ほしい vs たい: How to Express Wanting in Japanese

‘I want a coffee.’ ‘I want to drink coffee.’ In English these feel similar, but in Japanese they use completely different grammar. ほしい and たい are both ‘want’ — but ほしい wants THINGS (nouns), while たい wants to DO things (verbs). Here’s everything you need to know.

ほしい — Wanting Objects (Things)

Yuka

「ほしい」は名詞（もの）が欲しいとき。「犬がほしい」「新しいスマホがほしい」みたいに。欲しいものの前に「が」をつけるよ。
(‘ほしい’ is for wanting things (nouns). ‘I want a dog.’ ‘I want a new phone.’ Put が before the thing you want.)

〜たい — Wanting to Do Actions (Verbs)

Yuka

「〜たい」は動詞のマス形から「ます」を外してつける。「飲む→飲みたい」「行く→行きたい」。動詞の動作がしたいというニュアンス。
(‘〜たい’ attaches to the verb stem (remove ます from the masu-form). 飲む→飲みたい, 行く→行きたい. The nuance is ‘I want to perform this action.’)

The Tricky Part: Particle after 〜たい

Rei

「〜たい」は形容詞っぽく振る舞うから、目的語に「が」を使うこともある！「寿司が食べたい」。でも「を」も自然。どちらでも基本的にOKだよ。
(‘〜たい’ behaves like an adjective, so you can use が for the object: 寿司が食べたい (I want to eat sushi). But を is also natural. Both are acceptable in most cases.)

Conjugating ほしい and 〜たい

Quick Quiz

1. ‘I want a new phone.’ — which form?
→ 新しいスマホがほしい。 — ほしい for objects.

2. ‘I want to go to Japan.’ — which form?
→ 日本に行きたい。 — 〜たい for actions.

3. ‘I didn’t want to study yesterday.’ — casual past negative?
→ 昨日は勉強したくなかった。

What do you want to do or want to have in Japanese? Practice in the comments! 💬

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