Desire, advice and obligation

～たがる

(someone else) wants to ~; shows signs of wanting to ~

AI-written, reviewed by AI (ChatGPT)

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How to form it

  • Verb (ます-stem) + たがる / たがっている
  • Negative: ～たがらない
  • Often used with the object marker を, not が: 犬が散歩に行きたがる, 水を飲みたがる

Register: Neutral

Explanation

Describes the wish of a third person, based on what can be seen or heard.

It is usually used in the form ～たがっている for a present wish. The speaker is reporting what they observe, so it is often used for children, pets and other people.

Examples

  1. 弟はゲームをしたがっています。

    おとうとはゲームをしたがっています。

    My younger brother wants to play a video game.

  2. 子どもは、いつも外で遊びたがる。

    こどもは、いつもそとであそびたがる。

    Children always want to play outside.

  3. 彼女は何も食べたがらない。

    かのじょはなにもたべたがらない。

    She doesn't want to eat anything.

Compare with

  • ～たい: ～たい states the speaker's own wish.

Common mistakes

  • Using ～たがる for the speaker's own wish in a plain statement (私は行きたがる), which sounds like describing oneself from outside.