About
The character "要" originally denoted the human waist, a sense later specialized by the character "腰", and its modern form is structurally parsed as the component "西" positioned above "女". From its primary meaning of waist, the character extended to convey ideas of grasping at the middle or constraining, hence acquiring the meanings "to intercept" and "to demand". These uses subsequently broadened into the contemporary verbs "to want" or "to need" and the adjective "important", reflecting a conceptual shift from physical centrality to abstract necessity.
Etymology Hide
Example Sentences Hide
我要吃苹果。
我明天要去学校。
你不要忘记带书包。
我们必须要努力学习。
你想要喝茶还是咖啡？
这封信要寄到上海。
要是下雨，我们就不去了。
完成这个项目需要大家共同努力。