Level 1 · Beginner
Wanting to do something with 想
Subj. + 想 + Verb
想 (xiǎng) before a verb means "would like to": 我想喝水 "I'd like to drink some water". It's a soft, polite way to express a wish, closer to "feel like" than a demand.
Before a noun, 想 changes meaning to "miss" or "think of": 我想你 "I miss you" — not "I want you a drink", so keep a verb after it when you mean "want to".
Examples
我想喝水。
wǒ xiǎng hē shuǐ
I'd like to drink some water.
我想去中国。
我想去中國。
wǒ xiǎng qù zhōng guó
I want to go to China.
你想看电影吗？
你想看電影嗎？
nǐ xiǎng kàn diàn yǐng ma
Do you want to watch a movie?
我不想工作。
wǒ bù xiǎng gōng zuò
I don't feel like working.
Related grammar points
See it in a story
Read this pattern in context: Let's have a slumber party — free graded stories with tap-to-reveal pinyin and translations.
