# Wanting to Do: たい

https://langs123.com/en/japanese/verbs/tai/
CEFR A1–A2 · 2026-10-24 · CC BY 4.0, langs123 contributors (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

> The stem plus **たい** says what the speaker wants to do, and it changes like an い-adjective: **たくない**, **たかった**. The stem takes **たい**, and the polite sentence closes with **です**: コーヒーを飲のみ**たい**です。

## Summary

| Point | Rule | Example |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Form | stem + **たいです** | 日本にほんへ行いき**たいです**。 | I want to go to Japan. |
| Not wanting | stem + **たくないです** | ビールは飲のみ**たくないです**。 | I don’t want to drink beer. |
| Wanting in the past | stem + **たかったです** / **たくなかったです** | きのうは、うちにい**たかったです**。 | Yesterday I wanted to stay at home. |
| Your own wish | **たい** gives the speaker’s wish; the thing wanted takes **を**. | すしを食たべ**たい**です。 | I want to eat sushi. |
| Asking | Ask with **たいですか**; to a person above you, ask with **ませんか**. | 何なにを食たべ**たい**ですか。 | What do you want to eat? |
| Wanting a thing | A thing wanted is **が** **ほしい**; an action wanted is the stem plus **たい**. | かばんが**ほしい**です。 | I want a bag. |
| Another person | For someone else, say **たがっています**. | ジョンさんは日本にほんへ行いき**たがっています**。 | John wants to go to Japan. |
| Trap | The stem takes **たい**, never the dictionary form. | 水みずを飲のみ**たい**です。 | I want to drink water. |
| Trap | The negative is **たくないです**, not **たいじゃありません**. | 日本にほんへ行いき**たくないです**。 | I don’t want to go to Japan. |

## Overview

- The stem plus **たい** means “want to do”; the polite sentence ends with **です**. 日本にほんへ行いき**たい**です。 (I want to go to Japan.)
- **たい** belongs to the speaker; in a question it asks about the listener’s wish. 何なにを食たべ**たい**ですか。 (What do you want to eat?)
- **たい** changes like an い-adjective: **たくない**, **たかった** (い-Adjectives). ビールは飲のみ**たくない**です。 (I don’t want to drink beer.)

## Form: stem and endings

| Tense | Affirmative | Negative |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Present | stem + **たいです** | stem + **たくないです** |
| Past | stem + **たかったです** | stem + **たくなかったです** |

| Dictionary form | Form | Example |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 飲のむ | 飲のみ**たい** | コーヒーを飲のみ**たい**です。 | I want to drink coffee. |
| 食たべる | 食たべ**たい** | すしを食たべ**たい**です。 | I want to eat sushi. |
| 行いく | 行いき**たい** | 日本にほんへ行いき**たい**です。 | I want to go to Japan. |
| する | し**たい** | ゲームをし**たい**です。 | I want to play a game. |
| 来くる | 来き**たい** | また来き**たい**です。 | I want to come again. |

- The stem is the **ます**-form without **ます**, so every verb group follows one rule (The ます-Form, Verb Groups). 来き**たい**です。 (I want to come again.)
- In plain speech the same forms stand without **です**: **食****た****べたい**, **食****た****べたくない** (The Plain Form).

## The thing wanted: を or が

| Point | Rule | Example |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **を** | The object of the verb keeps **を**. | 水みず**を**飲のみたいです。 | I want to drink water. |
| **が** | **が** can replace **を** and puts the thing wanted in focus (は and が). | 水みず**が**飲のみたいです。 | I want some water. |
| **へ** **に** **で** | Every other particle stays as it is (Particles を, に, で, へ). | 日本にほん**へ**行いきたいです。 | I want to go to Japan. |

## Use

| Point | Rule | Example |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Your own wish | **たいです** states what you want to do. | 日本にほんへ行いき**たいです**。 | I want to go to Japan. |
| Asking | **たいですか** asks what the listener wants; to a person above you, **ませんか** is more polite (Invitations: ましょう and ませんか). | いっしょに食たべ**ませんか**。 | Would you like to eat together? |
| Not wanting | **たくないです** says you do not want to do something. | ビールは飲のみ**たくないです**。 | I don’t want to drink beer. |
| Wanting in the past | **たかったです** is a past wish, **たくなかったです** a past refusal. | あのえいがは見み**たくなかったです**。 | I didn’t want to see that film. |
| Another person | **たい** is the speaker’s own wish; another person’s wish is **たがっています**. | ジョンさんは日本にほんへ行いき**たがっています**。 | John wants to go to Japan. |

## Compare: ほしい and たい

| Point | Rule | Example |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Wanting a thing | A noun takes **が** and **ほしい** (Likes and Wants: 好き, ほしい). | かばん**が**ほしいです。 | I want a bag. |
| Wanting to do | A verb takes the stem and **たい**. | かばんを買かい**たい**です。 | I want to buy a bag. |

## Typical errors

| ✗ | ✓ |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 水みずを飲のむたいです。 | 水みずを飲のみ**たい**です。 | **たい** follows the stem **飲****の****み**, not the dictionary form **飲****の****む** |
| 日本にほんへ行いきたいじゃありません。 | 日本にほんへ行いき**たくないです**。 | **たい** is an い-adjective: its negative is **たくない**, not **たいじゃありません** |
| ジョンさんは日本にほんへ行いきたいです。 | ジョンさんは日本にほんへ行いき**たがっています**。 | **たい** states the speaker’s own wish; a statement about another person takes **たがっています** |