verbs for want (xiang vs. yao)

[spoofboy7]

are the verbs for 'want' interchangeable? for example:

你想吃什么吗？

vs.

我要吃什么吗？

thanks in advance for any help!

[Psy]

Feel free to correct me on this, but my understanding is that 想 is a politer version "I would like" of 要's "I want." Each of the words also do double duty, as in 想 can also mean "to think" (I think that...) and 要 also presents a pseudo-future tense "going to."

That's all I know so far!

[spoofboy7]

thanks for the reply Psy!

your explanation makes sense to me...i keep using the wrong one when i listen to the podcasts and try to pre-translate their english sentence before they give the "official" translation. i think they use "i want.." in their english translations when referring to both.

thanks again!

[bchach08]

Psy is pretty much right on. From what I have experienced, 想 is used to emphasize that you are think of doing something.

Spoofboy, in your example, "你想吃什么？” vs. “你要吃什么？”, you are saying the same thing where both 想 and 要 are used the same exact way. Both mean, "what do you want to eat?" or "what are you thinking about eating?".

Now, 想, is also used to say “我想吃饭”， stressing that you are hungry and want to eat. Often times, 要 sounds much harsher than 想. Saying “我要吃饭”， is almost like telling somebody you need to eat now and expect to do so.

The two are also very different in that 想 can mean "think" and 要 always is pretty much only used to show a want or need. For instance; “你想什么呢？” means "what are you thinking?", whereas “你要什么呢？” means "what do you want?"

Hope this is right, and hope it helps.

[maxiewawa]

Yup! Everything everyone else said seems pretty correct to me.

I just want to point out something that no one else caught though, that there shouldn't be a 吗 on the end of either sentence.

bchach08 didn't mention it; in his/her corrected sentence it isn't present though, which is how it should be.

Since there is an interrogative in the sentence (什么) you don't put the 吗 on the end.

[spoofboy7]

thanks everyone for your insights. with your help, i think i've come to grasp the differences.

bchach08: thanks for your examples. it definitely helps to clarify the difference.

maxiewawa: i think you're correct - in the context of my example sentences, 吗 wasn't needed. however, i have heard chinese people use 吗 even with an interrogative in the sentence...

From my understanding, the difference is subtle:

你想吃什么？
What do you want to eat.

你想吃什么吗？
Do you want to eat anything?

However, I might be wrong. What are your thoughts?

[maxiewawa]

You're right spoofboy!!

Sorry, I didn't want to complicate the matter by going that far!

But that's exactly right.

Sorry!

[spoofboy7]

glad that we are in agreement maxiewawa!

thanks everyone!