How to say “I want this one” in Chinese
“I want this one” in Chinese is 我要这个。, written in pinyin as Wǒ yào zhège.
我要这个。
Wǒ yào zhège.
I want this one.
Word by word
What each part of 我要这个。 actually means.
- 我wǒI / me
- 要yàoto want
- 这个zhègethis one
When you use it
- When pointing is doing most of the work — a menu, a display case, a market stall, or a photo on your phone.
- Say it with your finger already on the item, because 这个 is only as precise as the thing you are touching; said without pointing it turns into 哪个？
Use 我要这个。 in restaurant situations. Order food, ask for the bill, handle spice levels.
Other ways people say it
The same idea, said differently. Roughly in the order you'll hear them.
我要两个。
Wǒ yào liǎng ge
I want two of them.
要 takes a number plus a measure word directly: 两个, 三碗, 四张. The measure word is never optional.
就要这个。
Jiù yào zhège
Just this one.
就 narrows the choice. It is the answer for when somebody is offering you something and you want the offering to stop.
这个，谢谢。
Zhège, xièxie
This one, thanks.
A two-word order plus 谢谢 is entirely normal at a counter. Chinese gets shorter under pressure, not more formal.
What usually trips people up
- 给我 is not the polite 'give me' of English. On its own it is an instruction, which is why 我要这个 is the safer default and 给我 is kept for people you know.
- 要 is want-in-order-to-receive and 想 is want-as-a-feeling. 我想要这个 sounds hesitant and can read as 'I would quite like this', so use 要 when you are actually ordering.
- There is no word for 'the'. 这个 is doing that job — it means the one you mean — so the English habit of naming an item without pointing at it gets you 哪个？ in return.
What you might hear back
- 好的，马上来。Hǎo de, mǎshàng láiOkay, coming right up.
- 要几个？Yào jǐ ge?How many do you want?
- 这个没有了。Zhège méiyǒu leWe're out of this one.
Common questions
- How do you say "I want this one" in Chinese?
- "I want this one" in Chinese is 我要这个。 — written in pinyin as Wǒ yào zhège. It is a restaurant phrase you would use in China.
- What does 我要这个。 mean in Chinese?
- 我要这个。 (Wǒ yào zhège) means "I want this one". Broken down word by word: 我 (wǒ) means "I / me"; 要 (yào) means "to want"; 这个 (zhège) means "this one".
- When would you use "I want this one" in Chinese?
- When pointing is doing most of the work — a menu, a display case, a market stall, or a photo on your phone. Say it with your finger already on the item, because 这个 is only as precise as the thing you are touching; said without pointing it turns into 哪个？
Where you'll use it
我要这个。 comes up in these situations, in this order.
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