Textbook · HSK 1
I Want That One 我想要
小美 and 玛丽 window-shop on campus, and you learn to say what you like and want, and to size things up as big, small, hot, cold, or just plain pretty.
Read the exchange below once, straight through, before we take it apart. 小美 and 玛丽 are standing in front of a 商店 window on a cold afternoon, deciding what they like and what they want. Watch for two small verbs that both mean 'want,' 想 and 要, and watch for 很 and 太 doing two different jobs in front of a describing word. 很 just states a plain fact: 这个很大, 'this one is big.' 太 complains that something has gone past the right amount: 那个太小, 'that one is too small.' By the end of the chapter you can say what you like, what you want, and how big, small, hot, cold, or pretty something is, with only ten words.
ⓘ 很 fills the seat where English puts 'is'
这个很大 has no extra word for 'is' anywhere in it. 这个 (this one) sits right next to 很大, and 很 is doing the linking job, not really adding 'very.' Drop 很 and say 这个大 by itself and it can sound like half a sentence, so 很 is doing more work here than its dictionary meaning suggests.
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小的 tacks 的 onto 小 to mean 'the small one,' so 小美 does not have to say 水果 all over again.
ⓘ 太 says it went past the right amount
很小 is a plain 'small.' 太小 is not just small, it is 'too small,' past the point of being any good. 很 states an amount; 太 says the amount overshot. You will often hear 太 followed by 了 at the very end to seal a complaint, but 太小 by itself already makes the point.
ⓘ 想 and 要 both sit in front of what you want
想 and 要 can each go straight in front of a noun to mean 'want ___': 想要那个水果 and 要那个水果 both work, and here 小美 uses 想要 for herself too, 我想要书. Put either one in front of a verb instead and it means 'want to ___.' They land close enough in meaning that Chinese speakers use them almost interchangeably, and often stack them together as 想要 for a little extra push.
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热茶 and 冷水 put the describing word directly in front of the noun, no 很 and no 的 needed, the same way English says 'hot tea' with nothing in between.
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小美 already said she wants a book. 玛丽 does not let it drop, she asks exactly which one, the same answer-then-ask habit keeping the last word.
Notice that neither of them just states a preference and stops. 小美 reaches for 你呢？ the moment she has given her own answer, and later 玛丽 answers the store question and fires one straight back: 你喜欢这个商店吗？ It is the same answer-then-ask habit from earlier chapters, just wearing new words. And there really is plenty to choose from: 商店里，水果很多，书很多。
Why 想 and 要 barely need to be told apart when you are pointing at something
想 and 要 both sit in front of a noun to mean 'want,' and both sit in front of a verb to mean 'want to.' 我想要那个水果 and 我要那个水果 land almost the same way, 'I want that fruit.' If there is a difference, 想 leans a little softer, closer to wishing or considering, while 要 leans a little more direct, closer to asking for it outright. 要 also does a second job neither example here needs yet: it can point at the near future, 'going to,' the way 我要喝茶了 would mean 'I'm about to drink tea.' For now, in front of a thing you are pointing at in a shop window, treat 想 and 要 as close enough to swap, and notice that Chinese lets you stack them, 想要, for a want that pushes a little harder than either word alone.
Two of today's words are close relatives you can see just by looking at them. 太 is 大 with one extra small stroke added underneath, a single dot. 大 says 'big'; 太 takes that same shape and pushes it past the point of being useful, 'too much.' 那个太小 does not mean 'that one is very small,' it means 'that one is too small,' the size has gone wrong somewhere. Keep an eye out for 大 hiding inside 太 every time you write it.
太 is 大 plus one stroke, and the meaning follows the shape
Look at 太 next to 大. 太 is nothing more than 大 with a single dot added below it, and the meaning moves the same direction the shape does: 大 alone is a plain 'big,' and 太 takes that bigness one small stroke past where it should stop. That is exactly what 太 does to a describing word inside a sentence: 很大 is a flat statement, 'big.' 太大 pushes past the right size, 'too big.' The character for 'too much' is quite literally 'big' plus a little bit more, which makes it one of the easier new characters in this chapter to remember.
Place your bets. 玛丽 looks at the small fruit and she is not just noting its size, she is complaining that it is too small to want. Which degree word does she reach for, 很 or 太? Guess, then reveal.
太. 很小 is a flat 'small.' 太小 adds the complaint, 'too small,' past the point of being any good. 玛丽 says 那个太小，我想要大的！
The second half of the conversation moves from the shop window to something to drink, and 冷 and 热 behave exactly like 大 and 小 already did. Put 很 in front of either one and you have a complete sentence, no separate word for 'is' anywhere in it: 现在很冷 is 'it's cold right now.' Put 冷 or 热 directly in front of a noun instead, with no 很 at all, and you get a description stuck straight onto the thing itself: 热茶, 'hot tea,' 冷水, 'cold water.' Same two words, two different jobs.
Why 漂亮 is the word Chinese reaches for on almost anything, not just faces
漂亮 gets translated as 'pretty' or 'beautiful,' and the first instinct is to save it for people. Don't. Chinese hands 漂亮 out constantly, to a book, a cup of tea, a jacket, a sentence someone just wrote well, a goal in a football match. 小美 calls a piece of fruit 漂亮 in this very chapter, and nobody blinks. It is less a judgment about beauty and more a general, warm 'nice' or 'that looks great,' the kind of word you can throw at almost anything you approve of. Reach for it more often than feels natural at first, and you will sound more like a native speaker, not less.
Bet first. You want to say 'I want the big one' in Chinese, and you already know 大的 means 'the big one.' Which word goes in front to say 'want,' 想 or 要, or could it be both stacked together? Predict, then reveal.
Either works, and stacked together they push a little harder: 我想要大的, 'I want the big one.' 我要大的 and 我想大的 by themselves are both fine too. 想 leans toward wishing, 要 leans toward asking for it outright.
Last bet. 小美 wants to say a piece of fruit looks really nice, colorful and pleasant to look at. Which word does she reach for? Picture the sentence, then reveal.
漂亮. 很漂亮 says 'it's pretty,' built the same way as 很大 and 很冷: 很 plus the describing word, no separate 'is' anywhere. 漂亮 is also the word Chinese reaches for on almost anything that looks good, not just people.
That is the whole chapter. Ten words, and you can already say what you like, what you want, and size anything up.
- 想 (xiǎng): to want, to think, to intend
- 要 (yào): to want, to need, will (going to)
- 喜欢 (xǐ huan): to like
- 漂亮 (piào liang): pretty, nice-looking
- 冷 (lěng): cold
- 热 (rè): hot
- 大 (dà): big
- 小 (xiǎo): small
- 太 (tài): too (much), past the right amount
- 多 (duō): many, a lot
Say what you like with 喜欢, say what you want with 想 or 要, and size things up with 很 for a plain fact or 太 when it has gone too far. Practice it in the study room, then go pick something out for yourself.