たがる

Want to (Others)

Level 2Sounds Like tagaru

In Japanese, you cannot directly state what someone else is feeling inside. While you use たい for your own desires, you use たがる to describe the outward signs that someone else wants to do something.

How It Works

In Japanese culture, it is considered presumptuous to claim you know exactly what another person is thinking. Therefore, you use different grammar for third-party desires.

1. Formation:
Take the ます form of a verb, remove the ます, and add たがる.

  • 食べる（たべる）→ 食べたがる (Wants to eat)
  • 行く（いく）→ 行きたがる (Wants to go)

2. Conjugation:
Once formed, it conjugates as a regular Group 1 (u-verb):

  • たがっている: (Continuous) Used for a specific, current desire. This is the most common form.
  • たがる: (Plain) Used for general tendencies or habits.

3. Verbs vs. Nouns:
It is important to distinguish between wanting to do something and wanting something:

  • Action (Verb): Use たがる (e.g., 飲みたがる - wants to drink).
  • Object (Noun): Use 欲しがる（ほしがる）, which is the がる form of ほしい.

4. Usage Restrictions:
While たがる describes a third person's behavior, it is generally not used to ask a second person (you) what they want to do in polite conversation. Use たい for direct questions.

5. Particle Change:
Unlike たい, which can use either が or を for the object, たがる is treated strictly as a verb and must use the を particle for the object of the action.

Examples (4)

  1. 弟は早く家に帰りたがっている。

    My little brother (appears to) want to go home early.

    Word by Word: Little brother | early | home | to | shows signs of wanting to return.

    Using the continuous form たがっている indicates a specific desire the person is showing right now.

  2. うちの猫はいつも外に出たがる。

    My cat always wants to go outside.

    Word by Word: My | cat | always | outside | to | shows signs of wanting to go out.

    The plain form たがる is used here to describe the cat's general habit or personality trait.

  3. 彼は自分のことを話したがらない。

    He doesn't want to talk about himself.

    Word by Word: He | self | (possessive) | thing | (object marker) | does not show signs of wanting to talk.

    The negative form たがらない is used when someone shows no desire or interest in doing an action.

  4. 彼女は留学に行きたがらなかった。

    She didn't show any interest in going to study abroad.

    Word by Word: She | study abroad | to | did not show signs of wanting to go.

    The past negative form たがらなかった describes a past state where she showed no desire to go.

Common Mistakes

  • Using たがる for your own desires.

    私はお茶を飲みたがっている。
    私はお茶が飲みたい。

    You should use たい for yourself because you know your own feelings directly. Using たがる for yourself sounds like you are observing yourself from the outside, which is very strange.

  • Using たがる to ask a second person what they want to do.

    田中さんは、何を食べたがっていますか。
    田中さんは、何を食べたいですか。

    When asking someone directly what they want to do, you should use たい plus the か particle. Using たがる sounds like you are objectively analyzing their behavior rather than asking for their opinion.

  • Using たがる for physical objects (nouns).

    弟は新しいおもちゃを欲したがる。
    弟は新しいおもちゃを欲しがる。

    たがる is attached to the ます form of verbs. If a third party wants a physical object (noun), you must use がる attached to the adjective ほしい, resulting in 欲しがる（ほしがる）.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

たがるLevel 2Want to (Others)

Learn This First

To understand たがる, you first need to know how to express your own desires using たい, as たがる follows the same conjugation rules (attaching to the verb stem). Additionally, because たがる describes an observable state of another person, it is most commonly used with the ている form to indicate that the person currently 'appears to want' something.

Words in This Pattern

たがる