Master the ～たい (tai) Form: How to Express Your Desires in Japanese

Learning to express what you want is a fundamental part of communication. In Japanese, the primary way to say "I want to do..." is by using the ～たい (tai) form. This incredibly useful grammar pattern attaches to verbs and is essential for daily conversation. This lesson will provide a complete guide to conjugating and using the ～たい form, including the subtle differences in particle usage, how to talk about other people's desires, and how it differs from similar-sounding grammar.

Table of Contents

• What is the ～たい Form? A Quick Overview
• How to Conjugate Verbs into the ～たい Form
• Choosing Your Particle: が vs. を with ～たい
• He Wants, She Wants: Expressing Third-Person Desires with ～たがっている
• Rule Exceptions & Edge Cases
• Similar But Don’t Confuse With… ～ほしい
• Exercise Drill: Test Your ～たい Knowledge
• Cultural Nuances of Expressing Desire
• Summary and Next Steps

What is the ～たい Form? A Quick Overview

The ～たい form is a verb ending used to express your own desire to perform an action. Think of it as the Japanese equivalent of "want to (verb)." For example, to change 「食たべる」 (to eat) into "I want to eat," you use the ～たい form to get 「食たべたい」. It’s a first-person-centric expression; you use it to talk about your own wants and to ask others directly about theirs. For talking about what a third person wants, a different form is required, which we'll cover in this lesson.

Mastering the ～たい form is a huge step toward more natural and expressive Japanese conversation.

How to Conjugate Verbs into the ～たい Form

The beauty of the ～たい form is its simple and consistent conjugation rule. The process is the same for all verb groups.

The Rule: Take the ます (masu) form of the verb, drop the ます, and add たい.

Let's break it down with examples for each verb group.

Group 1: U-Verbs (Godan Verbs)

These verbs have a stem ending in an "-i" sound before ます.

• JP: 飲のむ (to drink) → 飲のみます → 飲のみたい EN: want to drink
• JP: 行いく (to go) → 行いきます → 行いきたい EN: want to go
• JP: 買かう (to buy) → 買かいます → 買かいたい EN: want to buy

Group 2: Ru-Verbs (Ichidan Verbs)

These verbs have a stem ending in an "-e" sound before ます.

• JP: 食たべる (to eat) → 食たべます → 食たべたい EN: want to eat
• JP: 見みる (to see/watch) → 見みます → 見みたい EN: want to see/watch
• JP: 寝ねる (to sleep) → 寝ねます → 寝ねたい EN: want to sleep

Group 3: Irregular Verbs

There are only two main irregular verbs, and they follow the same pattern.

• JP: する (to do) → します → したい EN: want to do
• JP: 来くる (to come) → 来きます → 来きたい EN: want to come

Here is a quick-reference conjugation chart:

| Verb Type        | Dictionary Form | Masu Form | Tai Form (Want to...) |
|------------------|-----------------|-----------|-----------------------|
| Group 1 (U-Verb) | 書く (kaku)     | 書きます  | 書きたい (kakitai)      |
| Group 1 (U-Verb) | 話す (hanasu)     | 話します  | 話したい (hanashitai)     |
| Group 2 (Ru-Verb)| 食べる (taberu)   | 食べます  | 食べたい (tabetai)      |
| Group 2 (Ru-Verb)| 起きる (okiru)    | 起きます  | 起きたい (okitai)       |
| Irregular        | する (suru)       | します    | したい (shitai)         |
| Irregular        | 来る (kuru)       | 来ます    | 来たい (kitai)          |

Example Sentences

• JP: 今日きょうはラーメンが食たべたいです。 EN: I want to eat ramen today.
• JP: 夏休なつやすみに日本にほんへ行いきたい。 EN: I want to go to Japan during summer vacation.
• JP: この映画えいがを見みたいですか。 EN: Do you want to watch this movie?
• JP: 新あたらしいパソコンを買かいたいです。 EN: I want to buy a new computer.
• JP: 週末しゅうまつは家いえでゆっくり休やすみたい。 EN: I want to relax at home over the weekend.
• JP: 彼かれともっと話はなしたい。 EN: I want to talk more with him.

Choosing Your Particle: が vs. を with ～たい

When you use a transitive verb with the ～たい form, you need to mark the object of your desire (the "what" you want to do something to). You have two choices for this: the object marker を or the subject/emphasis marker が.

Both are grammatically correct, but they carry slightly different nuances.

