Grammar Info

N4 Lesson 4: 14/18

~て()しい

I want you to

Structure Legend

Structure

Verb[て]+ ほしい

Details

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    Standard

  • 使用域

    一般

About てほしい

As mentioned in our lesson about 'saying that you want something' with がほしい, sometimes ほしい can be used as auxiliary adjective (an adjective that needs to be connected to another word in order to have meaning). In these cases, it will follow the conjunction particle, . When used this way, てほしい expresses that the speaker 'wants somebody to do something'.
To use てほしい, simply change the verb that you 'want someone to do' into its て-form, and then add ほしい.
  • もう一回(いっかい)説明(せつめい)てほしいです
    I want you to explain it one more time.
  • (みんな)(おれ)()漫画(まんが)()でほしい
    I want everyone to read the manga that I wrote.
Caution
てほしい can also be used to ask questions/explain about what other people want you (or somebody else) to do. Due to this, we will need to be careful when trying to identify who wants who to do what.
  • 手伝(てつだ)てほしい
    You want me to help you?
  • キヨミタケルに家事(かじ)手伝(てつだ)てほしい()ていた
    Kiyomi told Takeru that she wants him to help with chores.

Examples

  • 一緒(いっしょ)勉強(べんきょう)てほしいです

    I want you to study together with me.

  • コーラ()てほしいです

    I want you to buy (me) a cola.

  • 毎日(まいにち)弁当(べんとう)(つく)てほしいです

    I want you to make me a bento every day.

  • 一緒(いっしょ)サッカーてほしい

    I want you to play soccer with me.

  • 一緒(いっしょ)()べに()てほしいんです

    I want you to go out to eat with me.

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てほしい – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (7 in total)

  • matt_in_mito

    matt_in_mito

    About 3 years ago

    This is basically right. In most situations, the listener would assume you meant them, assuming there is no additional context. If you were specifically talking about someone else prior to that, then that could change the context.

  • siditious

    siditious

    About 3 years ago

    I also want to add that it seems that 作ってくれて 欲しい seems like the correct response, 作って欲しい would be “I want you to make a bento everyday” and does not clearly indicate the verb of giving.

  • nekoyama

    nekoyama

    About 3 years ago

    て・くれる is not used with て・欲しい.

    I’ve seen constructions like 作って渡して欲しい to say “I want you to make it and hand it over”, but the English sentences for this grammar point don’t say that.

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