Structure
［い］Adjective［い］+ がる
［な］Adjective + がる
Details
Standard
About がる
がる is a う-Verb that is primarily used as a suffix in Japanese. When used in this way, it means 'to act like (A)', or 'to show signs of being (A)', where (A) is the word that it is attached to.
To use がる, you will need to link it to the stem form of an い-Adjective (simply remove the い), or to the stem form of a な-Adjective (do not include the な).
がる is a verb which means 'to give the impression of (A)', or 'to act like (A)'. This is very important in Japanese, as you would not usually say how somebody else feels, unless they told you directly and you are simply repeating what you heard (in which case you would use the quotation particle と).
When you want to express the way you 'think' that someone else feels, but don't have any direct information about it, that is when がる would be natural to use. For example, if you see someone shivering in the cold, you would say something like the following.
The main difference between がる, and がっている, is that がる will be used when a person usually/always acts a certain way, whereas がっている is more about the way someone/something is acting in any specific moment.
Caution
がる may also be used to describe yourself (in the third person). This is when you want to express the way you think that you act/are acting, or a way you assume other people view your behavior.
Fun Fact
The use of がっている to express an 'in the moment' way that someone is acting, is slowly becoming less and less common in modern Japanese. Regularly, そう will be used instead, to express that someone (or something) 'seems' a certain way.
Related
Examples
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私の猫は怖がる。
My cat is jumpy. (Acts scared)
私の弟は強がる。
My younger brother acts tough.
あの子はゲームをほしがる。
That kid (always) wants games.
映画を見て、面白がっています。
Watching a movie and showing signs of interest.
君の車を欲しがる人はいないと思う。
I don't think that anyone feels like they want your car.
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Showing signs of something
Tae Kim
たい and がる
Maggie Sensei
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[DBJG] A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar
Page 2 & 123
Genki II 2nd Edition
Page 55
Tae Kim's Japanese Grammar Guide
Page 317
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がる – Grammar Discussion
Most Recent Replies (31 in total)
Pablunpro
I see. If the translation were ‘Our kids show signs of having no desire of helping with house chores’ would that help?
casual
A would argue that “Desire” hint should be removed altogether. There is already a hint “Third person” that directs to use ～がる or another appropriate way to talk about someone else’s assumed feelings.
Only 欲しがる and ～たがる have the meaning of desire, and only because of 欲しい and～たい, not because of ～がる.
None of the sentences in this point even test for ～たがる, there’s a separate Bunpro item for that.Maybe this “Desire” hint is a leftover from a rework of ~たがる?
casual
By the way, just the other day Kaname released a video about this topic. I always find his acting hilarious and explanations helpful, perhaps this will be useful to someone.
(がる specifically starts at 4:31)
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