In English, when we have a desire to possess something or have something done, we use the verb "want" to express this; in Japanese, the equivalent to this is ほしい which is an i-adjective.
It's important to remember that ほしい is only used for wanting things (nouns), not for saying that you want to do something. In Japanese, it is also considered too childish to express your desires directly so don't expect to hear or see it used this way often.
If you remember from the lesson about emotions, i-adjectives ending in ～しい are generally known as personal emotive adjectives as they are used for describing our own feelings. When talking about someone else's feelings or desires, there are verb pairs that should be used instead:
| English | Kana | Kanji | |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | wanting | ほしい | 欲しい |
| V | to want | ほしがる | 欲しがる |
You may still see ほしい used to refer to what someone else wants but this is mostly common in contexts where you are quoting what someone else said or expressing that someone would seem (よう) to want.
欲しい to Want
The most basic way of saying what you want is 「〇〇がほしい」 and remember that the object of desire is marked by either the が or は particle but you cannot use を in this context, for example:
| Object of Desire | Predicate |
|---|---|
| ねこ (が/は) a cat |
ほしい (です) want |
※ 猫欲しい
Because ほしい is an i-adjective, it must be conjugated as one to be able to change its tense; these are all used to express your own personal desires for something:
-
オレ
ポケモン たくさん 欲しい！ ore (wa) pokemon (ga) takusan hoshii!
I want lots of pokemon!
-
欲しくない
ワケじゃない けど、 さすがに 受け取れないよ！ hoshikunai wake ja nai kedo, sasuga ni uketorenai yo!
It's not like I don't want it but I just cannot accept it!
-
かわいいなあ！
イーブイ 欲しかった んだ！ kawaii naa! iibii (ga) hoshikatta nda!
It's really cute! Eevee is just what I wanted!
-
犬が
欲しくなかった んだ! inu ga hoshikunakatta nda!
I didn't want a dog!
When expressing what someone else wants, you will want to use the verb ほしがる (to want). You can also attach よう or そう (appearing to) or いう (to say) to the end of ほしい instead. There are more appropriate ways to express wants but for now here are some examples:
-
大宮さんは
猫が 欲しがっています oomiya-san wa neko ga hoshigatteimasu
Oomiya-san is wanting a cat
-
大宮さんは
猫が 欲しいと言っています oomiya-san wa neko ga hoshii itteimasu
Oomiya-san says he wants a cat
-
大宮さんは
猫が 欲しいようです oomiya-san wa neko ga hoshii you desu
Oomiya-san seems to want a cat
As you can see, when expressing what someone else wants, you will need to make it clear that you are only assuming what they want. You cannot really know exactly what other people are thinking or feeling.
※ Example sentence (1) and (3) was taken from the game ポケットモンスター Let's Go! (Pokemon Let's Go!).
※ Example sentence (2) was taken from the game どうぶつの森 (Animal Crossing).
Additional Notes
Some words may have different meanings or expressions so check out online dictionaries such as japandict.com or jisho.org to find out more.
These example sentences may be presented in an unnatural or artificial way. Continue to broaden your research and listen to how real Japanese native people speak. It's important to make sure you have many other resources to use. Do not rely on this website alone.
Related Lessons and References
Here is a list of other pages as a reference of what else you may be interested in reading: