たい
Expresses a desire to do something: "want to (do)." In ordinary statements it expresses the speaker's own wish. In questions it asks about the listener's wish.
conjugates like an い形容詞：たくない (negative), たかった (past), たくなかった (past negative)
Particle change: the object marker を may be replaced by が（料理を食べたい → 料理が食べたい）
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A neutral pattern used in everyday speech and writing, with です added for politeness. In conversational statements it expresses the speaker's own wish, and in questions the listener's. Third-person uses appear mainly in narration, in subordinate clauses (e.g., before なら), or with markers such as そうだ, らしい or と言っている. Use てほしい for wanting someone else to act.
Learners should not state another person's wish with bare たい in conversation; use たがっている, or add そうだ, らしい or と言っている.
Note that asking a superior directly with たいですか can sound intrusive; softer phrasing such as いかがですか is preferred.
Do not attach たい to the dictionary form; it attaches to the ます-stem (食べたい, not 食べるたい).
- がるN4「がる」attaches to 「たい」 or to the stem of an emotion adjective to describe a desire or emotion that a third person displays, as in 「行きたがっている」; 「たい」 is for stating your own wish or asking about the other person's. They differ in grammatical person and cannot be interchanged.
- てほしいN4「てほしい」attaches to the て-form and expresses wanting someone else to do something (the doer is marked with 「に」 or 「が」) or wanting a situation to change, while 「たい」 is about wanting to do something yourself. 「行きたい」 means 'I want to go,' whereas 「行ってほしい」 means 'I want someone else to go,' so they cannot be interchanged.
- つもりN5「つもり」 means 'intend to do' and implies a definite intention, while 「たい」 only means 'want to do' and doesn't necessarily mean you will actually do it. 「たい」 attaches to the ます-stem (ます-form minus ます), as in 「行きたい」; when 「つもり」 expresses intention it attaches to the dictionary form, as in 「行くつもり」, and it can also mean 'being under the (mistaken) impression that...'.
- ようと思うN4「ようと思う」attaches to a verb's volitional form and means 'intend to...,' focusing on the intention to act, while 「たい」 only expresses the wish 'want to...' and does not imply a formed intention, so the two should not be swapped casually. 「ようと思っている」can also describe a third person's intention.
- ましょうかN5「たい」 expresses your own desire to do something or asks whether the other person wants to do it, while 「ましょうか」 is an offer of 'Shall I...?' or a suggestion of 'Shall we...?' that leaves the decision to the listener, so the two cannot be interchanged. Both attach to the ます-stem (ます-form minus ます).
たい expresses the speaker's own wish, while がる (as たがる) describes a third person's outwardly shown desire, and てほしい expresses wanting someone else to do something. つもり and ようと思う express intentions or plans rather than mere wishes, and ましょうか offers or suggests an action rather than stating a desire.
