Grammar Info

N5 Lesson 7: 12/13

たいWant to do

The object of desire can take either the を or が particle

Structure

Verb[ます+
Verb[ます+ くない
Verb[ます+ かった
Verb[ます+ くなかった

Details

  • Part of Speech

    Auxiliary Verb

  • Word Type

    Dependent Word

  • Register

    Standard

About たい

たい is an auxiliary verb that is used to express things that you would like to do (want). To use たい, it needs to be added to the same conjugation base form of a verb that ます would be attached to.

When using たい, the thing that is 'wanted' can either be marked with , or . The difference in nuance is that something marked with is considered to be wanted more. たい is conjugated in the same way as い-Adjectives, meaning that the negative, past, or past-negative forms may also be used.

たい is only used for expressing things that 'you' want, or repeating information/asking questions about what other people want. It may not be used to make guesses about what other people 'may' want, unless asking them directly.

Caution

たい is not used to tell other people that you want them to do something. This is done with ~てほしい.

  • あなた(はん)(つく)たい
    As for you, I want to make dinner. (This can never mean 'I want you to make dinner for me', and is a fairly unnatural sentence)

Caution

たい is not usually used when giving invitations (asking someone if they want to do something with you). In these cases ~ませんか is far more natural.

  • アカネ()たい
    Akane, do you want to go too? (Sounds more like a question than an invitation)

Examples

--:--

    日本(にほん)()きたい

    I want to go to Japan.

    来年(らいねん)日本(にほん)()きたい。[()]

    Next year, I want to go to Japan.

      来年(らいねん)日本(にほん)()きたい

      Next year, I want to go to Japan.

      (はや)()べたい

      I want to eat soon.

      サッカーしたいです

      I want to play soccer.

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        たい – Grammar Discussion

        Most Recent Replies (15 in total)

        • Jake

          Jake

          want to

          Structure

          • Verb[stem] + たい

          [たい belongs to a group of personal adjectives that can only be used to describe speaker’s/writer’s wishes/desires. If you want to describe someone’s wish/desire you have to use 「verb[stem]+たがる」 construction or indirect speech 「verb[stem]+たいと思う」]

          Object of desire can either take particle を or が.

          View on Bunpro

        • Marcus

          Marcus

          Can I ask a question about this?

          Okay, I’ve got that the grammar is Verb[stem] + たい
          So the stem of 答える is こたえ, and then you add たい.
          And I understand that you then need to put that in the past.
          What I don’t understand is how たい becomes たかった for the past.
          Is たい a verb? An adjective? And what rule is it following here?
          Any help much appreciated!

        • mrnoone

          mrnoone

          Hey

          It is so called auxiliary (suffix attached to verbs) adjective. That is why it conjugates like one.

          Another example is verb[stem] + やすい


          In Japanese nomenclature, it is called 助動詞(じょどうし) - which is translated as “auxiliary verb”. But not all of those suffixes (たい for example ) conjugate like verbs so it might be misleading.

        • Marcus

          Marcus

          I see! Thank you so much!

          So the auxiliary adjective たい conjugates just like any い-adjective! Got it! Thank you so much!

          (Source)

        • mrnoone

          mrnoone

          Yes, that is right!

        • drmoore718

          drmoore718

          I think it would be helpful to have the past negative as a reference in the structure for this lesson.

        • mrnoone

          mrnoone

          Hey

          The past negative conjugation has been added

          Cheers,

        • Pep95

          Pep95

          In the structure box, it is shown that the polite alternative for たくない is たくありません, but only for たくない.

          I know it sounds weird, but is this the same for たくなかった→たくありませんでした?

          Maybe even for these? (Honestly doubt it but who knows.)
          たかった→たくありました
          たい→たくあります.

        • mrnoone

          mrnoone

          @Pep95

          It simply conjugates like いadjective

          So:
          Polite non-past: たいです
          Polite past: たかったです
          Negative polite: たくないです/たくありません
          Negative polite past: たくなかったです/たくありませんでした

          are the allowed ones

          I hope it helps,
          Cheers

        • testing

          testing

          I entered なりたい, and it wants me to type なら instead - but the audio is なりたい. Posting in the forum so I can provide a screenshot:

          And now, 2 hours later, I got it again, but this time it’s working correctly?

        • mrnoone

          mrnoone

          @testing
          I have informed the technical part of the team, the answers seem to be correct (なりたい)

        • MikkaT

          MikkaT

          Hi, i’m sorry for asking a lot of questions, but I am really trying to understand how the grammar points are used.
          In this box is says that it should be used with を or が.
          But the examples never use が and even on the examples sentences page only a few use を.

        • IcyIceBear

          IcyIceBear

          Don’t worry about asking questions that’s what these grammar point forums are for (⁠◠⁠ᴥ⁠◕⁠ʋ⁠)

          First, it doesn’t say that it should be used with を or が but rather able to use either. When marking an object of desire. So if the sentence doesn’t have that, then there’s nothing to mark. “I wanted to become a police officer” to become なる is always used with に, so no を or が in the なりたい sentences. For the 虫は食べたくない , the は is used for negative contrast instead. The sentence would still work with either を or が.

          プロの歌手と歌いたい, again no object of desire. “I want to sing with a pro singer.” If it was この歌(を/が)歌いたい you would use either marker, with が having more emphasis

        • MikkaT

          MikkaT

          thanks for the explanation.

        • justin.adamson

          justin.adamson

        • IcyIceBear

          IcyIceBear

          Welcome to the community! You kinda answered your own question.

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