Ways of Expressing Desire - Quero - Tai and Hoshii

Have you ever wondered how to say that you want something, or wish to do something in Japanese? Or even like to say that you do not want to do something? Learning this is very useful in basic conversation. For this, we will learn the form "tai" and "hoshii".

• The form "tai" is used to indicate that you want to do something. (play / joke / kill / sing...)
• The hoshii form is used to indicate that you want something. (object / thing / person / animal)

"Tai" form たい

When you intend to say that you want to take some action, which is a verb, we use the form "tai" たい. The suffix tai works in the same way as "masu" ます. In other words, if you desire something, you should end the verb with "tai" instead of "masu".

Example: I want to eat / tabetai desu / 食べたいです

Just like the suffix "masu," "-tai" has its grammatical forms.

	Present/Future	Past
Affirmative	tai desu	takatta desu
Negative	takunai desu	takunakatta desu

Here is a wishlist in the form "-tai" that you can learn:

Verbo	Verbo - kanji	tai - romaji	tai - kanji	Significado
kau	買う	kaitai	買いたい	quero comprar
matsu	待つ	machitai	待ちたい	quero esperar
noru	乗る	noritai	乗りたい	quero montar
nomu	飲む	nomitai	飲みたい	quero beber
shinu	死ぬ	shintai	死にたい	quero morrer
asobu	遊ぶ	asobitai	遊びたい	quero jogar
iku	行く	ikitai	行きたい	quero ir
oyogu	泳ぐ	oyogitai	泳ぎたい	quero nadar
hanasu	話す	hanashitai	話したい	quero conversar
miru	見る	mitai	見たい	quero ver
suru	する	shitai	したい	quero fazer
kuru	くる	kitai	きたい	quero vir

Learning this you can start creating sentences like this:

私は 車を 買いたいです。
Watashi wa kuruma o kaitai desu;

I want to buy a car

日本へ 行きたいです。
Nihon e ikitai desu;

I want to go to Japan

Form "hoshii" ほしい / 欲しい

When it comes to nouns, we use the term ほしい to say that we want something. Pay attention to how the sentence is organized:

(私は) noun が ほしい です
(watashi wa) noun ga hoshii desu

The form hoshii is quite simple. Just put the noun you want to say that you want something. The form hoshii can only be used for things and objects. It should not be used to indicate that you want to do an action; for that, there is the form "tai".

Just like the "-tai" form, hoshii has its grammatical forms:

Format	Kanji	Furigana	Rōmaji
Simple form	欲 し い	want	wish
Past	欲 し か っ た	I wanted it.	hoshikatta
Negation	欲 し く な い	don't want	I don't want it.
Past Denial	欲 しくなかった	I didn't want it.	I didn't want it.
-sa form	Desire	wanting	hoshisa
form -am	wanting	I want to be a star.	hoshisou

Example Phrases

田中さんは犬がほしいです。
Tanaka san wa inu ga hoshii desu;

Mr. Tanaka wants a dog.

あなたは何がほしいですか。
Anata wa nani ga hoshii desu ka;

What do you want?

今日は雨が降っています。傘がほしいです。
Kyou wa ame ga futte imasu. Kasa ga hoshii desu;

Today it is raining. I want an umbrella.

私は恋人がほしいです。
Watashi wa koibito ga hoshii desu;

I want a boyfriend/girlfriend.

私は日本人の友達がほしいです。
Watashi wa nihonjin no tomodachi ga hoshii desu;

I want a Japanese friend

私はとても忙しいから、時間がほしいです。
Watashi wa totemo isogashii kara, jikan ga hoshii desu;

I am so busy, I need time.

子供の時人形がほしかったですが、今はほしくないです。
Kodomo no toki ningyou ga hoshikatta desu ga, ima wa hoshikunai desu;

I wanted a doll when I was a child, but now I don't want one anymore.

五年前にカメラがほしくなかったですが、今はほしいです。
Gonen mae ni kamera ga hoshikunakatta desu ga, ima wa hoshii desu;

I didn't want a camera five years ago, now I want one.

Video

Below is a video that can help with the tai form: