Desire & Wants
Learn how to express wanting to do something and wanting things in Japanese.
Expressing Desire in Japanese
Japanese has distinct patterns for expressing desire depending on what you want and whose desire you're describing.
～たい expresses the speaker's desire to do something ('I want to do'). ほしい expresses wanting a thing ('I want something'). ～てほしい expresses wanting someone else to do something ('I want you to do'). And ～たがる describes a third person's desire, since directly stating what others want is considered presumptuous in Japanese.
All of these conjugate like adjectives — ～たい and ほしい behave like い-adjectives, taking negative, past, and te-form endings.
Attach たい to the masu-stem of a verb. The result conjugates like an い-adjective.
masu-stem + たい
- 行きます → 行き たい (want to go)
- 食べます → 食べ たい (want to eat)
- します → し たい (want to do)
Examples
- I want to go to Japan.
日本に行きたいです。
- I want to drink something cold.
冷たいものが飲みたい。
- I want to buy a new computer.
新しいパソコンが買いたいです。
- I want to study more Japanese.
もっと日本語を勉強したいです。
Since ～たい conjugates like an い-adjective, its negative and past forms follow い-adjective rules:
- Negative: ～た くない (don't want to)
- Past: ～た かった (wanted to)
- Past negative: ～た くなかった (didn't want to)
Examples
- I don't want to go anywhere today.
今日はどこにも行きたくないです。
- I didn't want to watch that movie.
あの映画は見たくなかった。
- I don't want to eat vegetables.
野菜を食べたくない。
In Japanese, directly stating another person's feelings (彼は行きたい) sounds presumptuous. For third-person desire, replace たい with たがる, which conjugates as a Group 1 verb.
masu-stem + たがる
- 行きたい → 行き たがる (seems to want to go)
- 食べたい → 食べ たがる (seems to want to eat)
The ongoing state is commonly expressed with ～たがっている.
Examples
- My younger brother wants to buy a new game.
弟は新しいゲームを買いたがっています。
- The children want to play outside.
子供たちは外で遊びたがっている。
- She didn't want to hear that story.
彼女はその話を聞きたがらなかった。
ほしい is an い-adjective meaning 'wanted' or 'desired.' The thing you want is marked with が.
[thing] がほしい
Like ～たい, it conjugates as an い-adjective: ほしくない (don't want), ほしかった (wanted), ほしくなかった (didn't want). For third-person use, switch to ほしがる / ほしがっている.
Examples
- I want new shoes.
新しい靴がほしいです。
- I want more time.
もっと時間がほしい。
- When I was a child, I wanted a dog.
子供のとき、犬がほしかった。
- I don't want anything.
何もほしくないです。
Attach ほしい to the te-form of a verb to express wanting someone else to do something. The person you want to act is marked with に.
[person] に [te-form] + ほしい
For negative requests ('I want someone not to do'), use ～ないでほしい.
Examples
- I'd like you to help me.
手伝ってほしいんですが。
- I want you to be quiet.
静かにしてほしい。
- I wanted you to come a bit earlier.
もう少し早く来てほしかったです。
- I don't want you to take photos here.
ここで写真を撮らないでほしい。
～たい is for wanting to do something (verb). ほしい is for wanting a thing (noun). When the desire involves an action, use ～たい; when it's about possessing or receiving something, use ほしい.
～てほしい bridges the two — it's for wanting someone else to perform an action.
Examples
- I want to drink water. / I want water.
水が飲みたいです。
水がほしいです。
- I want someone to teach me Japanese. / I want to study Japanese.
日本語を教えてほしい。
日本語を勉強したい。