JAPANESE LESSON, Minna no Nihongo

Minna no Nihongo 20: Watashi wa Tomodachi ga Hoshii desu

Hi, ojachan is here 🙂 Today’s lesson is:【第13課】 Lesson 13. Watashi wa Tomodachi ga Hoshii desu

Don’t you want to know how to learn Japanese like Japanese kids? This lesson is meant for students that are beginners at Japanese. 

⭐️This lesson is following the textbook “Minna no Nihongo”. (*not perfectly)

⭐️I’m going to give a lesson easier to understand for Japanese learners without following textbook’s orders.

Let’s learn how to say “want” in a sentence today.

I’m going to describe the detail because the usage of the grammar and parts of speech of “Want” in Japanese are quite different from English.

Let’s get started!

■ Basic Patterned Sentences


1. わたしは Nが 欲しいです。

Though “want” is a verb in English, it is an i-adjective in Japanese.

When we want to say “ I want sth / sb” in Japanese, we use “欲しい”.

However, it is limited to the person used for the subject by an affirmative sentence, a negative sentence, or an interrogative sentence.

sentence1st person 2nd person3rd person
Affirmative ××
Negative ××
Interrogative×

■ Affirmative Sentence

わたしは 日本人の 友達が 欲しいです。
watashi wa nihonjin no tomodachi ga hoshii desu
I want Japanese friends.

If you use this sentence pattern in affirmative sentence with the 2nd and 3rd person, it’s a bit strange expression for us.

Be careful because the subject always becomes “watashi” in this sentence pattern.

■ Negative Sentence

わたしは 日本人の 友達 欲しくありません
watashi wa nihonjin no tomodachi ga hoshikuarimasen
I don’t want any Japanese friends.

Have you noticed the particle wa in “友達”?

This は can distinguish the others.

You can learn the detail of the difference between wa and ga in this article.

■ Interrogative Sentence

あなたは 日本人の 友達が 欲しいですか
anata wa nihonjin no tomodachi ga hoshii desuka
Do you want Japanese friends?

はい、欲しいです
hai hoshii desu
Yes, I do.

いいえ、欲しくありません
iie hoshikuarimasen
No, I don’t.

you can use the 2nd person and  the 3rd person  in a negative sentence and an interrogative sentence.

■ Use the 3rd Person in an Affirmative Sentence

As mentioned previously, you can’t use the 3rd person in an affirmative sentence.

For example :

Henry wants to have Japanese friends.
ヘンリーは 日本人の 友達が 欲しいです。

If you translate English into Japanese directly, it becomes the impression that you labeled the intention of Henry. It’s not wrong grammatically but it sounds a bit strange for us.

If you want to use “欲しい” with the 3rd person, you can use it with “Jodoushi  (an auxiliary verb) ” following “欲しい”.

hoshii tai want
中村さんは アメリカ人の友達が 欲しい そうです。
nakamura san wa amerikajin no tomodachi ga hoshii soudesu
I heard that Nakamura wanted to have British friends.


中村さんは イギリス人の 友達が 欲しい みたいです。
nakamura san wa igirisujin no tomodachi ga hoshii mitai desu
Nakamura seems to want to have British friends.


中村さんは オーストラリア人の 友達が 欲しい ようです。
nakamura san wa oostrariajin no tomodachi ga hoshii you desu
Nakamura seems to want to have Australian friends.


中村さんは カナダ人の 友達が 欲しい らしいです。
nakamura san wa kanadajin no tomodachi ga hoshii rashii desu
I’ve heard that N wakamura ants to have Canadian friends.

Read “the usage of ga” if you want to know the reason why it’s “友達”.

2.  V (masu-form) +たいです。

You can express “ I want to do (sth).”  in Japanese by using “V (masu-form) + たいです”.

わたしは 日本へ 行きたいです
watashi wa nihon e iki taidesu
I want to go to Japan.


わたしは 自分の 国に 帰りたくありません
watashi wa jibun no kuni ni kaeri takuarimasen
I don’t want to go back to my home country.


あなたは 日本に 住みたいですか
anata wa nihon ni sumi taidesuka
Do you want to live in Japan?

Words of Verb masu-form


I’m going to introduce to you Verbs with masu – form.

There are 6 steps of verb conjugation but let’s learn them step by step.

Take it easy!

jisho – form masu-formEnglish
遊ぶ
asobu
遊び
aobisto
have a good time
泳ぐ
oyogu
泳ぎ
oyogito
to swim
迎える
mukaeru
迎え
mukae
to welcome
疲れる
tsukareru
疲れ
tsukare
to get tired
結婚する
kekkonsuru
結婚し
kekkonshi
to get married
買い物する
kaimonosuru
買い物し
kaimonoshi
to go shopping
食事する
shokujisuru
食事し
shokujishi
to eat (formal)
散歩する
sanposuru
散歩し
sanposhi
to take a walk 

Indefinite Pronoun Words


You can use these expression if you don’t know what you want particularly.

It is called “不定代名詞 Futeidaimeishi  Indefinite pronoun” in Japanese.

■ In an Affirmative and an Interrogative Sentence

わたしは 何か 食べ たいです。
watashi wa nanika tabe taidesu
I want eat something.


どこかで 何か 食べ たいですか。
dokoka de nanika tabe taidesuka
Do you want to eat anything anywhere?
languagethingspersonplacetime
日本語何か誰かどこかいつか
pronunciationnanikadarekadokokaitsuka
Englishsomething anythingsomeone anyone somewhere anywheresometime someday 

■ In a Negative Sentence

わたしは 何も 食べ たくありません。
watashi wa nanimo tabe takuarimasen
I don’t want eat anything.
languagethingspersonplacetime
日本語何も~ありません誰も~いませんどこも~ませんいつも~ません
pronunciationnanimo~arimasendaremo~imasendokomo~masenitusmo~masen
Englishnothingnobodynot ~ every (place)not always ~

■ When You Want to Use “every”

わたしは 何でも 食べ たいです。
watashi wa nandemo tabe taidesu
I want eat anything.
languagethingspersonplacetime
日本語何でも誰でもどこでもいつでも
pronunciationnandemodaredemodokodemoitsudemo
Englishanything / everythinganyone everyone whoeveranywhere everywhere whereveranytime always whenever

Let’s Practice


Your Homework


✏️Answer these questions in Japanese and comment  below.

1. あなたは 今 何が 欲しいですか。
2. あなたは どこに 行き たいですか。

Okay, that’s all for today!

Good luck with your Japanese study 😉

*MINNA NO NIHONGO,VOL.1-W/CD*

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Publisher:3 A corporation (2nd Edition)

P.S. My English skill is not enough yet. Please correct me with DM from CONTACT if my English is wrong. Thank you for your cooperation!

Next Lesson is;

Minna no Nihongo 21:Watashi wa Onigiri wo Kai ni Ikimasu

Previous Lesson is; CLICK HERE!

Minna no Nihongo 19: Natsu wa Fuyu yori Atsui desu