要

yào

to want; to need; to ask for

will; shall; about to; need to; should; if (same as 要是[yao4 shi5]); (bound form) important

Cover/store (覀) + woman (女) = want; need; should

覀 is a variant of 西, originally depicting a basket or cover used to store things — what one keeps and guards. A woman (女) securing what is stored evokes the idea of claiming, needing, and wanting.

覀+女→要
女WomanSemantic
覀Variant of 西Semantic

我要一杯水,谢谢。

wǒ yào yī bēi shuǐ, xiè xie.

I want a glass of water, thank you.

你要好好学习,将来才能找到好工作。

nǐ yào hǎo hao xué xí, jiāng lái cái néng zhǎo dào hǎo gōng zuò.

You need to study hard so that you can find a good job in the future.

Words with 要

要价

yào jià

to ask a price; to charge

要角

yào jiǎo

significant role

摘要

zhāi yào

summary

必要条件

bì yào tiáo jiàn

requirement

要员

yào yuán

key participant

须要

xū yào

must; have to

需要

xū yào

to need; to want; to demand; to require

不要紧

bù yào jǐn

unimportant

要不然

yào bù rán

otherwise

次要

cì yào

secondary

要紧

yào jǐn

important

重要性

zhòng yào xìng

importance

More characters with 覀

覆贾栗票粟