Grammar II - 14.01

(2023) ИЗУЧЕНИЕ ЯЗЫКОВ | ЯЗЫКИ ВОСТОКА | ЯПОНСКИЙ III/415

Languages Study | Languages of the East | Japanese III

АУДИО 415 | GRAMMAR II - 14.01 : hoshii

Grammar II - 14.01

ほしい	hoshii
	ほしい - hoshii means "(I) want (something)". It is an i-adjective and conjugates as such. The object of desire is usually followed by the particle が. In negative sentences, the particle は is also used.

いい漢字の辞書がほしいです。	I want a good kanji dictionary
ii kanji-no jisho-ga hoshii desu.
子供の時、ゴジラのおもちゃがほしかったです。	When I was young, I wanted a toy Godzilla.
kodomo-no toki, gojira-no omocha-ga hosikatta desu.
お金はあまりほしくありません。	I don't have much desire for money.
okane-wa amari hoshiku arimasen.

私は　Xが　ほしい。	I want X.
watashi-wa X-ga hoshii.

ほしい - hoshii (I want) is similar to たい - tai (I want to do...), in that its use is primarily limited to the first person, the speaker.
These words are called "private predicates", and they refer to the inner sensations which are known only to the person feeling them.

Everyone else needs to rely on observations and guesses when they want to claim that "person X wants such and such."
Japanese grammar, ever demanding that everything be stated in explicit terms, therefore calls for an extra device for sentences with private predicates as applied to the second or third person.

Among the words we have learned so far, kanashii (sad), ureshii (glad), and itai (painful) are private predicates.
The observations we make about hoshii below apply to these words as well.

	You can quote the people who say they are feeling these sensations.
ロバートさんはコンピューターがほしいと言っています。	Robert says he wants a computer.
robaato-san wa konpyuutaa-ga hoshii to itte imasu.
	You can make clear that you are only making a guess.
きょうこさんはクラシックのCDがほしくないでしょう。	Probably Kyoko does not want a CD of classical music.
kyooko-san wa kurashikku-no CD-ga hoshiku nai deshoo.
	Or you can use the special construction which says that you are making an observation of a person feeling a private-predicate sensation. In Lesson 11, we learned the verb tagaru which replaces nai.
ともこさんは英語を習いたがています。	(I understand that) Tomoko wants to study English.
tomoko-san wa eigo-o narai-tagate imasu.
	hoshii too has a special verb counterpart, hoshigaru. It conjugates as an u-verb and is usually used in the form hoshigatte iru to describe an observation that the speaker currently thinks holds true. Unlike hoshii the particle after the object of desire is wo [o].
トムさんは友達をほしがっています。	(I understand that) Tom wants a friend.
tomu-san wa tomodachi-o hoshigatte imasu.