Here is an explanation about the difference between "hui"（会） and "yao" I made in an other question. I think it can help you to make a further comprehension on these words. ****** The biggest difference between this two words is the possibility they want to express. Given that "You want to get the highest score in the next exam." If you use HUI, there's no doubt that you will be NO.1(at least the fact that you get the highest score is greatly possible ). But if you use YAO, we will regard that you are determined to get the highest score. However, it's more like a target. When you can get only 50 points, you can make this target; When you can get 90 points, you can also make such target. (In this way, HUI can express a much stronger determination, which means what you want will never escape from your webs.) Besides the usage above, YAO can also express "you have to do something". e.g. "I have to go to school tomorrow(although I don't want to go to school)". Let's get further. If you use HUI in this sentence, it will indicate that "I will go to school tomorrow(If you want to give me something, we can meet at school.)". In conclusion, no matter you express a promise, a plan or something else, the most important thing to differentiate this two words is how possibly what you say happens/be true. ****** Hope this can help you. If you need any further explanation, please let me know.

they are similar, but they diffrence the level form the will "yào" is want, "yao"+go= want to go "yao"+things= want to have "xiǎng" is thinking or considering "xiang"+things/some one= missing "xiang yao"=like to have the "yao" means the will is more powerful

1\ The meaning of both "going to" and "want" are very common in our daily life (almost anytime). 2\ In Chinese, I think both of these two meanings are expressing same thing. When you say "you are going to do sth", it's supposed to be "you want to do sth", which is same as "xiang". Most of time "yao" and "xiang" are interchangeable. Personally speaking, I prefer to use "xiang" to express "I'm willing to do sth". In this way, "xiang" often indicates that you are happy to do so (positive, subjective attitude). btw. We can say "wo xiang ni" to express "I miss you". However, there are still something we need to notice when we select these two words. Like your example, "yao" can express "would like or want", but you can't replace "yao" with only "xiang". In this case, "yao" not only means "you want to" but also indicates "get sth", which is a complete sentence. Nevertheless, "xiang" only expresses "you want to" but lacks "the action you want to do". So to use "xiang" here, we can add "yao" after "xiang" and the sentence will become "wo xiang yao sth", and it's a complete sentence now.

Zài guóyǔ【zhong1】 shǐyòng “yào” dòngcí - Use of "yào" verb in Mandarin ----------------- 要 yao4 1. = going to, used to express an action happening in future. _____ 我明天要去美国。 = I'm going to America tomorrow. _____ 我明天晚上要去看演唱会。 = I'm going to a concert tomorrow night. (Attention: in this case, it's ok even without a Yao4 as long as there is a adverbial of time.) 2. = want, used to express a desire ______ 我要吃冰淇淋。 = I want a icecream! (in Chinese, the verb. usually can't be omitted, it's different from Eng.) ______ 我要你全部的爱。 = I want all your love. (Att. sometimes, 要 = 想, even used together , which means Yao4 in the examples can be substituted: ) 我想吃冰淇凌。 【想+verb】-- recommended 我想买一座大房子。 = I want to buy a big house. 我想要 一块表。 = I want a watch. (as a gift maybe)【想要 can “+ noun”】 3. = ask (sb to do...) 他要我帮他开门。= He asked me to help him open the door. --------- Besides, when 要yao4 is connected with other hanzi(chinese characters) , yao4 works no longer as above. Eg. 只要...就（= as long as...） 主要（main/principal/primary） 要是 （if ... ） ... Hope _ helps

Soup should be 'tāng',high-level tone