-고 싶어하다
Want to Do
-고 싶어하다 is used to talk about what someone else wants to do. It is the third-person version of the pattern -고 싶다 ('I want to do').
How It Works
In Korean, you express your own desires differently from how you describe others' desires.
1. For 'I' (First Person) or 'You' (Second Person in questions):
Use -고 싶다.
- 저는 한국에 가고 싶어요. (I want to go to Korea.)
- 피자 먹고 싶어요? (Do you want to eat pizza?)
2. For 'He/She/They' (Third Person):
Use -고 싶어하다. This pattern is essentially -고 싶다 combined with the suffix -아/어하다, which is used to describe an observed emotion or state in someone else.
How to use:
Attach -고 싶어하다 directly to the verb stem.
- 가다 (to go) → 가 + 고 싶어하다 → 가고 싶어하다
- 먹다 (to eat) → 먹 + 고 싶어하다 → 먹고 싶어하다
- 보다 (to see) → 보 + 고 싶어하다 → 보고 싶어하다
In conversation, it's usually conjugated to the polite form: -고 싶어해요.
Example:
수진 씨는 영화를 보고 싶어해요. (Sujin wants to see a movie.)
아이들이 밖에서 놀고 싶어해요. (The children want to play outside.)
Where the 싶어 comes from:
The -어하다 in -고 싶어하다 is the suffix -아/어하다, which turns an adjective describing an inner feeling into a verb describing an observed one. 싶다 is an adjective, so -아/어하다 is exactly what lets you report someone else's wish rather than your own.
Examples (4)
- 제 친구는 한국어를 배우고 싶어해요.
My friend wants to learn Korean.
Word by Word: My friend Korean language learn wants to.
- 민준 씨는 새 차를 사고 싶어해요.
Minjun wants to buy a new car.
Word by Word: Minjun new car buy wants to.
- 고양이가 밖으로 나가고 싶어해요.
The cat wants to go outside.
This pattern can also be used for animals when describing their apparent desires.
- 학생들이 여행을 가고 싶어했어요.
The students wanted to go on a trip.
This shows the past tense form, -고 싶어했어요.
Common Mistakes
Using -고 싶다 for a third-person subject.
Not Quite제 동생은 한국에 가고 싶어요.Better제 동생은 한국에 가고 싶어해요.When talking about a third person's desire (like 'my brother'), you must use -고 싶어하다. The pattern -고 싶다 is reserved for the first person ('I want...') or for asking a second person a question ('Do you want...?').
Learn This First
To express others' desires, you need to know -고 싶다 and 하다.