The short version: want a thing → 水がほしいです. Want to do something → 食べたいです. Asking someone for it → これをください. And the particle rule underneath all of it: feelings take が, actions take を.
Being unable to say what you want is a strange kind of helplessness. You can introduce yourself. You can count. You can read a menu. And then someone asks 何にしますか — what will you have? — and the only thing that comes out is pointing.
The fix is unusually small. Japanese handles wants with five patterns, all of them N5, and once they are in place you can build hundreds of sentences from vocabulary you already have.
Pattern 1Asking for a thing
The first sentence pattern worth owning. Completely polite, and it works in every shop and restaurant in Japan.
これをください。これをください。This one, please.
水をください。みずをください。Water, please.
コーヒーを二つください。コーヒーをふたつください。Two coffees, please.
Wanting to do something
Take the ます form, remove ます, add たいです. That is the whole rule.
| ます form | Remove ます | Want to do |
|---|---|---|
| 食べます | 食べ | 食べたいです |
| 行きます | 行き | 行きたいです |
| 買います | 買い | 買いたいです |
| 休みます | 休み | 休みたいです |
寿司が食べたいです。すしがたべたいです。I want to eat sushi.
日本に行きたいです。にほんにいきたいです。I want to go to Japan.
今日は休みたいです。きょうはやすみたいです。I want to rest today.
Wanting a thing
No verb involved. Just the thing you want, が, and ほしいです.
新しいくつがほしいです。あたらしいくつがほしいです。I want new shoes.
時間がほしいです。じかんがほしいです。I want (more) time.
Saying what you like
Not quite a want, but the same machinery — and the pattern you will use most in a first conversation.
犬が好きです。いぬがすきです。I like dogs.
日本の音楽が大好きです。にほんのおんがくがだいすきです。I love Japanese music.
納豆は好きじゃないです。なっとうはすきじゃないです。I don't like natto.
Wanting to do it together
The invitation pair. ませんか asks; ましょう proposes.
お茶を飲みませんか。おちゃをのみませんか。Would you like to get some tea?
一緒に行きましょう。いっしょにいきましょう。Let's go together.
The particle rule underneath all of it
Here is the piece that makes these patterns click instead of feeling random. In Japanese, the thing that causes a feeling is marked with が, not を — because ほしい, 好き and their family are adjectives describing you, not actions you perform.
| Word | Meaning | Particle | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| ほしい | want (a thing) | が | くるまがほしいです |
| 好き | like | が | ねこが好きです |
| きらい | dislike | が | むしがきらいです |
| 上手 | good at | が | りょうりが上手です |
| 下手 | bad at | が | うたが下手です |
| 分かります | understand | が | 日本語が分かります |
Negatives and the past, in one table
Once formed, たい and ほしい behave like ordinary い-adjectives — so they change exactly like 高い.
| Want to eat | Want water | Like dogs | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Now | 食べたいです | 水がほしいです | 犬が好きです |
| Not | 食べたくないです | 水はほしくないです | 犬は好きじゃないです |
| Wanted / liked | 食べたかったです | 水がほしかったです | 犬が好きでした |
| Didn't | 食べたくなかったです | ほしくなかったです | 好きじゃなかったです |
The one mistake almost every beginner makes
Fifteen sentences you can say today
| Japanese | Reading | English |
|---|---|---|
| これをください。 | これをください | This one, please. |
| お水をお願いします。 | おみずをおねがいします | Water, please. |
| メニューを見たいです。 | メニューをみたいです | I'd like to see the menu. |
| これが食べたいです。 | これがたべたいです | I want to eat this. |
| もう少しほしいです。 | もうすこしほしいです | I'd like a bit more. |
| お茶が好きです。 | おちゃがすきです | I like tea. |
| 写真を撮りたいです。 | しゃしんをとりたいです | I want to take a photo. |
| 日本語を勉強したいです。 | にほんごをべんきょうしたいです | I want to study Japanese. |
| ちょっと休みたいです。 | ちょっとやすみたいです | I'd like a short break. |
| 何が飲みたいですか。 | なにがのみたいですか | What would you like to drink? |
| どこに行きたいですか。 | どこにいきたいですか | Where do you want to go? |
| 一緒に食べませんか。 | いっしょにたべませんか | Shall we eat together? |
| 行きましょう。 | いきましょう | Let's go. |
| 今日は行きたくないです。 | きょうはいきたくないです | I don't want to go today. |
| 時間がほしかったです。 | じかんがほしかったです | I wanted more time. |
How to make this automatic
Patterns like these do not become natural by being understood — they become natural by being said, in complete sentences, often. Reading this page once will make you able to recognise たいです. Saying twenty sentences out loud is what makes it arrive when you need it.
1. Study the pattern, not the rule. Kanjijo's N5–N1 grammar bank teaches each point with worked example sentences carrying furigana and native audio, so you meet ～たいです inside real Japanese rather than in a table.
2. Keep the vocabulary that fills it. Every word ships with an exclusive mnemonic, and the SRS engine returns it exactly when you were about to forget.
3. Say it out loud. The conversation and shadowing tracks drill these exact patterns as speech, which is the step that turns understanding into reflex.
4. Review without deciding to. The home screen, lock screen and interactive test widgets put a grammar point or word in front of you dozens of times a day, without opening the app.
And when you want to check where you stand: JLPT reading and listening practice and full mock JLPT tests are in the same place, along with an OCR scanner for reading real Japanese in the wild.
- Full N5–N1 grammar bank
- Example sentences with audio
- Exclusive kanji & vocab mnemonics
- SRS spaced repetition
- Home & lock screen widgets
- Interactive test widget
- JLPT reading practice
- JLPT listening practice
- Mock JLPT tests
- Conversation & shadowing
- Dictation training
- OCR scanner
Quick reference
- noun + をください
- Asking for a thing. Softer twin: をお願いします.
- verb stem + たいです
- Want to do. 食べます → 食べたいです.
- noun + がほしいです
- Want a thing. 水がほしいです.
- noun + が好きです
- Like. Also きらい, 上手, 下手, 分かります — all take が.
- ませんか / ましょう
- Shall we? / Let's.
- Negatives
- 食べたくないです · ほしくないです · 好きじゃないです
- Other people
- Use ～たがっています, not ～たいです. Questions are always fine.
Related Reading on Kanjijo
Frequently Asked Questions
～たいです is for actions and attaches to a verb: 食べたいです (I want to eat). ～がほしいです is for things and attaches to a noun: 水がほしいです (I want water). The English test is reliable: “want to do” → たい, “want a thing” → ほしい. Both behave as い-adjectives afterwards, giving 食べたくないです and ほしくないです.
Because ほしい is an adjective describing your feeling, not a verb, and Japanese marks the cause of a feeling with が. The same applies to 好き, きらい, 上手 and 下手: 犬が好きです, 料理が上手です. With たいです both particles are heard, because たい turns a verb into an adjective and the sentence sits between the two rules.
Both are polite requests. ～をください is direct and perfectly acceptable in shops and restaurants. ～をお願いします is a little softer and safer in an office or when asking a person to do something. お願いします can also stand alone as “please”; ください cannot.
Not as a plain statement, because you cannot know another person's feelings directly. Use ～たがっています instead: 彼はケーキを食べたがっています. Asking someone directly is always fine: 何が食べたいですか.
It can sound blunt, because it states a desire rather than making a request. Softer options are ～たいんですが (trailing off) and ～てもいいですか (may I?). With friends and shop staff, たいです is completely natural.
Five patterns today, hundreds of sentences this week
Kanjijo carries the full N5–N1 grammar bank with worked examples in furigana and native audio, exclusive mnemonics for every kanji and word, an SRS engine timed to the moment before you forget, and home, lock screen and interactive test widgets. Plus JLPT reading and listening practice, mock tests, conversation, shadowing, dictation and an OCR scanner. Free on iPhone.
Download Kanjijo Free