Talk about wanting things with 要 (yào)
You can talk about directly wanting something with the word 要 (yào). This word is also used to talk about the future, as in “I’m going to do” something.
要 is quite versatile and can be used with nouns or verbs:
[subject] 要 [noun]
or
[subject] 要 [action]
Have a look at some examples:
我要一個三明治。
Wǒ yào yīgè sānmíngzhì.
I want a sandwich.
我要吃三明治。
Wǒ yào chī sānmíngzhì.
I'm going to eat a sandwich / I want to eat a sandwich.
她要去北京。
Tā yào qù Běijīng.
She's going to go to Beijing.
我們要走了。
Wǒmen yào zǒu le.
We're going to leave.
Be careful when using 要 to mean “to want”, as it could be quite abrupt, just as in English.
