たい

See also: だい and タイ

Japanese

Etymology 1

Alternative spelling
度い (obsolete)

From たし (-tashi), generally regarded as a shift from Old Japanese いたし (itasi, “painful”), modern 痛い (itai).^[1] Appears as a verbal suffix from at least The Tale of the Heike completed before 1330. Replaces previous volitional or desiderative suffix まほし (mahoshi).^[2]

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ta̠i]

In Tokyo speech, the accent of the verb construction depends on the suffixed verb:^[3]
- If the suffixed verb is accented, the accent falls on the first mora in the suffix: つくる [tsùkúꜜrù] (Nakadaka) → つくりたい [tsùkúrítáꜜì] (Nakadaka)
- If the suffixed verb is non-accented and the suffix is in the dictionary form (nonpast), the result is either non-accented or accented on the first mora of the suffix: あそぶ [àsóbú] (Heiban – [0]) → あそびたい [àsóbítáí] (Heiban – [0]) or あそびたい [àsóbítáꜜì] (Nakadaka). Further conjugation is based on the accented version.

Suffix

たい • (-tai) -i (adverbial たく (-taku))

Used to form the desiderative of verbs: want (to do); hope (to do)
読(よ)みたいなら貸(か)すよ
yomitai nara kasu yo
If you want to read it, I can lend it to you.

彼(かれ)は注(ちゅう)目(もく)されたい
kare wa chūmoku saretai
He wants to gain other people's attention.

アイスが食(た)べたい
aisu ga tabetai
I want to eat ice cream.
(only with verb ある, である and honorifics) Expressing a wish of the speaker: I hope that; I wish that
正(しょう)直(じき)者(もの)がばかを見(み)ない世(よ)の中(なか)でありたい
shōjikimono ga baka o minai yo no naka de aritai
I wish in this world the honest people would not suffer losses.

別(べっ)表(ぴょう)を参(さん)照(しょう)されたい
beppyō o sanshō saretai
Please see the appendix table.

Usage notes

Outside of questions, the suffix たい (-tai) is used mainly to talk about the speaker's own wants. When describing the wants of someone else, the suffix たがる (-tagaru) is used instead.
Attaches to the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “continuative or stem form”) of verbs. The result is conjugated like an adjective (形容詞) but allows for the combination with nominal particles such as を, unlike regular adjectives. Both particle uses have been widespread since the Muromachi period.^[4]

Inflection rules for the たい form

Word	dictionary form	ren'yōkei + -tai	historical kana
godan verbs (type 1)
書く	かく (káꜜkù)	かきたい (kàkítáꜜì)
泳ぐ	およぐ (òyóꜜgù)	およぎたい (òyógítáꜜì)
話す	はなす (hànáꜜsù)	はなしたい (hànáshítáꜜì)
待つ	まつ (máꜜtsù)	まちたい (màchítáꜜì)
死ぬ	しぬ (shìnú)	しにたい (shìnítáí) しにたい (shìnítáꜜì)
呼ぶ	よぶ (yòbú)	よびたい (yòbítáí) よびたい (yòbítáꜜì)
読む	よむ (yóꜜmù)	よみたい (yòmítáꜜì)
作る	つくる (tsùkúꜜrù)	つくりたい (tsùkúrítáꜜì)
買う	かう (kàú)	かいたい (kàítáí) かいたい (kàítáꜜì)	かひたい
ichidan verbs (type 2)
見る	みる (míꜜrù)	みたい (mìtáꜜì)
開ける	あける (àkérú)	あけたい (àkétáí) あけたい (àkétáꜜì)
irregular verbs (type 3)
来る	くる (kúꜜrù)	きたい (kìtáꜜì)
する	する (sùrú)	したい (shìtáí) したい (shìtáꜜì)

死(し)にたくない ― shinitakunai ― do not want to die

それを食(た)べたかった。 ― sore o tabetakatta. ― I wanted to eat that.

Except for sense 2 (see above), たい does not express the meaning "someone wants other people to do something". In that case, 欲しい is usually used instead. Compare:

彼(かの)女(じょ)は帰(かえ)りたい

kanojo wa kaeritai

She wants to go home.

彼(かの)女(じょ)は帰(かえ)ってほしい

kanojo wa kaette hoshii

I want that she goes home. → I want her to go home.

Verb with たい can sometimes mark the grammatical object with が, besides the normal object marker を.

アイスが食(た)べたい

aisu ga tabetai

I want to eat ice cream.

