How to Say “I Want to…” in Japanese: ～たいです for Beginners

You are in Japan with a friend. They ask what you want to do today.

You want to say: I want to eat sushi. A useful beginner answer is:

The key pattern is verb stem + たいです (tai desu). It lets you express something you want to do.

Start with something you already know

Take たべます (tabemasu), “to eat.” Remove ます (masu) so that たべます becomes たべ, then add たいです (tai desu). You get:

Now add what you want to eat in front of it:

That is the basic pattern you can start using immediately.

Build ～たいです from a ます verb

For the beginner verbs in this lesson, start with the polite ます (masu) form, remove ます, then add たいです (tai desu).

Try it with のみます (nomimasu), “to drink”: のみ + たいです.

With いきます (ikimasu), “to go”: いき + たいです.

With みます (mimasu), “to see” or “watch”: み + たいです.

And with かいます (kaimasu), “to buy”: かい + たいです.

Every one follows the same transformation: ～ます → ～たいです.

Say what you want to do

Imagine you are deciding what to do this weekend. You could want to see a film:

Or you are hungry:

Or thirsty:

Or you want to visit Japan:

The thing you want changes, but たいです keeps doing the same job: it expresses a desire to perform an action.

～たいです is for actions you want to do

This matters because English uses “want” for several different kinds of desire.

Compare “I want water.” with “I want to drink water.” The first wants a thing. The second wants to perform an action. For an action, use ～たいです:

If you simply want the thing itself, Japanese can use the ほしいです pattern:

So the beginner distinction is: ほしいです (hoshii desu) → I want a thing. ～たいです (tai desu) → I want to do something.

Compare ほしいです and ～たいです

Imagine you are shopping and you see a new bag. Wanting the bag itself uses ほしいです:

Talking about an action instead uses たいです:

These sentences are related, but they do not say exactly the same thing. The first expresses wanting the bag. The second expresses wanting to buy the bag. Here is another pair with coffee:

1. コーヒーがほしいですKoohii ga hoshii desu.I want coffee.
2. コーヒーをのみたいですKoohii o nomitai desu.I want to drink coffee.

Ask yourself: Do I want a thing, or do I want to perform an action? That tells you which pattern you need.

Ask someone what they want to do

To ask someone what they want to do, say:

Here なに (nani) means “what,” したいです (shitai desu) means “want to do,” and か (ka) is the question marker. A friend might answer with a film or a meal:

1. えいがをみたいですEiga o mitai desu.I want to watch a movie.
2. すしをたべたいですSushi o tabetai desu.I want to eat sushi.

Try the whole exchange, one question and one answer:

1. A**なにをしたいですか。**Nani o shitai desu ka.What do you want to do?
2. B**すしをたべたいです。**Sushi o tabetai desu.I want to eat sushi.

You now have a simple way to talk about plans and preferences.

Ask where someone wants to go

You can also ask where someone wants to go:

They might answer with a city:

1. きょうとにいきたいですKyouto ni ikitai desu.I want to go to Kyoto.
2. とうきょうにいきたいですToukyou ni ikitai desu.I want to go to Tokyo.

Notice that たいです attaches to the verb, so いきます becomes いきたいです. The destination still uses に (ni): きょうとにいきたいです。

Say what you do not want to do

You can also express that you do not want to do something. Change ～たいです to ～たくないです (takunai desu). For example, this:

becomes this:

The same change works with いきます:

1. いきたいですIkitai desu.I want to go.
2. いきたくないですIkitakunai desu.I do not want to go.

Imagine your friend suggests going outside, but you are exhausted:

For now, learn ～たくないです as the useful negative partner of ～たいです.

～たいです does not mean “I am going to”

Suppose you say にほんにいきたいです。 (Nihon ni ikitai desu.) This means “I want to go to Japan.” It does not necessarily mean that the trip is already planned. Wanting to do something and having a definite plan are different ideas.

Similarly, ラーメンをたべたいです。 (Raamen o tabetai desu.) expresses your desire to eat ramen. It does not by itself tell the listener that you definitely will eat ramen.

Keep the beginner meaning simple: ～たいです = want to do.

Common mistake: adding たいです directly to ます

Do not take たべます (tabemasu) and produce たべますたいです. Instead, remove ます first: たべます → たべ → たべたいです.

Likewise, のみます → のみ → のみたいです, and いきます → いき → いきたいです. Think: remove ます, then add たいです.

Common mistake: using ほしいです for an action

Suppose you mean “I want to eat sushi.” Do not simply attach ほしいです to the action. Use すしをたべたいです。 (Sushi o tabetai desu.), because eating is something you want to do. Compare:

1. すしがほしいですSushi ga hoshii desu.I want sushi.
2. すしをたべたいですSushi o tabetai desu.I want to eat sushi.

Both can make sense, but they answer different questions.

Common mistake: treating ～たいです as a request

Imagine you are ordering in a restaurant. You could say this:

That tells someone about your desire. But if your actual goal is simply to order ramen, a direct beginner ordering pattern is:

So remember: ～たいです expresses what you want to do. It is not a general replacement for every English sentence containing the word “want.”

Build the pattern

Change each verb into “want to…”. Remove ます, then add たいです.

1. たべます (tabemasu): eat

Remove ます to get たべ, then add たいです:

2. のみます (nomimasu): drink

3. いきます (ikimasu): go

4. みます (mimasu): watch / see

Choose the right pattern

1. You want coffee itself.

• A. コーヒーがほしいです。
• B. コーヒーをのみたいです。

2. You want to drink coffee.

• A. コーヒーがほしいです。
• B. コーヒーをのみたいです。

3. You want to go to Japan.

• A. にほんにいきたいです。
• B. にほんがほしいです。

Make the sentence yourself

Say these in Japanese, then check the answers.

1. I want to eat ramen.
2. I want to drink water.
3. I want to go to Kyoto.
4. I do not want to eat.

Answers

1. ラーメンをたべたいです。 (Raamen o tabetai desu.)
2. みずをのみたいです。 (Mizu o nomitai desu.)
3. きょうとにいきたいです。 (Kyouto ni ikitai desu.)
4. たべたくないです。 (Tabetakunai desu.)

Now answer this question with something you genuinely want to do:

Start with a verb you know, remove ます, and add たいです. That gives you a simple way to turn vocabulary you already know into something personal: たべたいです (I want to eat), のみたいです (I want to drink), いきたいです (I want to go), and みたいです (I want to see).

Instead of memorizing each sentence separately, learn the transformation ～ます → ～たいです. Once you can make that change yourself, every new verb gives you another thing you can say you want to do.

Continue learning

If you want a thing rather than an action, learn How to Say “I Want…” in Japanese – ほしいです for Beginners.

To turn なにをしたいです into a polite question, review How to Ask Questions in Japanese – Add か to a Polite Sentence.

If wanting to go somewhere turns into actually going there for a purpose, continue with How to Say “I’m Going to…” in Japanese – 〜にいきます for Beginners.