Chapter 19 — Wants, Intentions, and Obligations

Up to this point, you have been describing actions, states, locations, and qualities. You can say what someone does, where they go, what something looks like, and when it happened. But you have had no way to express what someone wants to do, what they intend to do, what they must do, or what they think about a situation. This chapter fills those gaps.

The grammar here is dense. Eight new patterns appear in a single chapter, and several of them interact with each other. The reason they are grouped together is that they all operate on the same axis: the space between action and intention. They describe the mental states that surround actions — desire, plan, obligation, advice, conjecture, opinion. Together, they give you the ability to talk about the future in a meaningful way, to give and receive advice, and to express your inner life in Japanese.

Every pattern in this chapter requires plain forms. You learned those in Chapter 12. If your plain-form production is not automatic yet, review Chapter 12 before continuing. The patterns here will force you to produce plain forms quickly and embed them inside larger sentences. This is the chapter where plain forms stop being an abstract conjugation exercise and become the foundation of real communication.

19.1 たい — "Want to Do"

たい expresses the speaker's desire to perform an action. It attaches to the ます-stem of a verb — the form you get when you remove ます from the polite form.

Formation

Take the ます-form. Remove ます. Add たい.

The formation is perfectly regular. No verb is an exception. Even the two irregular verbs する and くる follow the pattern: します → し → したい, きます → き → きたい.

たい conjugates like an い-adjective

This is the key fact about たい. Once you attach it to a verb stem, the result behaves exactly like an い-adjective. It conjugates across the same four forms you learned in Chapter 13.

Using たべたい as the model:

にほんに いきたいです。 I want to go to Japan.

きのう、ラーメンが たべたかった。 Yesterday, I wanted to eat ramen.

あしたは はたらきたくないです。 I don't want to work tomorrow.

こどもの とき、やさいが たべたくなかった。 When I was a child, I didn't want to eat vegetables.

Because たい is an い-adjective, it can also modify nouns directly, just as any い-adjective can:

たべたい ものが ありますか。 Is there something you want to eat?

いきたい ところは たくさん あります。 There are many places I want to go.

First-person restriction

たい describes the speaker's own desires. You cannot use it to state what someone else wants as a flat assertion. This is a fundamental rule of Japanese grammar, not a suggestion.

Why? Because in Japanese, inner states — feelings, desires, sensations — are considered knowable only from the inside. You can know your own desires directly. You cannot know someone else's desires directly. You can only observe their behavior and infer. Japanese grammar enforces this epistemological distinction structurally.

This means:

わたしは すしが たべたいです。 ✓ I want to eat sushi.

*たなかさんは すしが たべたいです。 ✗ (You cannot assert another person's desire this way.)

To describe what someone else wants, you need the pattern in Section 19.2. Or you can report what they said: たなかさんは すしが たべたいと いいました (Tanaka said he wants to eat sushi). The reporting structure makes clear that you are relaying their words, not claiming to know their mind.

There is one exception to the first-person restriction: questions. When you ask someone directly, you are inviting them to report their own inner state, so たい is natural:

なにが たべたいですか。 What do you want to eat?

どこに いきたいですか。 Where do you want to go?

Particle choice: を versus が

With たい, the object of the verb can take either を or が.

みずを のみたい。 みずが のみたい。

Both are grammatically correct. The difference is subtle. が emphasizes the desire itself — it foregrounds the wanting. を treats the action more neutrally, as a simple statement about what you want to do. In practice, both are common, and at this level, either is fine. As you read more Japanese, you will develop an intuition for which sounds more natural in a given context.

19.2 たがる — Third-Person Desire

Since たい cannot describe someone else's desires directly, Japanese provides たがる for exactly this purpose. たがる means "to show signs of wanting" — it describes desire as observed from the outside, based on behavior, words, or visible inclination.

Formation

Take the ます-stem. Add たがる.

たがる conjugates as a 五段 verb

Unlike たい (which behaves as an い-adjective), たがる behaves as a regular 五段 verb. It conjugates through the full verb system:

The ている form is particularly important. たがっている describes a current, ongoing state of apparent desire:

こどもが アイスクリームを たべたがっています。 The child appears to want to eat ice cream.

やまださんは あたらしい パソコンを かいたがっています。 Yamada appears to want to buy a new computer.

いもうとは ずっと ディズニーランドに いきたがっています。 My younger sister has been wanting to go to Disneyland for a long time.

Note that with たがる, the object takes を, not が. This is because たがる is a verb, and verbs take を for their direct objects. The が option that exists with たい does not carry over to たがる.

When to use たがる versus たい

Use たい for yourself. Use たがる for others. This is the basic rule.

In practice, there are additional ways to describe someone else's desires — たいと いっている (they say they want to), たいそうだ (I hear they want to), たいらしい (it seems they want to) — but these involve grammar you have not yet learned. For now, たがる is your tool for third-person desire.

19.3 ほしい — "Want a Thing"

たい expresses the desire to do something. ほしい expresses the desire to have something. The difference is verb versus noun: たい attaches to verb stems, ほしい takes noun objects.

Structure

[thing]が ほしいです

The desired object is marked with が, not を. This is because ほしい is an い-adjective, and the subject of an adjective predicate takes が.

あたらしい くるまが ほしいです。 I want a new car.

おかねが ほしいです。 I want money.

じかんが ほしいです。 I want time.

Conjugation

ほしい is a regular い-adjective. It follows the same four-form pattern:

こどもの とき、いぬが ほしかった。 When I was a child, I wanted a dog.

べつに なにも ほしくないです。 I don't particularly want anything.

Same first-person restriction

Like たい, ほしい describes only the speaker's own desires. You cannot say *たなかさんは くるまが ほしいです to assert what Tanaka wants. For third-person use, there is ほしがる, which works exactly like たがる:

たなかさんは あたらしい くるまを ほしがっています。 Tanaka appears to want a new car.

Note again the particle shift: が with ほしい, を with ほしがる.

ほしい versus たい — choosing the right one

The distinction is straightforward:

• You want to do something → verb stem + たい
• You want to have something → noun + が ほしい

コーヒーが ほしい。 (I want coffee — as an object.) コーヒーを のみたい。 (I want to drink coffee — as an action.)

Both are natural. The choice depends on whether you are framing your desire as possession or as activity.

19.4 つもり — "Intend to"

つもり is a noun meaning "intention." When combined with a verb in plain form, it creates the structure for expressing plans and intentions.

Structure

Plain non-past verb + つもりです

にほんに いく つもりです。 I intend to go to Japan.

らいねん、だいがくに はいる つもりです。 I intend to enter university next year.

あした、ともだちに でんわする つもりです。 I intend to call my friend tomorrow.

Negative intention

There are two ways to express that you intend not to do something:

Method 1: Negate the verb before つもり.

あしたは はたらかない つもりです。 I intend not to work tomorrow.

Method 2: Negate つもり itself.

あした はたらく つもりは ありません。 I have no intention of working tomorrow.

The nuance differs slightly. Method 1 states a positive intention to avoid an action. Method 2 denies the existence of the intention entirely. Method 2 can sound stronger — closer to "I have absolutely no intention of..." In most everyday situations, either works.

つもり for past intentions

You can use つもりだった to describe what you intended to do (but perhaps did not):

きょう べんきょうする つもりだったけど、ねてしまった。 I intended to study today, but I ended up sleeping.

This use of past tense on つもり signals that the intention existed in the past. It often implies that the plan did not work out.

Important note on つもり

つもり describes your own intentions. Using it about someone else requires care. たなかさんは いく つもりです is possible if you are reporting what Tanaka has told you, but it can sound presumptuous if you are guessing. When in doubt, add a reporting structure: たなかさんは いく つもりだと いっていました (Tanaka was saying he intends to go).

19.5 なければならない / なくてはいけない — "Must"

Japanese has two main structures for expressing obligation. Both are long. Both are built from the negative form of the verb. Both mean the same thing: "must do."

Structure 1: なければならない

Take the ない-form of the verb. Remove the final い. Add ければならない.

あした しけんが ある。べんきょうしなければならない。 There is an exam tomorrow. I must study.

