Chinese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "要" in Chinese?

Q: How do you pronounce 要 in Chinese?

要 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /jɑʊ˥˩/. It means “to want / to need; will.” yao, one beat, dropping hard from high to low. The vowel travels from a wide "ah" toward "oo" while the pitch plummets.

yao, one beat, dropping hard from high to low. The vowel travels from a wide "ah" toward "oo" while the pitch plummets.

要 /jɑʊ˥˩/

yào

Immovable itself, but it moves things around it. 不要 becomes bú yào because of the falling tone, and 一 in front becomes yí. In the extremely common wǒ yào pattern, wǒ keeps its full dip since yào is falling rather than dipping.

Listen: 要

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Sound it out

y- A consonantal glide as in "yes", the tongue pressed up toward the palate before releasing into the vowel.

-ao Open on "ah", closing toward "oo". A long final, which gives the falling tone plenty of space and makes this one of the clearest fourth tones to hear.

yào (falling) From the top of the range to the bottom, decisive and complete. Since 要 expresses wanting or needing, the firmness of the drop suits its meaning.

Hear it in a sentence

我要去银行。

Wǒ yào qù yínháng.

I need to go to the bank.

Listen: 我要去银行。

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我要去银行。 has two falling tones in a row, yào and qù, which English rhythm wants to merge into one long slide. Each should restart at the top. Then yínháng rises and then levels, so the sentence drops twice and climbs at the end — and wǒ at the front stays fully low because yào does not trigger sandhi.

Where English speakers slip

Learners split the vowel into "yee-ow", making two beats where there is one, and often shorten the fall so it reads as a level tone. Both errors make the verb hard to catch. There is also a near neighbour to watch: yáo with a rising tone is a different word, so a half-hearted descent can genuinely mislead. Drop the pitch as though issuing an instruction.