N4 · Wanting and intending
Other people's wishes: たがる and ほしがる
what someone else seems to want
たがる and ほしがる describe what somebody else visibly wants, and they conjugate as う-verbs.
Because たい and ほしい express feelings only the speaker can know, Japanese describes other people's wishes from the outside, by what they show. The suffix がる does that: it turns a feeling adjective into a verb meaning "to show signs of". Drop the い and add がる: 行きたい becomes 行きたがる, ほしい becomes ほしがる.
The result is an う-verb, and for a wish somebody has now it is almost always used with ている: 妹は猫を飼いたがっています, "My sister wants to keep a cat". The dictionary form describes a habit or a general tendency: 子どもはすぐ新しいおもちゃをほしがる, "Children are always quick to want new toys".
The particle changes. With ほしい the thing wanted takes が; with ほしがる it takes を: 弟は新しいゲームをほしがっています. The reason is that がる makes a real verb with an object, while ほしい is an adjective describing the thing.
Mind the tone. がる describes behaviour seen from outside, and it can sound slightly childish or critical — fine about children, family and friends, but rude about a superior or a customer. For them, report what they said instead. And がる is for other people only: 私は行きたがっています is wrong.
The form
stem (regular) ending auxiliary verb
| wants to go (now) | 行きたがっている |
| wants it (now) | ほしがっている |
| always wants to go | 行きたがる |
| wanted it | ほしがっていた |
| doesn't want to go | 行きたがらない |
| wanted to go (polite) | 行きたがっていました |
| is scared (shows fear) | 怖がっている |
| feels the cold | 寒がっている |
The rules one by one
Replace the い of たい or ほしい with がる.
娘は留学したがっています。My daughter wants to study abroad.
Use the ている form for what somebody wants now.
息子が新しい自転車をほしがっています。My son wants a new bicycle.
The thing wanted takes を, not が.
弟はそのゲームをとてもほしがっていました。My brother really wanted that game.
Do not use がる about yourself, or about people you should speak of with respect.
社長は東京に行きたいとおっしゃっていました。The company president said he would like to go to Tokyo.
The dictionary form describes a general tendency.
子どもは何でも自分でやりたがります。Children want to do everything themselves.
A closer look
がる with other feelings
がる is not limited to wishes. It attaches to many feeling adjectives: 寒がる, "to feel the cold", 怖がる, "to be scared", 嫌がる, "to be unwilling", 恥ずかしがる, "to be shy". Each describes the feeling as somebody else displays it.
There are also gentler ways to report a wish: 行きたいと言っています ("says she wants to go"), 行きたいそうです ("I hear she wants to go") and 行きたいみたいです ("she seems to want to go"). These say where your information comes from instead of describing behaviour, which is why they are the safe choice for people above you.
Exceptions and special cases (1)
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the wish is quoted or reported, with と言っています, そうです or みたいです
たい and ほしい can describe another person, and the particle stays が.
妹は新しい服がほしいと言っています。My sister says she wants new clothes.
The sentence no longer claims to know the feeling; it reports words or a guess.
How to spot it
- 〜たがる
- 〜たがっている
- ほしがる
- ほしがっている
- 〜たがらない
Example sentences
妹は猫を飼いたがっています。My younger sister wants to keep a cat.
子どもたちは海に行きたがっています。The children want to go to the seaside.
父は病院に行きたがりません。My father does not want to go to the hospital.
友達が私の写真を見たがっていました。My friend wanted to see my photos.
うちの犬はいつも人の食べ物をほしがります。Our dog always wants whatever people are eating.
弟はスマホをほしがっていますが、母はまだ早いと言っています。My brother wants a smartphone, but my mother says he is still too young.
7 more example sentences
娘はピアノを習いたがっています。My daughter wants to learn the piano.
彼は自分の話ばかりしたがる。He only ever wants to talk about himself.
祖母は孫に会いたがっています。My grandmother is longing to see her grandchildren.
猫がえさをほしがって鳴いています。The cat is crying because it wants food.
弟は歯医者に行きたがらない。My brother doesn't want to go to the dentist.
若い人はみんな都会に住みたがります。Young people all want to live in the city.
妻が旅行に行きたがっているので、来月休みを取ります。My wife wants to go on a trip, so I'm taking time off next month.
Worth knowing (1)
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さむがり and こわがり
The stem of some がる-verbs works as a noun for a kind of person: 寒がり, somebody who feels the cold easily, 怖がり, somebody easily frightened. As a description of character rather than of a feeling, these can be used about yourself.
私は寒がりなので、冬が苦手です。I feel the cold easily, so I find winter hard.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
English reports another person's wish as plainly as your own. Japanese does not: ほしい is the speaker's feeling. About your sister, describe what she shows with ほしがっています — and notice that the particle changes to を.
For your own wishes say たい or ほしい; for somebody else, say what they show: たがっている, ほしがっている.
Your turn
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