1 · Helping verbs and modal patterns
Want to: -고 싶다
expressing a wish
Add -고 싶어요 to a verb stem to say what you want to do.
The pattern is the bare stem, then -고, then the adjective 싶다. Nothing changes after a vowel or a consonant: 가다 gives 가고 싶어요, 먹다 gives 먹고 싶어요, 공부하다 gives 공부하고 싶어요. 싶다 then behaves like any regular adjective — 싶어요, 싶었어요, 싶지 않아요, 싶습니다 — and all the tense and politeness of the sentence sits on it. "I wanted to go" is 가고 싶었어요: the going stays in the present, the wanting moves into the past.
In a statement -고 싶다 describes the speaker's own wish, and in a question the listener's: 뭐 먹고 싶어요?, "what do you want to eat?". For anybody else Korean changes the verb. Nobody can look inside another person, so you describe what they show instead, with -고 싶어 하다: 동생이 고양이를 키우고 싶어 해요, "my little brother wants to keep a cat". Saying 동생이 고양이를 키우고 싶어요 sounds as if you were speaking from inside his head.
-고 싶다 only attaches to a verb. "I want a coffee" cannot be 커피 싶어요; Korean names the action — 커피를 마시고 싶어요 — or, for an object you would like to own, says 새 신발을 갖고 싶어요. At a counter, neither is how you order: a statement about your wishes is not a request, and 커피 한 잔 주세요 is what a Korean customer says.
With someone older or senior, ask with the honorific 싶으세요, and use the honorific verb where one exists: 뭐 드시고 싶으세요?. Even so, asking a superior directly what they want can feel a little blunt; an offer such as 커피 드릴까요? is often the more natural choice.
The form
| after a vowel | 가다 → 가고 싶어요 |
| after a consonant | 먹다 → 먹고 싶어요 |
| wanted to (past) | 가고 싶었어요 |
| do not want to | 가고 싶지 않아요 |
| someone else wants to | 가고 싶어 해요 |
| formal | 가고 싶습니다 |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
-고 싶다 attaches to the bare stem, with no change after a vowel or a consonant.
저는 한국에 가고 싶어요.I want to go to Korea.
Tense goes on 싶다, never on the main verb; "not want" is normally 싶지 않다.
어릴 때 가수가 되고 싶었어요.When I was little I wanted to be a singer.
For somebody else's wish, use -고 싶어 하다.
동생이 강아지를 키우고 싶어 해요.My younger sibling wants to keep a puppy.
In a question to someone older, use the honorific 싶으세요.
주말에 뭐 하고 싶으세요?What would you like to do at the weekend?
A closer look
Why Korean will not say "he wants"
A handful of Korean adjectives describe feelings that only the person who has them can know: 싶다, 좋다 in the sense "pleased", 슬프다 "sad", 무섭다 "afraid", 춥다 "cold". In a statement they belong to the speaker, and in a question to the listener. For a third person Korean turns them into verbs of visible behaviour with -아/어 하다: 슬퍼해요 "she is (showing that she is) sad", 무서워해요, 추워해요 — and 싶어 해요.
This is why 좋아하다 means "to like": it is 좋다 turned into a verb that describes behaviour. Reported speech is the exception: 동생이 가고 싶대요, "my brother says he wants to go", quotes his own words, and the quote may keep 싶다.
How to spot it
- -고 싶다
- -고 싶어요
- -고 싶었어요
- -고 싶어 하다
- -고 싶지 않다
Example sentences
오늘은 집에서 쉬고 싶어요.Today I want to rest at home.
뭐 먹고 싶어요?What do you want to eat?
어제는 너무 피곤해서 아무것도 하고 싶지 않았어요.Yesterday I was so tired I didn't want to do anything.
제 친구는 요리사가 되고 싶어 해요.My friend wants to become a chef.
이 노래를 다시 듣고 싶어요.I want to hear this song again.
이번 여름에 바다에서 수영하고 싶었는데 비가 많이 왔어요.I wanted to swim in the sea this summer, but it rained a lot.
8 more example sentences
주말에 친구들하고 등산하고 싶어요.I want to go hiking with my friends at the weekend.
저도 그 책을 읽고 싶어요.I want to read that book too.
부모님께 편지를 쓰고 싶었어요.I wanted to write a letter to my parents.
아이들이 놀이공원에 가고 싶어 해요.The children want to go to the amusement park.
지금은 아무도 만나고 싶지 않아요.I don't want to see anyone right now.
한국 음식 중에서 뭐가 제일 드시고 싶으세요?Which Korean dish would you most like to eat?
언젠가 제주도에서 살고 싶습니다.One day I would like to live on Jeju Island.
커피를 한 잔 마시고 싶은데 근처에 카페가 있어요?I'd like a cup of coffee — is there a café nearby?
Worth knowing (2)
-
보고 싶다: "I miss you"
Literally "I want to see", 보고 싶어요 is how Korean says that it misses someone. Everyday speech has no other verb for missing a person, so the same words cover a friend abroad and a grandparent you have not visited for a while.
할머니가 많이 보고 싶어요.I miss my grandmother a lot.
-
The thing wanted can take 이/가
With -고 싶다 the object may be marked with 이/가 instead of 을/를: 물이 마시고 싶어요. It puts the weight on the thing and sounds more spontaneous, like a sudden craving. 을/를 is always correct.
시원한 맥주가 마시고 싶어요.I could really do with a cold beer.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
English marks the past on "want", and so does Korean — but only there. The verb in front of -고 is always the bare stem; 싶다 alone carries the past.
Stem plus -go sipda: the wanting changes tense, the verb in front never does.
Your turn
10 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.