JLPT N5
たい
Want to ~
Structure
Verb stem たい
How it works
The '~tai' form is used to express a person's desire to do an action. It is formed by attaching 'tai' to the stem of a verb (the part before 'masu'). While it acts like an adjective grammatically, it describes the intention of the speaker in the first person.
Examples
お水を飲みたいです。
I want to drink some water.
日本に行きたいです。
I want to go to Japan.
今日は何もしたくないです。
I don't want to do anything today.
Common mistakes
Using ~tai to describe what someone else wants to do; in Japanese, you usually use '~tagatte iru' for third-party desires.
Tip
Think of the '~tai' form as an 'i-adjective.' This means you conjugate it exactly like one: 'takunai' for negative and 'takatta' for past tense.
More JLPT N5 grammar
See たい in real Japanese
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