Monday, March 2, 2020
How to Say Want or Desire in Japanese
How to Say Want or Desire in Japanese There are many ways to express wants or desire in Japanese depending on the situation. Are you in want of an object or an action? Are you speaking to a superior or a peer? Are you telling a statement or asking a question? Each scenario will require a different way to express to want or to desire in Japanese. Lets go through them! Involving a Noun When what one desires requires a noun, such as a car or money, hoshii (to want) is used. The basic sentence structure is someone) wa (something) ga hoshii desu. Note that the object of the verb to want is marked with the particle ga, not o. Here are some sample sentences: Watashi wa kuruma ga hoshii desu. ç § 㠯è »Å ã Å'æ ¬ ²Ã£ â€"㠄㠧㠙。 - I want a car. Watashi wa sono hon ga hoshii desu. ç § 㠯ã 㠮æÅ" ¬Ã£ Å'æ ¬ ²Ã£ â€"㠄㠧㠙。 - I want that book. Watashi wa nihonjin no tomodachi ga hoshii desu. ç § 㠯æâ€" ¥Ã¦Å" ¬Ã¤ º ºÃ£ ®Ã¥ ‹é â€Ã£ Å'æ ¬ ²Ã£ â€"㠄㠧㠙。 - I want a Japanese friend. Watashi wa kamera ga hoshii desu. ç § 㠯ã‚ «Ã£Æ' ¡Ã£Æ' ©Ã£ Å'æ ¬ ²Ã£ â€"㠄㠧㠙。 - I want a camera. Involving a Verb There are times when people dont want a material object but instead desire an action, like eating or buying. In such a case, to want in Japanese is expressed as ~tai desu. The basic sentence structure is (someone) wa (something) o ~tai desu. Here are a few sample sentences: Watashi wa kuruma o kaitai desu. ç § 㠯è »Å ã‚’è ² ·Ã£ „㠟㠄㠧㠙。 - I want to buy a car. Watashi wa sono hon o yomitai desu. ç § 㠯ã 㠮æÅ" ¬Ã£â€šâ€™Ã¨ ª 㠿ã Ÿã „㠧㠙。 - I want to read that book. When you want to emphasize a subject, the particle ga is used instead of o. For instance, Boku wa sushi ga tabetai desu. Ã¥Æ'•ã ¯Ã£ ™ã â€"ã Å'é £Å¸Ã£ ¹Ã£ Ÿã „㠧㠙。 - I want to eat sushi. Informal Setting When speaking in informal situations, ~ desu 㠧ã â„¢ can be omitted. The following are examples of more casual sentences: Watashi wa okane ga hoshii. ç § 㠯㠊金ã Å'æ ¬ ²Ã£ â€"ã „。 - I want money. Watashi wa nihon ni ikitai. ç § 㠯æâ€" ¥Ã¦Å" ¬Ã£ «Ã¨ ¡Å'ã ã Ÿã „。 - I want to go to Japan. Watashi wa eigo o benkyou shitai. ç § 㠯è‹ ±Ã¨ ªÅ¾Ã£â€šâ€™Ã¥â€¹â€°Ã¥ ¼ ·Ã£ â€"ã Ÿã „。- I want to study English. When to Use ~Tai Since ~tai expresses a very personal feeling, it is usually used only for the first person, and in a question for the second person. Note that ~ tai 㠟㠄) expression is not normally used when asking about the desire of ones superior. Nani ga tabetai desu ka. ä ½â€¢Ã£ Å'é £Å¸Ã£ ¹Ã£ Ÿã „㠧㠙㠋。 - What do you want to eat? Watashi wa kono eiga ga mitai desu. ç § 㠯ã “㠮æ˜ 熻ã Å'㠿ã Ÿã „㠧㠙。 - I want to watch this movie. Watashi wa amerika ni ikitai desu. ç § 㠯ã‚ ¢Ã£Æ' ¡Ã£Æ' ªÃ£â€š «Ã£ «Ã¨ ¡Å'ã 㠟㠄㠧㠙。 - I want to go to America. Third Person When describing a third persons desire, hoshigatte imasu æ ¬ ²Ã£ â€"ã Å'㠣㠦ã „㠾ã â„¢) or the stem of the verb ~ tagatte imasu ã Ÿã Å'㠣㠦ã „㠾ã â„¢ are used. Note that the object of hoshii 㠻ã â€"ã „ is marked with the particle ga ã Å', while the object of hoshigatte imasuÂ æ ¬ ²Ã£ â€"ã Å'㠣㠦ã „㠾ã â„¢ is marked with the particle o ã‚’. Ani wa kamera o hoshigatte imasu. 兄㠯ã‚ «Ã£Æ' ¡Ã£Æ' ©Ã£â€šâ€™Ã¦ ¬ ²Ã£ â€"ã Å'㠣㠦ã „㠾㠙。 - My brother wants a camera. Ken wa kono eiga o mitagatte imasu. Ã¥ ¥Ã£ ¯Ã£ “㠮æ˜ 熻ã‚’è ¦â€¹Ã£ Ÿã Å'㠣㠦ã „㠾㠙。 - Ken wants to watch this movie. Tomu wa nihon ni ikitagatte imasu. ãÆ'ˆãÆ' 㠯æâ€" ¥Ã¦Å" ¬Ã£ «Ã¨ ¡Å'ã ã Ÿã Å'㠣㠦ã „㠾㠙。 - Tom wants to go to Japan. Desire to Have Someone Do Something for You Hoshii is also used to express a desire to have someone do something for him or her. The sentence structure will be ~te (verb te-form) hoshii, and someone is marked by the particle ni. Here are some examples: Masako ni sugu byouin ni itte hoshii n desu. é›…å 㠫ã ™ã çâ€"…é™ ¢Ã£ «Ã¨ ¨â‚¬Ã£ £Ã£ ¦Ã¦ ¬ ²Ã£ â€"㠄ん㠧㠙。 - I want Masako to go to the hospital right away. Kore o kare ni todokete hoshii desu ka. ã “ã‚Å'ã‚’å ½ ¼Ã£ «Ã¥ ±Å 㠑㠦æ ¬ ²Ã£ â€"㠄㠧㠙㠋。 - Do you want me to deliver this to him? The same idea can also be expressed by ~ te moraitai. Watashi wa anata ni hon o yonde moraitai. ç § 㠯ã ‚㠪㠟㠫æÅ" ¬Ã£â€šâ€™Ã¨ ª ん㠧もらã „ã Ÿã „。 - I want you to read me a book. Watashi wa Yoko ni unten shite moraitai desu. ç § 㠯æ ´â€¹Ã¥ 㠫é ‹è » ¢Ã£ â€"㠦もらã „ã Ÿã „。 - I want Yoko to drive. This pattern can be used when stating ones desire for someone of a higher status to do something. In this case, itadaku which is the humble version of morau is used. Watashi wa Tanaka-sensei ni kite itadakitai. ç § 㠯熰ä ¸ å…ˆçâ€Å¸Ã£ «Ã¦ ¥Ã£ ¦Ã£ „ã Ÿã ã ã Ÿã „。 - I would like Professor Tanaka to come. Watashi wa shachou ni kore o tabete itadakitai desu. ç § 㠯ç ¤ ¾Ã©â€¢ ·Ã£ «Ã£ “ã‚Å'ã‚’é £Å¸Ã£ ¹Ã£ ¦Ã£ „ã Ÿã ã 㠟㠄㠧㠙。 - I want the president to eat this. Invitations Although in English, expressions like do you want to~ and dont you want to~ are informal invitations, Japanese questions with ~tai cant be used to express an invitation when politeness is required. For example, Watashi to isshoni eiga ni ikitai desu ka is a straightforward question, asking if one wants to go to a movie with the speaker. It is not meant to be an invitation. To express an invitation, negative questions are used. Watashi to isshoni eiga ni ikimasen ka. ç § 㠨ä ¸â‚¬Ã§ ·â€™Ã£ «Ã¦Ëœ 熻㠫è ¡Å'ã 㠾㠛ん㠋。 - Dont you want to go with me? Ashita tenisu o shimasen ka. 明æâ€" ¥Ã£Æ'†ãÆ'‹ã‚ ¹Ã£â€šâ€™Ã£ â€"㠾㠛ん㠋。 - Wont you play tennis tomorrow?
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