アイスを食(た)べたい

aisu o tabetai

I want to eat ice cream.

This word is morphologically an inflectional suffix. It is classified as 助動詞 (jodōshi, “auxiliary verb”) in traditional Japanese grammar.

Inflection

Inflection of たい

Stem forms
Imperfective (未然形)	たかろ	takaro
Continuative (連用形)	たく	taku
Terminal (終止形)	たい	tai
Attributive (連体形)	たい	tai
Hypothetical (仮定形)	たけれ	takere
Imperative (命令形)	たかれ	takare
Key constructions
Informal negative	たくない	taku nai
Informal past	たかった	takatta
Informal negative past	たくなかった	taku nakatta
Formal	たいです	tai desu
Formal negative	たくないです	taku nai desu
Formal past	たかったです	takatta desu
Formal negative past	たくなかったです	taku nakatta desu
Conjunctive	たくて	takute
Conditional	たければ	takereba
Provisional	たかったら	takattara
Volitional	たかろう	takarō
Adverbial	たく	taku
Degree	たさ	tasa

Classical conjugation of "たし" (ク活用, see Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Stem forms
Irrealis (未然形)	たく^[1] たから^[2]	taku takara
Continuative (連用形)	たく^[1] たかり^[2]	taku takari
Terminal (終止形)	たし	tasi
Attributive (連体形)	たきたかる	taki takaru
Realis (已然形)	たけれ	takere
Imperative (命令形)	たかれ	takare
Key constructions
Negative	たからず	takarazu
Contrasting conjunction	たけれど	takeredo
Causal conjunction	たければ	takereba
Conditional conjunction	たくば	takuba
Past tense (firsthand knowledge)	たかりき	takariki
Past tense (secondhand knowledge)	たかりけり	takarikeri
Adverbial	たく	taku
^[1]Without auxiliary verb. ^[2]With auxiliary verb.

Derived terms

たがる (tagaru)

Etymology 2

Particle

たい • (tai)

(Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki)^[5] sentence-ending particle indicating emphasis
そうですたい
sō desu tai
(please add an English translation of this example)

Etymology 3

For pronunciation and definitions of たい – see the following entry.

【鯛】J	[noun] sea bream (fish of the family Sparidae); porgy [noun] specifically, the 真鯛(まだ) (mada, “red sea bream”) [proper noun] a surname Alternative spelling タイ

(This term, たい (tai), is the hiragana spelling of the above term.)
For a list of all kanji read as たい, see Category:Japanese kanji read as たい.)

Etymology 4

For pronunciation and definitions of たい – see the following entries.

【体】2	[counter] counter for humanoid objects [noun] the body (e.g., of a human or animal) [noun] (particularly) the torso excluding the limbs: the trunk, abdomen [noun] a substance, matter [noun] a form, shape [noun] (algebra) field (commutative ring with invertible nonzero elements)

【対】3	[conjunction] versus

【太】2	[prefix] big, fat, great

【態】5	[noun] (grammar) voice - a particular mode of inflecting or conjugating verbs, or a particular form of a verb, by means of which is indicated the relation of the subject of the verb to the action which the verb expresses. [suffix] (grammar) voice, diathesis

【胎】S	[noun] womb

【敦】J	[noun] dui (vessel)

【他意】	[noun] other intention [noun] ulterior motive

(This term, たい (tai), is the hiragana spelling of the above terms.)
For a list of all kanji read as たい, see Category:Japanese kanji read as たい.)

(The following entries are uncreated: 隊, 袋, 堆, 泰.)

Etymology 5

For pronunciation and definitions of たい – see the following entry: 田井

(The following entry is uncreated: 田井.)

Etymology 6

For pronunciation and definitions of たい – see the following entry: 田居

(The following entry is uncreated: 田居.)

References

^ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
^ Online Japanese Accent Dictionary (OJAD)
^ Matsumura, Akira (1995) 大辞泉 [Daijisen] (in Japanese), First edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN
^ Shinmura, Izuru, editor (2018), 広辞苑 [Kōjien] (in Japanese), Seventh edition, Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, →ISBN

[KDJ-1] Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN

[DJR-2] Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[3] Online Japanese Accent Dictionary (OJAD)

[Daijisen-4] Matsumura, Akira (1995) 大辞泉 [Daijisen] (in Japanese), First edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN

[5] Shinmura, Izuru, editor (2018), 広辞苑 [Kōjien] (in Japanese), Seventh edition, Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, →ISBN

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