Expressing Wants in Japanese: たい & ほしい

“I want to eat sushi.” “I want to buy this.” “I want them to come.” Expressing wants is basic communication. In English we mostly use “want.” In Japanese there are several patterns, depending on what you want and who wants it.

In this article you will learn three main patterns:

1. ～たい — “I want to do something”
2. ほしい — “I want to have something”
3. ～てほしい — “I want someone to do something”

💡 Prerequisite: Make sure you understand plain form first—these patterns use the verb stem.

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1. ～たい: “Want to do”

Formation

Take the ます-form, drop ます, add たい.

ます-form	Stem	+ たい	Meaning
食たべます	食たべ	食たべたい	want to eat
飲のみます	飲のみ	飲のみたい	want to drink
行いきます	行いき	行いきたい	want to go
見みます	見み	見みたい	want to see
します	し	したい	want to do
来きます	来き	来きたい	want to come

たい behaves like an i-adjective!

Important: ～たい conjugates exactly like an i-adjective:

Form	Pattern	Example (食たべたい)
Affirmative	～たい	食たべたい (want to eat)
Negative	～たくない	食たべたくない (do not want to eat)
Past	～たかった	食たべたかった (wanted to eat)
Neg. past	～たくなかった	食たべたくなかった (did not want to eat)

Example sentences

1) 日本にほんに行いきたいです。 (Nihon ni ikitai desu.) (I) want to go to Japan.

2) 今日きょうは何なにもしたくない。 (Kyou wa nani mo shitakunai.) Today (I) don’t want to do anything.

3) 子供こどもの時とき、パイロットになりたかった。 (Kodomo no toki, pairotto ni naritakatta.) As a child, (I) wanted to become a pilot.

4) 寿司すしを食たべたい！ (Sushi o tabetai!) (I) wanna eat sushi!

Particle: を or が?

With ～たい, the object can take を or が:

• 寿司すしを食たべたい (more focus on the action)
• 寿司すしが食たべたい (more focus on the object / feeling)

Both are correct. In daily talk both are used.

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2. ほしい: “Want to have”

While たい is for actions (want to do), ほしい is for things (want to have).

Pattern: [Thing] が ほしい

Note the particle が—not を!

Examples:

1) 新あたらしい車くるまがほしい。 (Atarashii kuruma ga hoshii.) (I) want a new car.

2) 時間じかんがほしいです。 (Jikan ga hoshii desu.) (I) want time.

3) 何なにがほしいですか？ (Nani ga hoshii desu ka?) What do you want?

Conjugation of ほしい (i-adjective)

ほしい is an i-adjective, so it conjugates the same way:

Form	Pattern
Affirmative	ほしい
Negative	ほしくない
Past	ほしかった
Neg. past	ほしくなかった

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3. ～てほしい: “Want someone to do”

What if you want someone else to do something? Use ～てほしい:

Pattern: [Person] に [te-form verb] + ほしい

Examples:

1) 先生せんせいに説明せつめいしてほしいです。 (Sensei ni setsumei shite hoshii desu.) I want the teacher to explain.

2) 友達ともだちに来きてほしい。 (Tomodachi ni kite hoshii.) I want my friend to come.

3) もっと静しずかにしてほしい。 (Motto shizuka ni shite hoshii.) I want (you) to be quieter.

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4. Important rule: do not use たい for other people!

This is a key cultural and grammar rule. In Japanese you cannot directly state what someone else wants with たい. Why? Because you cannot read other people’s minds!

❌ Wrong	✅ Right	Why
田中たなかさんは行いきたい	田中たなかさんは行いきたがっている	For others, use ～たがっている
彼かれは寿司すしがほしい	彼かれは寿司すしをほしがっている	For others, use ほしがっている

～たがっている: “Seems to want…”

This pattern shows you are observing someone else’s desire from outside:

妹いもうとは新あたらしいスマホをほしがっています。 (Imouto wa atarashii sumaho o hoshi-gatte imasu.) My younger sister seems to want a new smartphone.