1. Using を (wo): This is the standard, neutral, and most common choice in modern Japanese. It treats the verb phrase (e.g., "ramen wo tabetai") as a single unit, focusing on the entire action of "wanting to eat ramen."
2. Using が (ga): This places a stronger emphasis on the object of your desire. It separates the object from the verb, highlighting what you want. Think of it as saying, "It's ramen that I want to eat." In older or more formal Japanese, が was the standard particle for this grammar.

Comparison:

• JP: ラーメンを食たべたい。 EN: I want to eat ramen. (A neutral statement about the action.)
• JP: ラーメンが食たべたい。 EN: I want to eat ramen. / It's ramen that I want to eat. (Emphasizes that ramen is the specific thing I desire.)

For learners, using を is generally a safe and natural default. You'll hear が used often, especially to emphasize a choice or a strong craving.

More Example Sentences

• JP: ジュースを飲のみたいです。 EN: I want to drink juice. (Neutral)
• JP: (いろいろな飲のみ物ものがあるけど) ジュースが飲のみたいです。 EN: (There are lots of drinks, but) it's juice that I want to drink. (Emphatic)
• JP: 日本語にほんごを勉強べんきょうしたい。 EN: I want to study Japanese. (Focus on the action of studying)
• JP: 私わたしは特とくに漢字かんじが勉強べんきょうしたい。 EN: I especially want to study kanji. (Kanji is the specific thing I want to study)
• JP: 新あたらしい服ふくを買かいたい。 EN: I want to buy new clothes.

He Wants, She Wants: Expressing Third-Person Desires with ～たがっている

This is a critical rule: The plain ～たい form is reserved for your own desires (first person) or when asking someone else directly (second person).

You cannot use ～たい to state what a third person (he, she, they, Tanaka-san) wants. Doing so sounds unnatural and presumptuous, as if you can read their mind.

To talk about someone else's observed desire, you must use a different grammar pattern: ～たがっている (tagatte iru).

How to form it:

1. Start with the ～たい form: 食たべたい (tabetai)
2. Drop the final い: 食たべた (tabeta)
3. Add がる to create a verb: 食たべたがる (tabetagaru) - "to show signs of wanting to eat"
4. Put it in the -te iru form to describe an ongoing state: 食たべたがっている (tabetagatte iru)

The particle rule also changes: with ～たがっている, the object is always marked with を, never が.

Example Sentences

• JP: 私わたしは寿司すしが食たべたい。 EN: I want to eat sushi.
• JP: 田中たなかさんは寿司すしを食たべたがっている。 EN: Tanaka-san wants to eat sushi (is showing signs of wanting to eat sushi).
• JP: 息子むすこは新あたらしいおもちゃを買かいたがっています。 EN: My son wants to buy a new toy.
• JP: 彼女かのじょは早はやく家いえに帰かえりたがっている。 EN: She wants to go home early.
• JP: 猫ねこが外そとに出でたがっています。 EN: The cat wants to go outside.
• JP: みんながその試合しあいを見みたがっている。 EN: Everyone wants to see that match.

Rule Exceptions & Edge Cases

1. ～たい Conjugates Like an i-Adjective

Once you create the ～たい form, it behaves exactly like a standard i-adjective. This means you can easily make it negative, past tense, or past-negative.

• Present Negative (～たくない): Drop い and add くない.
  • 食たべたい → 食たべたくない (I don't want to eat)
• Past Tense (～たかった): Drop い and add かった.
  • 食たべたい → 食たべたかった (I wanted to eat)
• Past-Negative (～たくなかった): Drop い and add くなかった.
  • 食たべたい → 食たべたくなかった (I didn't want to eat)

Here are some examples in sentences:

• JP: 今日きょうは何なにも食たべたくない。 EN: I don't want to eat anything today.
• JP: 昨日きのうは映画えいがが見みたかったけど、時間じかんがなかった。 EN: I wanted to see a movie yesterday, but I didn't have time.
• JP: その会議かいぎには本当ほんとうに参加さんかしたくなかった。 EN: I really didn't want to participate in that meeting.

2. Quoting Someone's Desire

While you can't use ～たい directly for a third person, you can quote them. If someone says 「旅行りょこうしたい」 ("I want to travel"), you can report this by using a quoting particle like と.

• JP: 彼女かのじょは「旅行りょこうしたい」と言いっていました。 EN: She was saying, "I want to travel."

