yào

Usages of yào

 cóng jiā dào 银行yínháng yào shí 分钟fēnzhōngWǒ cóng jiā dào yínháng yào shí fēnzhōng.
It takes ten minutes for me to get from home to the bank.
 奶奶nǎinai shuō,  年轻niánqīng de 时候shíhou 交通jiāotōng  发达fādá,    市中心shìzhōngxīn 或许huòxǔ yào  tiānwǒ nǎinai shuō, tā niánqīng de shíhou jiāotōng bù fādá, qù yí cì shìzhōngxīn huòxǔ yào yì tiān.
My grandma says that when she was young, transportation wasn’t developed, and going downtown once might take a whole day.
现在xiànzài 交通jiāotōng hěn 发达fādá, cóng 郊区jiāoqū dào 市中心shìzhōngxīn de 地铁dìtiě 常常chángcháng hěn mǎn, yào zuò 四十sìshí 分钟fēnzhōng,  公交车gōngjiāochē 方便fāngbiànxiànzài jiāotōng hěn fādá, cóng jiāoqū dào shìzhōngxīn de dìtiě chángcháng hěn mǎn, yào zuò sìshí fēnzhōng, bǐ gōngjiāochē fāngbiàn.
Transportation is very developed now; the subway from the suburbs to downtown is often very full and takes forty minutes, but it’s more convenient than the bus.
 每天měitiān cóng 宿舍sùshè zǒu dào 教学楼jiàoxuélóu zhǐ yào  分钟fēnzhōngTā měitiān cóng sùshè zǒu dào jiàoxuélóu zhǐ yào wǔ fēnzhōng.
Every day she walks from the dorm to the classroom building; it only takes five minutes.

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How do tones work in Chinese?
Mandarin Chinese has four main tones plus a neutral tone. The same syllable can mean completely different things depending on the tone — for example, "mā" (mother), "má" (hemp), "mǎ" (horse), and "mà" (scold). Mastering tones is essential for being understood.

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