～たい Form – How to Say “Want to Do” in Japanese

Want to say things like:

• “I want to eat naan”
• “I want to travel to Japan”
• “I don’t want to go to work tomorrow” 😩

You’ll need the ～たい form for that!

This super useful grammar lets you talk about what you want to do in Japanese.

In this guide, you’ll learn:

• What ～たい means and how it works
• How to use it with any verb
• The difference between ～たい and ～がほしい
• Real-world examples and common mistakes
• Easy practice to make it stick

Let’s go! 🚀

"I want to eat naan"... here's an earworm to help you learn ～たい.

What Does ～たい Mean?

「～たい」means “want to do” and attaches to verbs.

It works like this:

[Verb stem] + たい

→ I want to ___

Just like ～ます, it shows what you want to do.

How to Make the ～たい Form

1. Start with the verb in ます-form

2. Drop ～ます

3. Add たい

Let’s try a few:

• たべます → たべたい → I want to eat
• のみます → のみたい → I want to drink
• いきます → いきたい → I want to go
• します → したい → I want to do
• きます → きたい → I want to come

Want to be polite? Add です:

• たべたいです。→ I want to eat (polite)
• いきたいです。→ I want to go (polite)

～たい vs. ～がほしい

This is a common question

• Use ～たい when you want to do something.
• Use ～がほしい when you want to have something (a noun).

For example,

• ラーメンがほしい。→ I want ramen (as a thing).
• ラーメンをたべたい。→ I want to eat ramen.

It's kind of conveying the same message, but grammatically speaking, if it’s an action, use ～たい!

Saying What You Don’t Want to Do

To say you don’t want to do something, use ～たくない.

Examples:

• ねたくない → I don’t want to sleep
• べんきょうしたくない → I don’t want to study
• いきたくない → I don’t want to go
• はたらきたくない → I don’t want to work 😭

Want to be polite? Say:

～たくないです

• たべたくないです。→ I don’t want to eat (polite)
• はたらきたくないです。-> I don’t want to work (polite) 😅

Real-Life Examples Using ～たい

ラーメンをたべたい！

Raamen wo tabetai! → I want to eat ramen! 🍜

きょうはどこかにいきたい。

Kyou wa doko ka ni ikitai. → I want to go somewhere today.

あたらしいアニメをみたい。

Atarashii anime wo mitai. → I want to watch a new anime.

きょうはねたいだけ。

Kyou wa netai dake. → All I want to do is sleep today.

ともだちにあいたいです。

Tomodachi ni aitai desu. → I want to see my friend.

Asking Others What They Want to Do

To ask someone what they want to do, just add か？

• なにをたべたいですか？→ What do you want to eat?
• どこにいきたいですか？→ Where do you want to go?

Be careful though, as this form is mostly used to ask about your own wants.

To talk about what someone else wants to do, use ～たがっている (we’ll cover that in another article!).

Practice Time!

Practice 1: Make a Sentence

Say what you want to do!

ねる → __________

のむ → __________

かく → __________

はなす → __________

する → __________

Answers:

ねたい

のみたい

かきたい

はなしたい

したい

Practice 2: Translate It!

Write these in Japanese:

• I want to go to Japan.
• I don’t want to do homework.
• Do you want to eat dinner?

Answers:

• にほんにいきたいです。
• しゅくだいをしたくないです。
• ばんごはんをたべたいですか？

Final Recap

～たい is your Japanese grammar for expressing wants and wishes of all kinds!

• Use it with verbs
• ～たい = want to do
• ～たくない = don’t want to do
• Use ～たいです/～たくないです to be polite

And remember, use ～たい for actions, and ～がほしい for nouns.