How to Say ‘Should or not’ in Simplified Chinese
要不要
yào bù yào
[yaow-boo-yaow]
💬 Usage Tip: [要不要] is a very common yes/no pattern: verb + not + same verb idea, meaning 'want to / should or not?' You can build others the same way, like [用不用] 'use or not?' and [看不看] 'look or not?'.
Phrase Breakdown
要不要
yào bù yào
[yaow-boo-yaow]
want or not; should ... or not
A common question pattern used to ask whether to do something.
这个柱子要不要改短一点？
Should this bar be made a little shorter?
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