くすりを のまなければなりません。 I must take the medicine.

The polite form replaces ならない with なりません.

Structure 2: なくてはいけない

Take the ない-form. Remove the final い. Add くてはいけない.

しゅくだいを ださなくてはいけません。 I must submit the homework.

The polite form replaces いけない with いけません.

Why these structures work

The logic is the same for both, and it is worth understanding.

なければならない literally means "if [one] does not [do it], it will not do." The なければ is a conditional ("if not"), and ならない means "it won't work" or "it's no good." Together: "If you don't do it, that's no good" — which is another way of saying "you must do it."

なくてはいけない literally means "not doing [it] is bad." The なくては is "if not doing," and いけない means "it won't do" or "it's not acceptable." Same logic, different words.

Both arrive at the same meaning from the same direction: negating the alternative. "You must go" in Japanese is expressed as "not going won't work."

Casual contractions

In spoken Japanese, these long forms are almost always contracted. You need to recognize these contractions even if you use the full forms in your own speech for now.

なければならない contracts to なきゃ (or なきゃならない, なきゃいけない):

いかなきゃ。 Gotta go.

べんきょうしなきゃ。 Gotta study.

なくてはいけない contracts to なくちゃ (or なくちゃいけない):

もう ねなくちゃ。 I gotta sleep already.

やさいを たべなくちゃ。 Gotta eat vegetables.

なきゃ and なくちゃ are extremely common in everyday speech, anime, manga, and casual writing. You will hear them far more often than the full forms. For production at this level, the full forms are safer in polite contexts. But for comprehension, learn the contractions immediately.

Choosing between the two full forms

なければならない and なくてはいけない are interchangeable in meaning. Some speakers and textbooks claim slight differences in formality or nuance, but in practice, both are used in the same contexts. Choose whichever you find easier to produce. Most learners settle on one and stick with it.

19.6 ほうがいい — "Had Better"

ほうがいい is used to give advice or make recommendations. It translates roughly as "you had better" or "you should," though it is more direct in Japanese than "should" often feels in English.

Affirmative advice: た-form + ほうがいい

To advise someone to do something, use the た-form (plain past) of the verb before ほうがいい.

はやく ねたほうがいいですよ。 You had better go to bed early.

くすりを のんだほうがいい。 You should take the medicine.

もっと やさいを たべたほうがいいです。 You should eat more vegetables.

かさを もっていったほうがいいですよ。 You should take an umbrella.

Note the verb form: ねた, のんだ, たべた, もっていった. All are た-forms. This is not describing a past action. The た here functions as a marker of completion or definiteness — "the completed (better) action." It is a fixed pattern: always た-form, never dictionary form, for affirmative advice.

Negative advice: ない-form + ほうがいい

To advise someone not to do something, use the ない-form before ほうがいい.

あまり おさけを のまないほうがいいですよ。 You had better not drink too much alcohol.

あの みせには いかないほうがいい。 You shouldn't go to that store.

よる おそく コーヒーを のまないほうがいいです。 You shouldn't drink coffee late at night.

The pattern is consistent: た-form for "do this," ない-form for "don't do this."

Social note

ほうがいい is more forceful than it might seem in translation. When you say のんだほうがいい to someone, you are not gently suggesting — you are telling them what they should do, based on your judgment. This is appropriate between friends, from senior to junior, or in situations where advice is clearly expected. Using it toward a superior or a stranger can sound presumptuous or overbearing. For softer suggestions in formal situations, Japanese has other structures (such as ～たらどうですか, which you will learn later).

19.7 でしょう — "Probably"

でしょう expresses the speaker's conjecture — a judgment about what is probably the case. It is softer than a flat assertion and signals that the speaker is making a reasoned guess rather than stating a known fact.

Formation

でしょう attaches to the plain form of verbs, adjectives, and noun sentences. The rules for what comes before it depend on the predicate type.

Verbs: plain form + でしょう

あした あめが ふるでしょう。 It will probably rain tomorrow.

たなかさんは もう かえったでしょう。 Tanaka has probably gone home already.

