Modal & Auxiliary Verbs

要 (yào) before a verb means “want to” — and often “going to”, with a sense that you've decided to act. Its gentler cousin 想 means “would like to”.

想 (xiǎng) before a verb means “would like to” — the soft, tentative cousin of 要. Use 想要 (xiǎngyào) to want a thing; and on its own, 想 also means “to miss”.

Chinese splits English “can” into three: 会 (a learned skill), 能 (ability or circumstances), and 可以 (permission). Picking the right one is the whole game.