 would make sense but the grammar is slightly less good.

[@brod2man]

Often I just hear people say 走了, totally omitting everything haha. I guess it's like "I'm off"

[@sallyy4385]

Viola Buddy You know what? As an native Chinese it's hard to explain the difference sorry about that😂 but I can tell u that there's definitely a huge difference between these two kinds of expressions and they are both grammatically right.

[@sallyy4385]

Freddy Lowe I am an native Chinese speaker and I can tell u that they r both grammatically right and there's a huge difference between them

[@davidyuan9790]

宝宝好可爱啊

[@commonsense9610]

我要你！😂😂😂😂😂 a guy said that to me i just replied但是我不要你

[@hueyhuey6347]

Chyna Wright 哈哈哈哈

[@Mateau35]

lol, burn.

[@duckymomo7935]

哎哟

[@lakersrull]

lol

[@jacenath8197]

Chyna Wright lol that is so funny!

[@toniyaoh7902]

Hey sir do you know that in india country there's also a yao surname

[@cagewu2274]

想want , 要need,差不多这个意思吧。但是想也可以是think吧😂，有很多单字可以表示很多意思。这个要看这个字词在一句话中体现它的意思。

[@pheromone714]

how bout the xiang that means resemblance?

[@0mss]

宝宝很可爱

[@343pri]

Baby is soo cute😘

[@user-zy4xk2zl5l]

Thanks for the video! By the way, love the baby. :'D

[@josepcorretja]

It`s ^yao bu yao^ an usual expression for asking questions about what another person wants?

[@calzao1]

Josep Corretja yes, you could ask ni yao bu yao cha but also ni yao cha ma both are correct.

[@brawlbro7384]

Can u do a video on the differences between tai and hen

[@user-ft3vc6gc2j]

tai=too hen=very

[@cyrilhuang5913]

I think he means 我太想你 and 我很想你，我太喜歡這東西 and 我很喜歡這東西.... 太 is more stronger, usually it's kind of expressing yourself in a VERY MUCH state. such as " I extremely love this thing"

[@viralpatel3675]

Hey Ben, I wonder if anyone could tell me what does 'Hao Shi Nian Nian' mean? Apparently there is restaurant in Delhi with this name, and I think its owner too doesn't quite know its meaning.

[@sak2407]

好是年年。literal meaning is good every year so it kind of wishes you for a good life every year.

[@viralpatel3675]

Sarfaraz Ahmad Khan thankx.. just asking, do you learn Mandarin?

[@sak2407]

yes right now i am living in china

[@viralpatel3675]

okay

[@roxannec1775]

viral patel I guess is 好事連連 It means so many lucky things happend again and again！

[@khuonghang7782]

Maybe he still confuses about something you are explaining. Why do you bring him away =]]. Anyway, thank you for clarifying. I get it now. 也许他还没清除你当解释的问题。 为什么这么早你把它走开了。 无论如何，谢谢你指教，我明白了。

[@user-go6nz4yk6b]

Nice Taiwan shirt