欲Verbs and descriptions
Wanting
Want a thing with ほしい, and want to do something with ~たい. Both are mostly about your own desires.
Thing or action?
Two different patterns
I want a new car.
Thing が ほしい.
I want to buy a new car.
Verb stem + たい.
Making ~たい
Take the ます stem, add たい
It then behaves like an い adjective.
I want to go.
行きます loses ます, and たい takes its place.
In use
Saying what you want
I want some water.
What do you want?
With friends. It's not polite to ask a superior this.
I want to live in Japan.
I want to eat sushi.
With ~たい, the object may take が or を, and が sounds more eager.
Whose desire?
You can't read someone's mind
Japanese treats what someone wants as private, so ほしい and ~たい normally describe the speaker, or the listener in a question. For someone else, say what they're showing: 弟は車をほしがっています, “My brother's showing he wants a car,” or 行きたがっています. You'll see more of がる later.
When inviting someone, don't ask with ~たい, which sounds pushy. Ask 行きませんか, “Won't you go?”
Check yourself
Is it a thing or an action?
Your turn
が or を?
I want new shoes.
Find the mistake
Tap the part that's wrong.
。
Say it yourself
Your next holiday
A friend asks about your next vacation. Tell them where you want to go and something you want to buy there.
Automatic feedback on your own answers is coming to Premium.
Builds on