Wanting to do something with 想 — Chinese grammar (HSK 1)

Subject + 想 + Verb + Object

想 (xiǎng) before a verb means "would like to / want to", a soft, polite way to express a wish. It behaves like an English helper verb and takes 不 for the negative (不想) and 吗 for questions. Followed directly by a noun instead of a verb, 想 means "to miss / think of" someone.

Examples

我想喝水。 Wǒ xiǎng hē shuǐ.	I want to drink some water.
她想去中国。 Tā xiǎng qù Zhōngguó.	She wants to go to China.
你想吃什么？ Nǐ xiǎng chī shénme?	What do you want to eat?

Tip: 我想你 means "I miss you", not "I want you"; keep a verb after 想 when you mean "want to".