い-adjectives: plain form + でしょう

この テストは むずかしいでしょう。 This test is probably difficult.

きのうの パーティーは たのしかったでしょう。 Yesterday's party was probably fun.

な-adjectives: stem + でしょう (drop the だ)

あの へやは しずかでしょう。 That room is probably quiet.

Nouns: noun + でしょう (drop the だ)

たなかさんは がくせいでしょう。 Tanaka is probably a student.

Notice: for な-adjectives and nouns, the だ that normally ends the sentence in plain form is dropped before でしょう. You do not say *しずかだでしょう or *がくせいだでしょう.

でしょう with rising intonation

When spoken with rising intonation, でしょう？ functions as a confirmation-seeking tag, similar to "right?" or "isn't it?"

この えいが、おもしろかったでしょう？ This movie was interesting, right?

あした テストが あるでしょう？ There's a test tomorrow, right?

This is extremely common in conversation. The speaker believes something to be true and is asking the listener to confirm. The nuance is "I think this is the case — you agree, don't you?"

だろう — the plain form of でしょう

でしょう is the polite form. Its plain equivalent is だろう. They mean the same thing.

あした あめが ふるだろう。 It'll probably rain tomorrow. (casual)

You will encounter だろう in casual speech, in writing, and in male speech patterns. でしょう is neutral and appropriate in any register.

19.8 とおもう — "I Think"

とおもう lets you express opinions, beliefs, and judgments. It embeds a complete thought inside your sentence using the quotation particle と.

Structure

Plain form + とおもいます

The clause before と must be in plain form. This is not optional. You cannot embed a ます-form before と.

あした あめが ふる とおもいます。 I think it will rain tomorrow.

この ほんは おもしろい とおもいます。 I think this book is interesting.

たなかさんは もう うちに かえった とおもいます。 I think Tanaka has already gone home.

あの レストランは あまり おいしくない とおもいます。 I don't think that restaurant is very good.

How とおもう works

と is a quotation particle. It marks the boundary of a quoted or reported thought. おもう (おもいます in polite form) means "to think." The structure is literally: "[thought] — so I think." The thought itself is in plain form because it represents the raw content of your mind, not speech directed at a listener.

This is a critical milestone. とおもう is your first grammar pattern that requires you to embed a plain-form clause inside a larger sentence. From this point forward, this kind of embedding becomes routine. Plain forms appear before と, before から (because), before まえに (before doing), before あとで (after doing), and before many other grammatical elements. The skill you build here — producing a plain-form clause and attaching a grammatical particle after it — is the skill that carries you through intermediate and advanced Japanese.

Negative opinions

There are two ways to express a negative opinion, and they differ in meaning.

Negate the embedded clause:

あした あめが ふらない とおもいます。 I think it won't rain tomorrow.

Negate おもう itself:

あした あめが ふる とは おもいません。 I don't think it will rain tomorrow.

The first version states a positive belief about a negative event (I believe the non-raining will happen). The second version denies the belief itself (I do not hold the belief that it will rain). In practice, the second pattern — とはおもいません — is stronger and more emphatic. The first is more common in everyday speech.

Using とおもう with other predicate types

The plain form rule applies to all predicate types:

な-adjective: しずかだ とおもいます (I think it's quiet) Noun + copula: がくせいだ とおもいます (I think they're a student)

Notice that unlike でしょう, とおもう keeps the だ before と. This is because と is a quotation particle — it quotes the complete sentence, and the complete plain form of a な-adjective or noun predicate includes だ.

Compare:

• しずかでしょう (でしょう replaces だ)
• しずかだ とおもいます (だ stays because と quotes the whole sentence)

This distinction matters. Pay attention to it.

19.9 Reading Passage: 夏休みの けいかく

Read the following passage. It uses the grammar from this chapter in a natural context. All new vocabulary is listed at the end of the chapter.

