Chapter 25 — Desire, Attempt, and Difficulty

In Stage 1, you learned to say what you want to do (たい), what others seem to want to do (たがる), and what you want to have (ほしい). Those patterns covered the basics of desire. This chapter expands that foundation and adds three new dimensions: wanting someone else to act (てほしい), trying something to see what happens (てみる), and describing how easy or hard an action is (やすい / にくい). It also introduces すぎる, which marks excess — too much, too many, too far.

These five patterns — てほしい, てみる, やすい, にくい, すぎる — all attach to verb stems, making them part of the same productive system. Once you understand how they connect, you can combine any verb with any of these suffixes immediately.

25.1 Review of たい, たがる, ほしい

Before introducing new material, let us make sure the Stage 1 foundations are solid.

たい — "I want to do"

たい attaches to the ます-stem and conjugates as an い-adjective. It expresses the speaker's own desire.

夏休みに　海に　行きたい。 "I want to go to the beach during summer vacation."

もう　何も　食べたくない。 "I don't want to eat anything anymore."

子どもの　とき、パイロットに　なりたかった。 "When I was a child, I wanted to become a pilot."

Remember: たい is first-person only in declarative statements. For third persons, you need たがる or an indirect construction.

たがる — "seems to want to / shows signs of wanting to"

たがる also attaches to the ます-stem. It describes observable behavior that suggests desire — what someone else appears to want based on external evidence.

弟は　いつも　新しい　ゲームを　買いたがる。 "My younger brother always wants to buy new games." (I can see this from his behavior)

あの　子どもは　外に　出たがっている。 "That child wants to go outside." (I can tell from how they're acting)

たがる conjugates as a 五段 verb (たがる → たがります → たがらない → たがった).

ほしい — "I want (a thing)"

ほしい is an い-adjective that expresses the desire to have something (not to do something). The desired object is marked with が.

新しい　パソコンが　ほしい。 "I want a new computer."

何か　冷たい　飲み物が　ほしかった。 "I wanted something cold to drink."

Like たい, ほしい is restricted to first person in declarative statements. For third persons, use ほしがる.

25.2 ほしい Expanded — ～てほしい

In Stage 1, ほしい expressed wanting a thing. Now we extend it to wanting someone to perform an action.

Formation

て-form of a verb + ほしい

The person you want to act is marked with に.

（わたしは）田中さんに　来て　ほしい。 "I want Tanaka to come."

Examples

友だちに　本当のことを　言って　ほしい。 "I want my friend to tell the truth."

子どもたちに　もっと　野菜を　食べて　ほしい。 "I want the children to eat more vegetables."

先生に　もう　一度　説明して　ほしいです。 "I'd like the teacher to explain one more time."

だれにも　このことを　言わないで　ほしい。 "I don't want anyone to say anything about this."

The last example shows the negative: ～ないでほしい means "I want someone not to do."

てほしい conjugates as an い-adjective

Because ほしい is an い-adjective, てほしい follows the same conjugation pattern:

彼に　来て　ほしくなかった。 "I didn't want him to come."

てほしい vs てもらいたい

Both express "I want someone to do something," but the nuance differs.

てほしい — focuses on the speaker's wish. It is a direct expression of desire.

手伝って　ほしい。 "I want (you) to help."

てもらいたい — focuses on the receiving of a favor. It carries the nuance of receiving something from someone, with the social weight of もらう.

手伝って　もらいたい。 "I'd like to have (you) help me." (Nuance of receiving a favor)

In polite requests, てもらいたい (or its keigo form ていただきたい) is often preferred because it frames the action as a favor rather than a demand.

この　書類を　確認して　いただきたいのですが。 "I would like you to check this document." (Polite, business-appropriate)

First-person restriction

Like たい and ほしい, てほしい is limited to expressing the speaker's own desires in declarative sentences. To describe what someone else wants another person to do, use indirect constructions:

母は　わたしに　もっと　勉強して　ほしいと　言っている。 "My mother says she wants me to study more."

25.3 ～てみる — "Try Doing"

てみる expresses trying an action to see what happens — doing something as an experiment or for the first time. The core meaning comes from 見る (to see): you do something and "see" what the result is.

Formation

て-form of a verb + みる

みる in this construction is written in hiragana, not kanji, because it functions as a grammatical auxiliary rather than the literal verb "to see."

Examples

この　ケーキを　食べて　みてください。 "Please try eating this cake." (Try it and see how it tastes)

日本語で　手紙を　書いて　みた。 "I tried writing a letter in Japanese." (To see if I could)

新しい　レストランに　行って　みたい。 "I want to try going to the new restaurant."

