Я хочу взглянуть на карту.

Взглянуть is a perfective verb, so it suggests a single, complete action: to take a look / to glance.

In Я хочу взглянуть на карту, the speaker wants to do one specific action: look at the map once.

Compare:

• взглянуть = to take a look, to glance
• глядеть = to look
• смотреть = to look, to watch
• взглядывать = to glance from time to time, to keep glancing

So взглянуть fits well because the sentence is about one quick look, not an ongoing or repeated action.

Because the preposition на here means at / toward, and with verbs of looking, Russian usually uses:

• смотреть на
• глядеть на
• взглянуть на

That means the noun after на goes into the accusative case.

So:

• карта = nominative
• карту = accusative

Since карта is a feminine noun ending in -а, its accusative singular becomes -у:

• карта → карту

In Russian, when you say look at something, you usually use на.

So:

• взглянуть на карту = to take a look at the map
• смотреть на небо = to look at the sky
• глядеть на дом = to look at the house

This is just the normal pattern with these verbs. English learners often want to translate directly, but in Russian the preposition is part of the standard expression.

Because Russian uses the same structure as English here:

• I want to look
• Я хочу взглянуть

After хотеть (to want), you commonly use an infinitive to say what someone wants to do.

Examples:

• Я хочу спать. = I want to sleep.
• Он хочет поехать домой. = He wants to go home.
• Мы хотим взглянуть на карту. = We want to take a look at the map.

So хочу взглянуть literally works like want to look.

Yes, it can often be omitted.

Russian verb endings usually show who the subject is, and хочу already clearly means I want. So both are possible:

• Я хочу взглянуть на карту.
• Хочу взглянуть на карту.

The version with Я is a little more explicit and can add emphasis or clarity. In everyday speech, Russians often leave out subject pronouns when the meaning is obvious.

They are very close, and in many situations both can mean to look at the map.

But there is a slight nuance:

• взглянуть often sounds like take a quick look / glance
• посмотреть is broader and can mean look at in a more general way

So:

• Я хочу взглянуть на карту. = I want to take a quick look at the map.
• Я хочу посмотреть на карту. = I want to look at the map.

In many real contexts, the difference is small.

It is a verb of directed visual action: the speaker intentionally directs their eyes toward something.

It is closer to to look / to glance than to to see.

That is an important distinction in Russian:

• видеть = to see
• смотреть / глядеть / взглянуть = to look

So Я хочу взглянуть на карту means the speaker wants to look at the map, not that they merely want to see it.

Usually it suggests a brief or single look.

That is because:

1. взглянуть itself often means glance / take a look
2. it is perfective, so it presents the action as a complete event

If you wanted to emphasize a longer or more sustained looking action, Russian might use something like:

• Я хочу посмотреть на карту.
• Я хочу изучить карту. = I want to study the map.

So взглянуть is not impossible for a normal look, but it often carries the idea of briefness.

The stress is:

• Я хочу́ взгляну́ть на ка́рту.

Breakdown:

• хочу́ — stress on the final -у
• взгляну́ть — stress on -ну́ть
• ка́рту — stress on the first syllable

This matters because Russian stress is unpredictable and can change from word to word.

You would make map plural and put it in the accusative plural:

• Я хочу взглянуть на карты.

Here:

• singular: карту
• plural: карты

Because карты is the accusative plural form here.

So:

• на карту = at the map
• на карты = at the maps

No, that would sound wrong.

With взглянуть, Russian normally requires на before the thing you are looking at:

• взглянуть на карту
• взглянуть на часы
• взглянуть на меня

So you should learn взглянуть на + accusative as a set pattern.

No, Russian word order is fairly flexible, although the neutral order here is:

• Я хочу взглянуть на карту.

You may also hear other orders for emphasis, such as:

• На карту я хочу взглянуть.
• Взглянуть на карту я хочу.

These alternatives change the emphasis or style, but not the basic meaning. For learners, the standard order Я хочу взглянуть на карту is the best one to use first.