The modal verb 要
In Chinese, 要 (yào) stands before a verb and expresses wanting or planning to do something.
In English it is usually rendered as “be going to …” or “want to …”.
Basic structure
Subject + 要 + verb
Meaning:
someone is going to do something.
他今天要和小朋友玩
他tāhe
今天jīntiāntoday
要yàobe going to
和小朋友玩hé xiǎopéngyou wánplay with the kids
Here 要 expresses today's plan or wish.
妈妈要去超市
妈妈māmamum
要yàobe going to
去超市qù chāoshìgo to the supermarket
白家月要在家里学中文
白家月Bái JiāyuèBai Jiayue
要yàobe going to
在家里zài jiālǐat home
学中文xué Zhōngwénstudy Chinese
The rule in short
要 + verb
Meaning:
it expresses the wish or the plan to do something.
Examples:
要和小朋友玩
要去超市
要在家里学中文