もうすぐ なつやすみです。わたしは ことし、おきなわに いきたいです。おきなわの うみは とても きれいだ とおもいます。ともだちの ゆきさんも いっしょに いきたがっています。

ゆきさんと そうだんして、らいしゅう ひこうきの チケットを かう つもりです。ホテルも はやく よやくしなければなりません。なつやすみは にんきが ある きせつですから、おそく よやくしたら、いい ホテルが なくなるでしょう。

おきなわでは、まず うみで およぎたいです。それから、おきなわの りょうりも たべたいです。ゴーヤチャンプルーが ゆうめいだと きいたので、ぜひ たべてみる つもりです。

ゆきさんは 「おきなわの おみやげが ほしい」と いっていました。ちゅらうみすいぞくかんにも いきたがっています。わたしも すいぞくかんに いきたいので、いっしょに いくことに します。

たびの まえに、じゅんびを しなくてはいけません。あたらしい みずぎを かったほうがいいと おもいます。ふるい みずぎは もう ちいさくなりましたから。ひやけどめも かわなければなりません。おきなわの ひざしは とても つよいでしょう。

たのしい たびに なるとおもいます。はやく なつやすみに なってほしいです。

Translation

Summer vacation is almost here. This year, I want to go to Okinawa. I think the ocean in Okinawa is very beautiful. My friend Yuki also appears to want to go together.

I plan to consult with Yuki and buy airplane tickets next week. I must also reserve a hotel soon. Since summer vacation is a popular season, if I reserve too late, the good hotels will probably be gone.

In Okinawa, first I want to swim in the ocean. After that, I also want to eat Okinawan food. I heard that goya champuru is famous, so I definitely intend to try eating it.

Yuki was saying, "I want Okinawan souvenirs." She also appears to want to go to Churaumi Aquarium. I also want to go to the aquarium, so we will go together.

Before the trip, I must prepare. I think I should buy a new swimsuit. My old swimsuit has gotten too small. I also must buy sunscreen. The sunlight in Okinawa is probably very strong.

I think it will be a fun trip. I want summer vacation to come soon.

Reading Passage 2 — しんねんの もくひょう

Read the following passage about New Year's resolutions. All grammar comes from this chapter and earlier chapters.

あたらしい としに なりました。ことしの もくひょうを かんがえました。

まず、まいにち にほんごを べんきょうしなければ なりません。きょねんは いそがしくて、あまり べんきょうしませんでした。ことしは まいにち さんじゅっぷん べんきょうする つもりです。

それから、もっと うんどうしたいです。いまは あまり うんどうしていません。まいしゅう にかい、こうえんを はしりたいです。あさ はやく おきなくては いけませんが、がんばります。

りょうりも じぶんで つくりたいです。いつも コンビニの おべんとうを たべていますが、あまり けんこうてきでは ありません。かんたんな りょうりから はじめる つもりです。やさいを もっと たべなければ なりません。

にほんごの しけんも うけたいです。なつに じぇいえるぴぃてぃの しけんが あります。それまでに かんじを もっと おぼえなくては いけません。でも、まいにち ごこずつ おぼえれば だいじょうぶだと おもいます。

ぜんぶ できなくても いいです。すこしずつ がんばる つもりです。

Translation

A new year has come. I thought about this year's goals.

First, I must study Japanese every day. Last year I was busy and did not study much. This year, I intend to study thirty minutes every day.

Also, I want to exercise more. Right now I am not exercising much. I want to run in the park twice a week. I must wake up early in the morning, but I will do my best.

I also want to cook for myself. I always eat convenience store bento, but it is not very healthy. I intend to start from simple cooking. I must eat more vegetables.

I also want to take a Japanese language test. There is a JLPT exam in summer. Before that, I must memorize more kanji. But I think it will be fine if I memorize five per day.

It is okay even if I cannot do everything. I intend to do my best little by little.

Notes

• もくひょう — goals, objectives.
• けんこうてき — healthy (な-adjective, from けんこう "health" + てき "~like").
• じぇいえるぴぃてぃ — JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test), written in katakana-style phonetics.
• おぼえれば — conditional of おぼえる (to memorize). The ば conditional means "if I memorize."
• すこしずつ — little by little. The suffix ずつ means "each" or "at a time."

19.10 Summary of Patterns

Vocabulary

Nouns

Verbs

い-Adjectives

な-Adjectives

Adverbs and Other