Japanese

Adjective

欲しい ‎(-i inflection, hiragana ほしい, romaji hoshii)

1. want; desire, to need

   私 (わたし)はこの本 (ほん)が欲 (ほ)しいです。

   Watashi wa kono hon ga hoshii desu.

   I want this book.

2. (after a て verb form) to want someone to perform the verb

   彼女 (かのじょ)に勝 (か)ってほしかった。

   Kanojo ni katte hoshikatta.

   I wanted her to win.

Usage notes

• The act of wanting something in Japanese, unlike in English, is usually denoted by an adjective (欲しい) instead of with a verb ("to want").
• A verb denoting willingness (欲 (ほっ)する ‎(hossuru)) exists, but its usage is quite uncommon.
• The usage of this word can be considered overly direct or childish.
• Adding a たい ‎(tai) to a verb is also often used with a similar meaning:

  ケーキを食 (た)べたい。

  Kēki o tabetai.

  I want to eat a cake.

• When following the ない ‎(nai) form of a verb + て ‎(te) it means "don't want you to".

Inflection