Both express desire. Both appear in lesson three of every N5 textbook. Both look harmless. And both are responsible for a remarkable number of confused conversations between beginners and native speakers. The traps are not in meaning — they are in particle, person, and politeness.
1. The Particle Trap
| Pattern | Particle | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 〜たい | を or が | 寿司を食べたい / 寿司が食べたい |
| 好き | が only | 寿司が好きです |
| 嫌い | が only | 納豆が嫌いです |
| 欲しい (want object) | が only | 新しい携帯が欲しいです |
2. The Person Rule (The Big One)
〜たい describes internal desire. Japanese is strict: you cannot claim direct knowledge of someone else’s internal state. So:
- ✅ 私は日本に行きたいです。
- ❌ 田中さんは日本に行きたいです。
- ✅ 田中さんは日本に行きたがっています。
The same rule applies to 欲しい → 欲しがっている and 嬉しい → 嬉しがっている. This is the #1 social register error of N5 learners.
3. The Polite Frame
Tack です on the い-adjective form: 食べたいです / 好きです. For requests, soften with 〜たいんですが (suggesting hesitation): 「すみません、これを試したいんですが…」 — instantly more native.
4. The Negative Forms
- 食べたい → 食べたくない (don’t want to eat)
- 好き → 好きじゃない (don’t like)
Note: 〜たい conjugates like an い-adjective; 好き conjugates like a な-adjective. Same English meaning class, completely different Japanese morphology.
5. Why Apps Skip The Hard Parts
Most apps teach 〜たい and 好き in adjacent lessons but never explicitly contrast them. The particle, the person rule, and the negative conjugation difference are left for the learner to absorb by mistake. Kanjijo’s grammar layer treats them as one mini-system, drilling the differences side-by-side.
6. The 5-Sentence Drill
- 私はラーメンが食べたいです。
- 私は犬が好きです。
- 友達は日本に行きたがっています。
- 新しい靴が欲しいです。
- 納豆が好きじゃないです。
If you can produce these five without hesitation, you are ahead of 80% of N5 learners.
Drill Desire Grammar With Kanjijo
Free on iOS. Full N5 → N1 grammar with side-by-side contrast lessons, exclusive mnemonics for every kanji and JLPT vocab word, three widget formats, OCR scanning and SRS that catches particle errors before they become habits.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Either を or が. Both are grammatical; が is more emphatic.
が, always.
Japanese restricts internal-state claims to first person. Use 〜たがっている for others.
Side-by-side contrast lesson with SRS that catches particle errors.