Lessons 1-10

Lesson 15 你想去哪里? Where would you like to go?

咖啡厅 Coffee House / 电影院 Movie Theater / 想 xiǎng to like, to wish
/ 买 mǎi buy /

想 xiǎng meants "to like, to to want to". Be forewarned, it can also sometimes mean "to think" or "to hold the opinion that", but in this lesson we will use it to talk about wanting or wishing to go someplace or do something。

Let's look at the difference between 我要去北京。Wǒ yào qù Běijīng "I will go to Beijing" and 我想去北京。Wǒ xiǎng qù Běijīng "I want to go to Beijing." Both 要 and 想 indicate intention, but the intention expressed by 要 yào is much stronger than that expressed by 想 xiǎng. This is why 要 yào is sometimes translated as "want to" and 想 xiǎng, even thought there is another way to say "would like to" in the Chinese language.

The best way to keep this straight in our heads is not to try and find the perfect translation for a word, but to know and understand its deep meaning.

Example sentences:

你 想 去 哪里? Where would you like to go?
Nǐ xiǎng qù nǎli?
You want-like go which-inside?

周 小姐 想 去 咖啡厅。 Ms. Zhou would like to go to the coffee shop.
Zhōu xiǎojie xiǎng qù kāfēitīng.
Zhou little-big-sister want-like go coffee-reception hall.

杨 先生 想 去 电影院。 Mr. Yang would like to go to the movie theater.
Yang xiānsheng xiǎng qù diànyǐngyuàn.
Yang first-born want go electric-picture-courtyard.

我 想 买 课本。 I would like to buy a textbook.
Wǒ xiǎng mǎi kèběn.
I want-like buy lesson-source.

她 想 吃 饭 吗? Would she like to eat?
Tā xiǎng chī fàn ma?
She want-like eat rice question?

你 想 去 哪里 吃? Where would you like to go to eat?
Nǐ xiǎng qù nǎli chī?
You want-like go which-inside eat?

学生们 想 学 英语。 The students would like to study English.
Xuéshengmen xiǎng xué Yīngyǔ.
Study-born-plural want-like study English.

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Sound files for the example sentences:

>> Download RL teacher reading these sentences (right click to save)

>> Download JN teacher reading these sentences (right click to save)


Dialogue: 

A 你妹妹想去哪里?
   Nĭ mèimèi xiăng qù nălĭ?
   Where does your little sister want to go?

B 她想去玩具店。
   Tā xiăng qù wánjùdiàn.
   She wants to go to the toy store.

A 你想不想去那里?
   Nĭ xiăng bù xiăng qù nàlĭ?
   Do you want to go there?

B 不想。我想去市场。
   Bù xiăng. Wŏ xiăng qù shìchǎng.
   I don’t want to. I want to go to the market.

>> Download this as a PDF (right click to save)

Sound files for the dialogue:

>> Download MQ teacher and VG teacher performing this dialogue (right click to save)

>> Download DL teacher and DP teacher performing this dialogue (right click to save)

Lessons 11-20
Lessons 21-30
Lessons 31-40
Lessons 41-50
Lessons 51-60
Lessons 61-70
Lessons 71-80
Lessons 81-90
Lessons 91-100
Lessons 101-110
Lessons 111-120
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The Mandarin language is not as difficult as you might think. There’s a reason why it’s the world’s most spoken language! A lingua franca for much of Northern China since the Yuan dynasty, Mandarin has a simple, no-nonsense grammatical system and a vocabulary that builds upon itself. So don’t be daunted! You too can speak this beautiful language.