18.1 The Modal Verb 想 soeng2 (‘to want to’)

The modal verb 想 soeng2 means ‘to want to’. We use it to indicate we want to do an activity. We put the verb for the activity after 想 soeng2.

We put 唔 m4 (‘not’) before 想 soeng2 to negate 想 soeng2.

We can add a degree word (e.g., 好 hou2 ‘very’ and 唔係好 m4 hai6 hou2 ‘not very’) before 想 soeng2 to indicate how much we want or don’t want to do something.

We use the X-not-X construction to form yes-no questions with 想 soeng2. Notice X will be 想 soeng2 instead of the verb behind it.

To answer the question, we can give a long answer or a short answer. We give a short answer more often.

We sometimes use yes-no questions with 想 soeng2 to make suggestions. In that case, we can respond to the questions by accepting or rejecting the suggestions. The expressions for accepting or rejecting suggestions are similar to those for accepting or rejecting invitations, which we have learned in Lesson 16.

We can also use 想 soeng2 with a question word (e.g., 乜嘢 mat1 je5 / 咩 me1 ‘what’, 邊度 bin1 dou6 ‘where’) to ask about someone’s preferences.