〜たい — Want to Do ~

Properties

Meaning

〜たい expresses the speaker's desire to perform an action. It answers the question "What do you want to do?" and is used strictly for first-person desire in direct statements or when asking the listener about their own desires.

Structure

[Verb ます-stem] + たい

Conjugation

たい conjugates like an i-adjective.

Object Particle: を vs が

With たい, the direct object can be marked with either を or が. Using が places slightly more emphasis on the object of desire.

• 水を飲みたい。— I want to drink water.
• 水が飲みたい。— Water is what I want to drink.

Both are natural; が is especially common in spoken Japanese.

Examples

1. 日本に行きたいです。 Nihon ni ikitai desu. I want to go to Japan.

2. 今日は何も食べたくない。 Kyou wa nani mo tabetakunai. I don't want to eat anything today.

3. 子供の頃、パイロットになりたかった。 Kodomo no koro, pairotto ni naritakatta. When I was a child, I wanted to become a pilot.

4. 新しい映画が見たいです。 Atarashii eiga ga mitai desu. I want to see the new movie.

5. もっと日本語を話したいと思っています。 Motto nihongo wo hanashitai to omotteimasu. I am thinking that I want to speak more Japanese.

Note: Third-Person Desire

〜たい is only used for the speaker's own desire (or when directly asking the listener). To express that a third person wants to do something, use 〜たがっている (N4 grammar).

• 私は行きたい。— I want to go. (correct)
• 彼は行きたがっている。— He wants to go. (correct)
• 彼は行きたい。 — Avoid this to describe a third party's desire.

Common Mistakes

• Using たい for third persons. Do not say 彼女は寿司が食べたい without extra context. Use たがっている instead.
• Forgetting i-adjective conjugation. たい follows i-adjective rules, not verb rules. The negative is たくない, not たいじゃない (たいじゃない is acceptable in very casual speech but たくない is standard).
• Attaching たい to the dictionary form. Always use the ます-stem, not the dictionary form. 食べ + たい, not 食べる + たい.