Happy Sunday Japanophiles, Herewith the 14th issue of the Hai Japan Newsletter — your Weekly Dose of Japan!

I apologize for the lateness, due to some technical issues I had to postpone the issue for later.

Today, we’re simply going through some grammar: 🇯🇵 

〜たい (DESIRE)

〜たい is a verb suffix that adds a meaning of desire. Use it to say "I want to do [this verb]”. (From Tofugo.com)

The Basics

〜たい is used to express your desire to do something, similar to "want to (do something)" in English.

Attach it to a verb to indicate what action you want to perform. For example, 食べる(tabe) (to eat) becomes 食べたい (want to eat) to express the desire to eat.

Conjugating Verbs with 〜たい

To use 〜たい, start with the verb's stem form and add 〜たい. The stem form is the ます form without ます.

• Godan Verbs: 走ります (hashirimasu) (run) + たい = 走りたい (want to run)

• Ichidan Verbs: 食べます (tabemasu) (eat) + たい = 食べたい (want to eat)

〜たい for Expressing Your Desire

Use 〜たい to express your desire, whether it's a simple daily urge or a long-term dream.

• Daily Urge: トイレに行きたい。(Toire ni ikitai)
  I want to go to the bathroom.

• Long-term Desire: パイロットになりたい。(Pairotto ni naritai)
  I want to become a pilot.

Beyond the Basics: Expressing Someone Else's Desire

〜たい is mainly used to express your own desires. Using it to describe someone else's desires can sound too assertive and awkward. For instance, saying "マミはベーコンを食べたい" (Mami wants to eat bacon) might come off as overly certain because you can't truly know someone else's thoughts.

While 〜たい can be used in storytelling to narrate a character's desires, it's rare in real-life speech. Even if you believe Mami wants to eat bacon, it's better to indicate that you're assuming or have evidence. Here are some ways to express someone else's desire:

• と言っていた (they were saying): 木村さんはお好み焼きを食べたいと言っていた。(Kimura-san wa okonomiyaki o tabetai to itteita)
  Kimura-san was saying he wants to eat okonomiyaki.

• そうだ (I heard that): 田中さんは木村さんと飲みに行きたいそうだ。
  I heard that Tanaka-san wants to go get a drink with Kimura-san.

• そうだ (it looks like): 田中さんは帰りたそうだ。(Tanaka-san wa Kimura-san to nomi ni ikitai sou da)
  It looks like Tanaka-san wants to go home.

• らしい (it seems that): 木村さんは喧嘩したいらしい。(Kimura-san wa kenka shitai rashii.)
  It seems that Kimura-san wants to fight.

Using 〜たい with んです/のです

• Explanatory Tone: 木村さんはお好み焼きを食べたいんです。(Kimura-san wa okonomiyaki o tabetai n desu)
  (The situation is) Kimura-san wants to eat okonomiyaki.

That’s all folks!

Let me know if you enjoyed this simple grammar run-through :)

Have a great week!