Grammar Info

N4 Lesson 4: 13/18

が欲(ほ)しいTo want something, To be in need of

Do not confuse:, ほしくなかった [past negative], with, ほしくなった => ほしい+なる

Structure

Noun + が + ほしい

Details

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About がほしい

To say that you want something in Japanese, the が particle will be combined with the い-Adjective 欲(ほ)しい 'to want (A)', or 'to desire (A)'. This is exactly the same way as other い-Adjectives behave when describing nouns.

Caution

This use of 欲(ほ)しい is only used for saying that you want 'things' (nouns). The auxiliary verb たい will be used when saying that you want to 'do' something (verbs).

However, ほしい may be used with verbs to express that you want another person to do something. This is done through the use of ほしい after the conjunction particle, て.

For more detail about this, please see ourてほしい lesson.

Related

Examples

--:--

    機会(きかい)がほしい。

    I want a chance.

    君(きみ)がほしい！

    I want you!

    猫(ねこ)が欲(ほ)しくないです。

    I don't want a cat.

    私(わたし)はいい服(ふく)などがほしいです。

    I want things such as nice clothes.

    使(つか)いやすい箸(はし)がほしい。

    I want chopsticks that are easy to use.

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