<p>First forget about yao3. As a Chinese I never heart yao3.</p>

<p>Second as yao1, maybe it's enough that just remember a few words, 要求(to demand)，要挟(to coerce).</p>

<p>I think yao4 is more common. We often use it as the meaning of 'want'.
我要买个大房子（I want to buy a big house). 
Sometimes it also means important.
重要人物(VIP)</p>

<p>And hinen is right, pronunciation is very important in Chinese, different pronunciation always has different meaning. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-03-10T09:41:23.123Z
2017-03-10T09:41:23.123Z
SleePy
<p>Try installing <a href="http://www.perapera.org" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://www.perapera.org</a>, Firefox/Chrome add-on. In it you can see:</p>

<p>要 yao1 - to demand, to request, to coerce</p>

<p>要 yao4 - important, vital, to want, will, going to (as future auxiliary), may, must, (used in a comparison) must be, probably</p>

<p>That means the first (yao1) is a common verb, followed by a noun (what you demand/request). The second (yao4) is either an adjective, a modal verb (may, must) or a verb followed by another verb (as in SleePy's 我要买个大房子).</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-03-12T14:20:41.867Z
2017-03-12T14:20:41.867Z
Rodrigo
<p>In most cases, we cannot pick one of different pronunciations arbitrarily.
The reason is very simple.
If we can, we do not have to pronounce differently. Right?</p>

<hr>

<p><a href="http://dict.tw/" rel="noreferrer">DICT.TW 線上字典</a> can give you the commnon definitions in English.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>資料來源: MDBG CC-CEDICT Chinese-English Dictionary 漢英字典</p>
  
  <p>要 [ㄧㄠˋ; yao4]  </p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>important<br>
    vital<br>
    to want<br>
    will<br>
    going to (as future auxiliary)<br>
    may<br>
    must<br>
    (used in a comparison) must be<br>
    probably  </p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>資料來源: MDBG CC-CEDICT Chinese-English Dictionary 漢英字典</p>
  
  <p>要 [ㄧㄠ; yao1]  </p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>to demand<br>
    to request<br>
    to coerce  </p>
  </blockquote>
</blockquote>

<hr>

<p>要 [ yǎo | ㄧㄠˇ | yao3]</p>

<p>This pronunciation is used in only one case.</p>

<p>要褭：古良馬名。<br>
The name of a kind of good horse in ancient times.</p>

<pre><code>褭 [ niǎo | ㄋㄧㄠˇ ]
</code></pre>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-03-09T21:50:22.503Z
[百度翻譯](http://fanyi.baidu.com/#zh/en/%E8%A6%81) can show the common definitions in English too. It also gives you many examples.
hinen
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-03-12T14:12:42.153Z
"If we can, we do not have to pronounce differently. Right?" Not necessarily. Many differences come from geography, i.e. are dialects.
Rodrigo
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-03-09T21:36:07.780Z
2017-03-09T21:36:07.780Z
hinen
<p>What is the correct pronunciation of 要?</p>

<p>I've learned it as yao4 but a video said it is yao3. Then I checked it in an online dictionary and it provides 3 different pronunications: yao4, yao3 ,yao1</p>

<p>Can I just pick one of those tones arbitrarily? </p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/o7kqi.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/o7kqi.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>dictionary : <a href="https://www.mdbg.net/chindict/chindict.php?page=worddict&amp;wdrst=0&amp;wdqb=yao4" rel="noreferrer">https://www.mdbg.net/chindict/chindict.php?page=worddict&amp;wdrst=0&amp;wdqb=yao4</a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-03-09T14:50:18.917Z
My Chinese is not good enough to understand this site. So, can I just pick one of those (yao1 and yao4) or they have different meanings but the same character?
WVrock
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-03-09T15:56:51.453Z
Actually yao1 and yao4 have overlapping meanings, and I too have not heard of yao3.  OP is not asking for a translation of the character in some one context, but for a discussion of their comparative meanings.
Colin McLarty
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-03-09T19:14:09.437Z
＂现代汉语词典＂(1998) only has yāo and yào
user6065
<pronunciation>
Pronunciation of 要
# Pronunciation of 要

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-03-09)

What is the correct pronunciation of 要?

I've learned it as yao4 but a video said it is yao3. Then I checked it in an online dictionary and it provides 3 different pronunications: yao4, yao3 ,yao1

Can I just pick one of those tones arbitrarily?

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/o7kqi.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/o7kqi.png)

dictionary : <https://www.mdbg.net/chindict/chindict.php?page=worddict&wdrst=0&wdqb=yao4>

**Tags:** pronunciation
> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: My Chinese is not good enough to understand this site. So, can I just pick one of those (yao1 and yao4) or they have different meanings but the same character?  
> **username_1**: Actually yao1 and yao4 have overlapping meanings, and I too have not heard of yao3.  OP is not asking for a translation of the character in some one context, but for a discussion of their comparative meanings.  
> **username_2**: ＂现代汉语词典＂(1998) only has yāo and yào  

---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_5 on 2017-03-09. Score: 12 | Accepted answer

In most cases, we cannot pick one of different pronunciations arbitrarily.
The reason is very simple.
If we can, we do not have to pronounce differently. Right?

DICT.TW 線上字典 can give you the commnon definitions in English.

資料來源: MDBG CC-CEDICT Chinese-English Dictionary 漢英字典
要 [ㄧㄠˋ; yao4]  

important
    vital
    to want
    will
    going to (as future auxiliary)
    may
    must
    (used in a comparison) must be
    probably  

資料來源: MDBG CC-CEDICT Chinese-English Dictionary 漢英字典
要 [ㄧㄠ; yao1]  

to demand
    to request
    to coerce  



要 [ yǎo | ㄧㄠˇ | yao3]
This pronunciation is used in only one case.
要褭：古良馬名。
The name of a kind of good horse in ancient times.
褭 [ niǎo | ㄋㄧㄠˇ ]

> **Comments:**
> **username_5**: [百度翻譯](http://fanyi.baidu.com/#zh/en/%E8%A6%81) can show the common definitions in English too. It also gives you many examples.  
> **username_4**: "If we can, we do not have to pronounce differently. Right?" Not necessarily. Many differences come from geography, i.e. are dialects.  

---

### Answer by username_3 on 2017-03-10. Score: 4

First forget about yao3. As a Chinese I never heart yao3.

Second as yao1, maybe it's enough that just remember a few words, 要求(to demand)，要挟(to coerce).

I think yao4 is more common. We often use it as the meaning of 'want'.
我要买个大房子（I want to buy a big house).
Sometimes it also means important.
重要人物(VIP)

And hinen is right, pronunciation is very important in Chinese, different pronunciation always has different meaning.


---

### Answer by username_4 on 2017-03-12. Score: 1

Try installing <http://www.perapera.org>, Firefox/Chrome add-on. In it you can see:

要 yao1 - to demand, to request, to coerce

要 yao4 - important, vital, to want, will, going to (as future auxiliary), may, must, (used in a comparison) must be, probably

That means the first (yao1) is a common verb, followed by a noun (what you demand/request). The second (yao4) is either an adjective, a modal verb (may, must) or a verb followed by another verb (as in SleePy's 我要买个大房子).


---

