What Do You Want?: Vocabulary and Grammar

Let's learn more about Japanese grammar.

Grammar

____-ga hoshii desu (ka).

This common expression, which is usually translated as want(s), can be used to express what you want or to ask another person about his/her desires. The desired object goes in the blank.

Nani-ga hoshii desu-ka? What do you want?
Kuruma-ga hoshii desu. I want a car.
Tanjoobi-ni nani-ga hoshii desu-ka? For your birthday what do you want?
Yoofuku-to kutsu-ga hoshii desu. I want clothes and shoes.

**Why do we use the particle -ga with hoshii?**

Notice that in English we say that SOMEONE wants something.

I want a radio.
This uses the standard English word order:
- SUBJECT verb direct object.

In Japanese, however, we say something is desired. The word hoshii is actually an adjective and the desired item is the subject.

WATASHI-WA rajio-ga hoshii desu.
(as for me) (a radio) (desired) (is)
TOPIC(wa) subject(ga) adjective verb.

The desired item is NOT a direct object in Japanese so you do NOT use the particle -o.

Polite Requests

For polite requests in stores and restaurants, use o-negai-shimasu as in:

O-mizu, o-negai-shimasu.

To express the English want + VERB as in I want to eat, Japanese does not use hoshii. Instead, the -masu ending is changed to -tai desu. What do these mean?

Tabetai desu.
Nomitai desu.

-ni

The particle -ni can be used with various time expressions and may be translated as at, on, or in.

Clock times
- Nan-ji-ni? - At what time?
- san-ji-ni - at 3:00
Dates
- Nan-nichi-ni? - On what day of the month?
- tsuitachi-ni - on the first.
Months
- Nan-gatsu-ni? - In what month?
- ku-gatsu-ni - in September
Seasons
- fuyu-ni - in the winter
- natsu-ni - in the summer
Special days
- o-shoogatsu-ni - on/at New Year’s
- kurisumasu-ni - on/at Christmas
- tanjoobi-ni - on (my) birthday

Video Lesson: hoshii and -ga

Please watch a short video explaining how to make I want sentences with particle -ga and an adjective hoshii. After watching the video, check your understanding by unscrambling the sentences that follow the video by clicking on each Ordering Activity.

Practice Activity: Word Order

Use the words and particles provided to create a sentence in the correct order. Use Roomaji to type your response. Be sure to use punctuation, including attaching particles with a dash (Example: topic-wa).

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