欲しい

Pattern visualization

Examples

1. 新しい靴が欲しい。▶ —
   I want new shoes.
2. 少し時間が欲しい。▶ —
   I want some time.

Collocations

Mnemonic

Hoshii (欲しい) is the Japanese i-adjective for "want" — English would use a verb but Japanese classifies it as an adjective. The kanji 欲 (desire) becomes adjectival via the -shii suffix. The pattern is "X ga hoshii" — the desired object takes ga (subject), following the Japanese "object = subject" logic shared with wakaru and suki. "Watashi wa ringo ga hoshii" (I want an apple) is canonical. Watch out: English "I want X" tempts the wrong "X wo hoshii"; X must take ga, not wo. Person restriction: hoshii expresses only first / second-person desire — using it for third parties is ungrammatical ("kare ga hoshii" with that sense is wrong). For third-party desire, switch to hoshigaru (欲しがる, the observable-desire verb) or "hoshii sou da" (reported speech). The "te hoshii" pattern (want someone to do) is JLPT N3 territory. Korean -go-sip-da / Chinese 想要 / English want all diverge — Japanese stands out in grammatical category (adjective) + "object = ga" logic.

Quick check

1. Particle in "watashi wa atarashii kuruma __ hoshii"?

   • ga (object = subject, the Japanese hoshii adjective pattern)
   • wo (direct object)
   • ni (direction)
   • de (means)