-고 싶다

RuleVerb stem + -go sipda: expresses the first/second person's wish, "want to."

Curiosity

How do you say what you want to do, as in "I want to go to Korea," in Korean?

Intuition

-go sipda hangs the feeling "sipda (to want)" onto an action (-go). It shows the heart's pull toward an action, and the desire conjugates like an adjective (gago sipeoyo, gago sipeosseoyo).

Visualization

gada (dictionary) → ga (stem) → gago sipda. -go sipda attaches to the stem.

가다gadadictionary form

Essence

Verb stem + -go sipda is first/second-person desire (gago sipeoyo). For a third person, use -go sipeohada (dongsaeng-eun gago sipeohaeyo). The object can take eul/reul or i/ga (mul-eul/mul-i masigo sipda). It does not attach to adjectives.

Examples

한국에 가고 싶어요.

I want to go to Korea.

시원한 물을 마시고 싶어요.

I want to drink cold water.

오늘은 아무것도 하고 싶지 않아요.

I do not want to do anything today.

Mini-quiz

Attach the desire -go sipda to "boda" (to see). (first person)