Wanting to do something with 想

Structure Subject + 想 + Verb

想 (xiǎng) before a verb expresses the wish to do something: "to want / feel like". It is softer than 要. Negate it with 不想 ("not want / not feel like"). Note: 想 + a noun or person means "to miss" (我想你 = I miss you).

Examples

我wǒ想xiǎng喝hē茶chá。
I want to drink tea.
他tā想xiǎng去qù中zhōng国guó。
He wants to go to China.
你nǐ想xiǎng吃chī什shén么me？
What do you want to eat?

Levels are indicative: they follow the standard Chinese Grammar Wiki (AllSet Learning) progression, not an official HSK 3.0 mapping. We never assign levels by eye.

This point and the other 370, with audio on every example, inside Wanyu.