Happy Sunday Japanophiles, Herewith the 65th issue of the Hai Japan Newsletter — your Weekly Dose of Japan!

Today, we’re simply going through some grammar:

〜たい: Expressing Desire to Do Something

Used to express “I want to [verb]”
Grammar Formula:
▶ Verb Stem + たい

Table of Contents

1. The Basics

2. How to Conjugate Verbs with 〜たい

3. Using たい to Express Your Own Desires

4. Beyond the Basics: Talking About Others’ Desires

5. Summary Table

6. Key Notes & Warnings

1. The Basics

The Japanese suffix 〜たい is attached to verbs to express your desire to perform an action.

🔹 It's the equivalent of “want to [do]” in English.
🔹 Works only with action verbs, not adjectives or nouns.
🔹 Most often used in casual or neutral contexts.

2. How to Conjugate Verbs with 〜たい

✅ Step-by-step:

1. Take the ます-stem of the verb (verb in ます-form minus ます).

2. Add たい.

3. Using たい to Express Your Own Desires

Use it to talk about what you want to do.

✅ Examples:

• トイレに行きたい。
  I want to go to the toilet.

• 休みたい。
  I want to rest.

• 日本に行きたい。
  I want to go to Japan.

• パイロットになりたい。
  I want to become a pilot.

➡ Note: For “to become” (なる), you're attaching たい to the stem なり.

4. Beyond the Basics: Expressing Someone Else’s Desire

⚠️ In real-life speech, you should not use 〜たい to talk about someone else's feelings directly. It sounds too confident—as if you can read their mind.

❌ Incorrect:

マミはベーコンを食べたい。
Mami wants to eat bacon. ← too direct

✅ Alternatives:

1. と言っていた ("They said that…")

• 木村さんはお好み焼きを食べたいと言っていた。
  Kimura-san said he wants to eat okonomiyaki.

2. そうだ ("I heard that…")

• 田中さんは飲みに行きたいそうだ。
  I heard Tanaka-san wants to go for a drink.

3. そうだ (Visual guess: "It looks like…")

• 田中さんは帰りたそうだ。
  It looks like Tanaka-san wants to go home.

4. らしい ("It seems that…")

• 木村さんは喧嘩したいらしい。
  Apparently, Kimura-san wants to fight.

5. たい + のです / んです (Explanatory)

• 木村さんはお好み焼きを食べたいんです。
  The thing is… Kimura-san wants to eat okonomiyaki.

6. たがる Construction

Use this to express someone else’s apparent desire based on behavior (→ Learn more in the 〜たがる lesson).

5. Summary Table

6. Key Notes & Warnings

• Only use たい for your own feelings directly.

• Never use たい to state someone else’s desire unless using appropriate framing (e.g. hearsay, assumption).

• Works with transitive and intransitive verbs.

• Can be conjugated:

  • たいです (polite),

  • たくない (don’t want to),

  • たかった (wanted to),

  • たくなかった (didn’t want to)

That’s all folks!

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

Have a great Sunday!