彼かれは日本にほんに行いきたがっています。 (Kare wa Nihon ni ikita-gatte imasu.) He seems to want to go to Japan.

💡 Exception: In questions, you MAY use たい about the listener: 「何なにが食たべたいですか」 (What do you want to eat?)—you are asking, not asserting.

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5. Quick comparison

Pattern	Formula	Meaning	Example
～たい	stem + たい	want to do (I)	食たべたい
ほしい	thing + が + ほしい	want to have (I)	車くるまがほしい
～てほしい	person + に + te + ほしい	want someone to do	先生せんせいに教おしえてほしい
～たがっている	stem + たがっている	seems to want (others)	行いきたがっている
ほしがっている	thing + を + ほしがっている	seems to want (others)	ほしがっている

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6. Practice

Q1: How do you say “I want to drink coffee” in Japanese?

Answer: コーヒーKoohiiを飲のみたいです。(Koohii o nomitai desu.)

Q2: Change to the negative: 食たべたい

Answer: 食たべたくない (tabetakunai)

Q3: How do you say “I want money” (お金おかね = money)?

Answer: お金かねがほしいです。(Okane ga hoshii desu.)

Q4: How do you say “I want my friend to teach Japanese”?

Answer: 友達ともだちに日本語にほんごを教おしえてほしいです。(Tomodachi ni nihongo o oshiete hoshii desu.)

Q5: Why is this wrong? → 「田中たなかさんは帰かえりたい。」

Answer: You cannot use ～たい to state someone else’s desire. Correct: 「田中たなかさんは帰かえりたがっている。」 (Tanaka-san seems to want to go home.)

Q6: Change to the past: 「日本にほんに行いきたい」

Answer: 日本にほんに行いきたかった (Nihon ni ikitakatta — “I wanted to go to Japan”)

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7. Production checklist: pick a want pattern in 5 seconds

Before you speak, run this quick check:

1. I want to do an action myself? → ～たい
2. I want to have a thing? → ほしい
3. I want someone else to do something? → ～てほしい
4. I am talking about someone else’s desire? → ～たがっている / ほしがっている

Effective practice:

1. Write 3 ～たい sentences about this week’s plans.
2. Write 3 ほしい sentences about study needs.
3. Write 3 realistic ～てほしい requests.
4. Rewrite those three as third-person observations.

This kind of transform practice trains the difference between personal wants, requests, and observing others.

One-minute reflex drill

Pick a daily topic, such as “food” or “study,” and make:

1. one ～たい sentence,
2. one ほしい sentence,
3. one ～てほしい sentence,
4. one third-person sentence (～たがっている).

This short drill helps stop pattern mix-ups while speaking.

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New vocabulary

Kanji	Hiragana	Romaji	Meaning	Word class
車くるま	くるま	kuruma	car	noun
時間じかん	じかん	jikan	time	noun
新あたらしい	あたらしい	atarashii	new	i-adjective
子供こども	こども	kodomo	child	noun
説明せつめい	せつめい	setsumei	explanation	noun
妹いもうと	いもうと	imouto	younger sister	noun
寿司すし	すし	sushi	sushi	noun
彼かれ	かれ	kare	he / him	pronoun
お金おかね	おかね	okane	money	noun
帰かえる	かえる	kaeru	go home	godan verb

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Conclusion

You now know three ways to express wants in Japanese:

• ～たい = want to do something (for yourself)
• ほしい = want to have something (for yourself)
• ～てほしい = want someone else to do something
• For other people’s wants, use ～たがっている / ほしがっている
• ～たい and ほしい conjugate like i-adjectives (たくない, たかった, ほしくない, ほしかった)

Next, we connect clauses with から, ので, けど, し—keys to more natural speech!

Previous: ← Plain form Next: Compound sentences: から, ので, けど, し →

Related reading:

• Basic grammar 2: adjectives & verbs
• Plain form

頑張がんばって！ (Ganbatte / Keep going!)