Wanting To Do — ～たい

Last episode you learned ほしい for wanting things. But what about wanting to do something? Eat pizza. Go to Japan. Read a book. That is a completely different ending — and it is built from something you already know.

What You'll Learn#

New vocabulary: 〜たい (want to do), 食べたい (want to eat), 飲みたい (want to drink), 行きたい (want to go), 買いたい (want to buy), ピザ (pizza), 日本料理 (Japanese cuisine), 靴 (shoes)

Lesson Transcript#

Building たい From the ます Stem#

You already know the ます form of verbs from episode sixteen. 食べる becomes 食べます. The stem — the part before ます — is 食べ. To say you want to eat, take that stem and attach たい.

It Conjugates Like an い-Adjective#

Here is the part that should feel like cheating — the word you just built ends in い, so it behaves as an い-adjective. Everything you learned back in episode twenty-five applies directly.

Nothing new to memorize. The whole system compounds.

In a Real Sentence#

Particle Flexibility: が or を#

Here is something most textbooks bury — with たい, you get to choose between が and を. Both are correct.

• ピザが食べたい。 — が emphasizes the feeling. Pizza is what I am craving.
• ピザを食べたい。 — を is more neutral. I want to eat pizza, matter-of-factly.

Same meaning, subtle difference in flavor. Native speakers use both. Pick whichever feels right in the moment.