This is a direct report of their words, which is different from using ～たがっている to describe your observation of their state.

3. Involuntary Actions

The ～たい form is used for voluntary actions—things you can choose to do. It sounds strange when used with verbs for involuntary actions or states of being.

• Awkward: 風邪かぜを治なおしたい。 (I want to cure my cold.)
• More Natural: 風邪かぜが早はやく治なおるといいなあ。 (I hope my cold gets better soon.)

Similar But Don’t Confuse With… ～ほしい

A common point of confusion for learners is the difference between ～たい and ～ほしい. The rule is simple:

• ～たい (tai): Used for actions/verbs. I want to do something.
• ～ほしい (hoshii): Used for things/nouns. I want a thing.

～ほしい attaches to a noun, which is typically marked by the particle が.

Let's look at some minimal pairs to make the difference clear.

• Minimal Pair 1: Car
  • JP: 車くるまがほしいです。 EN: I want a car. (Desire for a noun)
  • JP: 車くるまを運転うんてんしたいです。 EN: I want to drive a car. (Desire for an action)
• Minimal Pair 2: Book
  • JP: あの本ほんがほしい。 EN: I want that book. (Desire for a noun)
  • JP: あの本ほんを読よみたい。 EN: I want to read that book. (Desire for an action)
• Minimal Pair 3: Time
  • JP: もっと時間じかんがほしい。 EN: I want more time. (Desire for a noun)
  • JP: もっとゆっくり話はなしたい。 EN: I want to talk more slowly. (Desire for an action, doesn't use the noun 'time' directly)

Just like ～たい, ～ほしい is for first-person desires. For third-person desires, ～ほしい becomes ～を欲しがっている (hoshigatte iru).

• JP: 妹いもうとは新あたらしいドレスを**欲ほしがっている**。 EN: My little sister wants a new dress.

Exercise Drill: Test Your ～たい Knowledge

Choose the correct word or phrase to complete the sentences.

1. 明日あしたは寿司すし ( ) 食たべたい。 (Choices: を, に, で)
2. 山田やまださんはアメリカあめりかへ ( ) みたいです。 (Choices: 行いきたい, 行いきたがっている, 行いきました)
3. もっと水みずが ( ) です。 (Choices: 飲のみたい, ほしい, 飲のみたくない)
4. 昨日きのうの夜よるは、とても疲つかれていたから何なにも ( )。 (Choices: したかった, したくない, したくなかった)
5. Translate to Japanese: "I want to become a doctor."
6. Translate to Japanese: "My friend (a girl) wants to learn tea ceremony." (Use 茶道さどう for tea ceremony and 習ならう for to learn)

Cultural Nuances of Expressing Desire

1. Directness and Politeness: While ～たい is perfectly fine in casual situations, directly stating your desires can sometimes be too forward in more formal or polite contexts. To soften the request, Japanese speakers often add expressions like ～んですが or use different grammar.
   • Direct: 手伝てつだってもらもいたい。 (I want you to help me.)
   • Softer: 手伝てつだっていただけると嬉うれしいです。 (I would be happy if you could help me.)
2. Advertising Slogans: The ～たい form is rampant in advertising copy because it creates a sense of desire and aspiration in the customer. You'll see slogans like 「もっときれい・・になりたい！」 ("I want to become more beautiful!") or 「世界せかいを旅たびしたいあなたへ」 ("To you who wants to travel the world").
3. The Observational Feel of ～たがっている: Remember that ～たがっている implies you are making a judgment based on someone's appearance or behavior. It means "to show signs of wanting to..." This is why it's the default for third persons—you can't know their inner thoughts, but you can observe their actions.

Summary and Next Steps

Congratulations! You now have a solid understanding of the ～たい form, one of the most fundamental grammar points for expressing yourself in Japanese.

Here are the key takeaways:

• Use ～たい to express your own desire to do an action.
• Conjugate by taking the verb's ます-stem and adding たい.
• The resulting form acts like an i-adjective (～たくない, ～たかった).
• Use を or が to mark the object of your desire (を is more neutral).
• For third-person desires, you must use ～たがっている.
• Do not confuse ～たい (for actions) with ～ほしい (for things).

By practicing the ～たい form, you'll be able to talk about your hobbies, goals, and simple daily wants much more effectively. For your next lesson, consider exploring how to express obligation with ～なければならない or ability with ～ことができる, which build perfectly on your knowledge of verb conjugation.