〜たいです

## What it means たいです means **"I want to do [something]."** It turns any action into a wish to do that action.

## When to use it Attach it to the **stem** of a verb — the part right before ます in the polite form: 食べます → 食べたいです (want to eat), 見ます → 見たいです (want to see). たい behaves like an い-adjective: たいです → たくないです (don't want to) → たかったです (wanted to) → たくなかったです (didn't want to). The thing you want to do is usually marked with を, though many speakers switch it to が for emphasis, as in 水が飲みたいです.

## Don't confuse it with This is easy to mix up with 〜がほしいです. Use ほしいです for a **noun** you want, and たいです for a **verb** you want to do. 車がほしいです means "I want a car," but 車を買いたいです means "I want to buy a car." Also, stating that someone else "wants to" do something can sound blunt in Japanese — this pattern is most natural for your own feelings or in questions.