Expressing Desire (てほしい)

So far, we've only looked at two types of wants "I want a book" and "I want to read a book" but we need to return back to ほしい to express wanting someone else to do something: "I want you to read a book".

Before we begin, let's first look at wanting something to be done rather than wanting to do something.

…てほしい to Want Something Done

When talking about wanting something done (an action), use a verb in Te-form with ほしい. It is also very common to write ほしい in hiragana as kanji is already in use for the attached verb.

1. 食べてほしいんだ

   tabete hoshii nda

   (It is that I) want it eaten

2. 読んでほしくなかったけど・・・

   yonde hoshikunakatta kedo...

   (I) didn't want it read but...

This usage of てほしい is only expressing "to want something done" but using the たい form here would be unnatural. To actually express that you "want to do something", you would use たい instead. There is also a more politer and appropriate way of making requests which we'll look at soon.

…に…てほしい To Want Someone to Do Something

When wanting someone to do something, we can use the に particle to mark that person as the target destination of this desire. In other words, the specific person you wish to receive the action. It is also possible to attach other particles too, such as the も particle, with or without に.

1. キミにこのヒトカゲもらってほしいや

   kimi ni kono hitokage moratte hoshii ya

   (I) want you to have this Charmander

2. あの子に幸せになってほしかった

   anoko ni shiawase ni natte hoshikatta

   (I) wanted her to be happy

3. みんなにもこの本を読んでほしい

   minna ni mo kono hon o yonde hoshii

   (I) want everyone to read this book too

4. しのぶにやってほしいゲーム

   shinobu ni yatte hoshii ge-mu

   Games (I) want Shinobu to play

※ Example sentence (1) 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 ペルソナ5 (Persona 5).

…が…てほしい To Want Something to Happen

When wanting something to happen in general, you would use が to mark it as the subject. After all, you cannot really ask a non-living thing or concept to do something willingly for you. All you can do is hope or wish for something involving the subject to happen.

1. 雪が降ってほしい

   yuki ga futte hoshii

   (I) want snow to fall

2. 雨が降ってほしくない

   ame ga futte hoshikunai

   (I) don't want rain to fall

3. 音楽が流れてほしかった

   ongaku ga nagarete hoshikatta

   (I) wanted music to be played

Subject が vs Target に

When marking something with が, we are only talking about wanting something to happen. the subject, as you know, does something all by itself rather than being affected by or having something done to it. In other words, you can't simply ask the rain itself that you want it to do something, rain will fall no matter what because it naturally occurs without any human control.

When marking something with に, we are basically requesting or demanding that you want the marked target to do something. For example, while you cannot tell the music itself that you want it to be quiet, you can tell someone else that you want them to turn it down.

Sometimes, you will see the に particle being used but in fact it is not marking a target but a Location, Time or State of Being or other use of に instead. For example:

1. 音楽は静かにしてほしい

   ongaku wa shizuka ni shite hoshii

   (I) want the music to be quiet

Here, you are not telling the music itself to be quiet but rather actually wanting the music specifically to be in the state of being quiet. Using が here is unnatural because it implies that "quiet" itself is doing the action. Since it would suggest that "quiet" is actively doing something, it doesn't make sense. "quiet" is a state or condition which に best implies.

Polite Requests

To invite someone to do something in Japanese, simply ask them a negative question. You would not ask what someone wants when inviting them to do something, just like you would in English. Here, you are simply being indirect when asking someone, even if it does sound awkward or too formal in English.

• ダンスしませんか

  Do you want to dance?

  Would you not like to dance?

• クッキー食べませんか

  Do you want to eat some cookies?

  Would you not like to eat some cookies?

Just remember, it is inappropriate in Japanese to directly request the desires of someone else. There are many other ways of wanting or motioning others to do something such as the volitional form but we will cover that in more detail, in another lesson.

Additional Notes

Related Lessons and References

Here is a list of other pages as a reference of what else you may be interested in reading: