Wanting 欲しい/てほしい in Japanese

Overview

Japanese expresses wanting in two distinct ways: 欲しい (hoshii) for wanting things (objects) and てほしい (te hoshii) for wanting someone to do something. Both are い-adjectives grammatically, which means they conjugate like adjectives rather than verbs. This A2 pattern is essential for expressing desires, making requests indirectly, and talking about what you wish others would do.

One important cultural note: in Japanese, you can freely express your own desires, but stating what others want using 欲しい can sound presumptuous. For describing what other people want, different structures are used. At the A2 level, focus on expressing your own wants and using てほしい for what you want others to do.

How It Works

欲しい (want something)

[Thing] が 欲しい

Form	Example	Meaning
Present affirmative	新しいパソコンが欲しいです	I want a new computer
Present negative	何も欲しくないです	I don't want anything
Past affirmative	あの本が欲しかったです	I wanted that book
Past negative	欲しくなかったです	I didn't want it

Note: The wanted item takes が, not を.

てほしい (want someone to do something)

[Person] に [verb て-form] ほしい

Form	Example	Meaning
Present affirmative	手伝ってほしいです	I want you to help
Present negative	来てほしくないです	I don't want you to come
Past affirmative	教えてほしかったです	I wanted you to teach me

The person you want to do the action is marked with に.

Conjugation (both act as い-adjectives)

Form	欲しい	てほしい
Negative	欲しくない	てほしくない
Past	欲しかった	てほしかった
Past negative	欲しくなかった	てほしくなかった
て-form	欲しくて	てほしくて

Examples in Context

Japanese	English	Note
新しいパソコンが欲しいです。	I want a new computer.	Thing + が + 欲しい
手伝ってほしいです。	I want you to help.	てほしい
何が欲しいですか？	What do you want?	Question
来てほしくないです。	I don't want you to come.	Negative てほしい
誕生日に何が欲しい？	What do you want for your birthday?	Casual
もう少し待ってほしいんですが。	I'd like you to wait a bit more.	Softened with んですが
子供のとき、犬が欲しかったです。	When I was a child, I wanted a dog.	Past
彼に本当のことを言ってほしいです。	I want him to tell the truth.	Third person with に
何も欲しくないです。	I don't want anything.	With 何も + negative
みんなに来てほしいです。	I want everyone to come.	Invitation nuance
静かにしてほしいです。	I want you to be quiet.	Indirect request

Common Mistakes

Using を instead of が with 欲しい

• Wrong: 新しい車を欲しいです。
• Right: 新しい車が欲しいです。
• Why: 欲しい is an adjective, not a verb. The desired item is the subject of the adjective, marked with が. However, in some modern casual speech, を is gaining acceptance.

Using 欲しい for wanting to do something (action)

• Wrong: 旅行が欲しいです。 (wanting to travel)
• Right: 旅行がしたいです。 or 旅行に行きたいです。
• Why: 欲しい is for wanting objects/things. For wanting to do an action, use verb stem + たい (行きたい, 食べたい). This is a different pattern.

Describing others' desires directly with 欲しい

• Wrong: 彼は新しい車が欲しいです。
• Right: 彼は新しい車が欲しいと言っています。 (he says he wants) or 欲しがっています (he seems to want)
• Why: 欲しい describes your own internal feeling. To describe someone else's desire, use indirect structures like と言っている or the がる form.

Forgetting に for the person with てほしい

• Wrong: 友達が来てほしいです。
• Right: 友達に来てほしいです。
• Why: The person you want to perform the action is marked with に. Using が makes "friend" the subject of wanting, which changes the meaning.

Usage Notes

てほしい is an indirect way of making requests. It is softer than てください (please do) because it expresses a desire rather than giving a direct instruction. It is often used when you cannot or should not give a direct command: 上司にもっと休みをくれてほしい (I want my boss to give more days off).

For politeness, てほしい is often softened with んですが or んですけど: 手伝ってほしいんですが... (I'd like you to help, if you could...). This trailing off is a polite Japanese conversation strategy.

欲しい can also be used as a suffix after the ます-stem to mean "want to have something done": 食べてほしい (want you to eat). This overlaps with the てほしい pattern.

Practice Tips

• Make a wish list using 欲しい: things you want for your birthday, things you want to buy, etc. Practice with が consistently.
• Think of things you want others to do and express them with てほしい: 友達に電話してほしい, 先生にもう一度説明してほしい.
• Practice distinguishing 欲しい (want thing) from たい (want to do): 車が欲しい (want a car) vs. 車を運転したい (want to drive a car).

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: て-Form — needed for the てほしい pattern