〜たい (tai)

JLPT N5

How to say what you want to do.

Meaning

“Want to ~.” Expresses the speaker's own desire to do the action.

Formation

• Verb (ます-stem) + たい

• Negative: 〜たくない

• Past: 〜たかった

Examples

日本に行きたいです。

Nihon ni ikitai desu. — I want to go to Japan.

今日は何もしたくない。

Kyō wa nani mo shitakunai. — I don't want to do anything today. (casual)

冷たい水が飲みたい。

Tsumetai mizu ga nomitai. — I want to drink some cold water.

新しいパソコンが買いたいです。

Atarashii pasokon ga kaitai desu. — I want to buy a new computer.

How it works

〜たい behaves like an い-adjective, so it becomes たくない (negative) and たかった (past). The object can take が or を — both are common (水が飲みたい / 水を飲みたい).

Use it for your own wishes. For someone else's, Japanese switches to 〜たがっている, so you don't speak for another person's heart.

Compared with similar expressions

• 〜たい — want to (do a verb). “I want to eat.”

• 〜がほしい — want (a thing). “I want a phone.”

• 〜たがっている — a third person wants to. “He wants to go.”

Common mistakes

• Attach to the ます-stem: 食べます → 食べたい (✗ 食べるたい)

• Don't use 〜たい for others directly — use 〜たがっている.

Related grammar

• 〜がほしい — want (a thing)

• 〜てみたい — want to try doing

• 〜ましょう — let's