～たい (want to do)

• Reading: たい
• Romaji: tai
• Formation: Verb masu-stem + たい

Meaning

Expresses the speaker's desire to do something. It attaches to the verb masu-stem and conjugates like an い-adjective.

たい is used exclusively for first-person desires in statements and second-person desires in questions. To describe a third person's desire, たがる or たがっている is used instead. Since たい conjugates as an い-adjective, it can take forms like たくない (negative), たかった (past), and たくなかった (past negative). The direct object can be marked with either を or が, with が often preferred when the desire is strong or emotional.

Examples

1. 夏休みに北海道へ行きたい。 I want to go to Hokkaido during summer vacation.
2. 冷たい水が飲みたいです。 I want to drink some cold water.
3. 映画を見たくなかった。 I didn't want to watch the movie.

Usage Guide

Context: spoken, written, everyday

Tone: expressive

Do Say

• 週末にどこか遊びに行きたいな。
• 今すぐ温かいお風呂に入りたい。
• 将来は海外で働きたいです。

Don't Say

• 田中さんは帰りたい。(たい cannot describe a third person's desire directly — use 田中さんは帰りたがっている) → 田中さんは帰りたがっている。
• 旅行に行くたいです。(たい attaches to the masu-stem, not the dictionary form — use 行きたい) → 旅行に行きたいです。

Origin & History

たい derives from the classical auxiliary たし, which expressed desire and appeared in literature from the Heian period onward.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal