September 18, 2003
Just Do It

English uses the auxiliary (helping) verb want to express desire for action: I want to V, you want to V, he/she/it wants to V, we want to V, y'all want to V, they want to V. In English, it doesn't make any difference who is doing the wanting. Just add the infinitive form of a verb and you can say what I want to do or what someone else wants to do.

S + want + to V (+ object).
I eat. I want to eat. I want to eat dinner.
I drink. I want to drink. I want to drink coffee.

Typically, in English, you don't use the 〜ing form, even if you are expressing a current, short-term desire. For example, a common mistake of non-native speakers is to say: "I am wanting to eat dinner now." People will understand what you mean, but it's more usual to say "I want to eat dinner now."

Japanese does not use an auxiliary verb. To express your own desires, conjugate the verb by adding 〜たい to the 〜ます stem.
食べるー>食べますー>食べたい
飲むー>飲みますー>飲みたい
勉強するー>勉強しますー>勉強したい

  • 毎日日本料理が食べたいです。
  • 日本へ行きたいです。
  • ブログの友だちと会いたいです。
  • 面白い本が書きたいです。
Posted by スティーブンズ.
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