一人で　やって　みます。 "I'll try doing it by myself." (To see if I can)

聞いて　みたけど、だれも　知らなかった。 "I tried asking, but nobody knew."

てみる conjugates as 一段

みる is a 一段 verb, so てみる follows 一段 conjugation:

What てみる is not

てみる does not mean "try" in the sense of making an effort against difficulty. That meaning is expressed by ～ようとする (Chapter 2). Compare:

ドアを　開けて　みた。 "I tried opening the door." (To see if it was unlocked — experiential)

ドアを　開けようと　した。 "I tried to open the door." (I made an effort — it might have been stuck)

てみる is about the experience of doing something. ようとする is about the effort or attempt.

Common combinations

てみる frequently combines with other patterns you know:

食べて　みたら、おいしかった。 "When I tried eating it, it was delicious." (たら conditional)

使って　みても　いいですか。 "May I try using it?" (ても + いい = permission)

一度　行って　みた　ことが　ある。 "I've tried going there once." (ことがある = experience)

25.4 ～やすい / ～にくい — "Easy to / Hard to"

These suffixes describe how easy or hard an action is to perform. They attach to the ます-stem of a verb.

Formation

～やすい — "easy to do"

この　本は　読みやすい。 "This book is easy to read."

あの　先生の　説明は　わかりやすいです。 "That teacher's explanations are easy to understand."

この　ペンは　書きやすい。 "This pen is easy to write with."

駅に　近いから、住みやすい　町です。 "Because it's close to the station, it's an easy town to live in."

～にくい — "hard to do"

この　字は　小さくて　読みにくい。 "These characters are small and hard to read."

あの　人の　話は　わかりにくい。 "That person's speech is hard to understand."

この　靴は　歩きにくい。 "These shoes are hard to walk in."

言いにくいことですが、その　計画は　うまく　いかないと　思います。 "This is hard to say, but I think that plan won't go well."

Conjugation

やすい and にくい are い-adjectives. They conjugate exactly as you would expect:

やすい / にくい describe inherent qualities

An important nuance: やすい and にくい describe the inherent quality of the thing, not the temporary state of the person. 読みにくい means the text itself is hard to read (small print, bad handwriting, complex vocabulary). It does not mean "I'm having trouble reading right now because I'm tired."

この　地図は　見やすい。 "This map is easy to look at." (The map is well-designed)

この　薬は　飲みやすい。 "This medicine is easy to take." (It's small, or it tastes okay)

やすい meaning "prone to"

やすい has a secondary meaning: "tends to, is prone to." This meaning is common and important.

この　かさは　壊れやすい。 "This umbrella breaks easily." (It's fragile)

彼は　風邪を　引きやすい。 "He catches colds easily." (He's susceptible)

ガラスは　割れやすい。 "Glass breaks easily." (It's fragile by nature)

Context makes clear whether やすい means "easy to do" or "prone to." Often both readings lead to the same practical understanding.

25.5 ～すぎる — "Too Much"

すぎる expresses excess — doing too much of something, or something being too much of a quality. It attaches to the ます-stem of verbs and the stem of adjectives.

Formation

With verbs — "do too much"

昨日　食べすぎて、お腹が　痛い。 "I ate too much yesterday, and my stomach hurts."

飲みすぎないで　ください。 "Please don't drink too much."

最近、働きすぎている。 "Lately, I've been working too much."

ゲームを　やりすぎた。 "I played games too much." (I overdid it)

With い-adjectives — "too [adjective]"

この　かばんは　高すぎる。 "This bag is too expensive."

部屋が　暑すぎて、眠れない。 "The room is too hot, and I can't sleep."

量が　多すぎます。 "The amount is too much."

With な-adjectives — "too [adjective]"

この　問題は　複雑すぎる。 "This problem is too complicated."

静かすぎて、ちょっと　こわい。 "It's too quiet — a bit scary."

すぎる conjugates as 一段

すぎる is a 一段 verb. Once attached, the whole compound conjugates as 一段:

すぎ as a noun

The ます-stem すぎ can function as a noun, meaning "excess" or "too much of."

食べすぎは　体に　悪い。 "Overeating is bad for your health."

飲みすぎに　気をつけてください。 "Please be careful about drinking too much."

Combining すぎる with other patterns

すぎる works naturally with many patterns you already know:

食べすぎたので、散歩する　ことに　した。 "Because I ate too much, I decided to take a walk." (ので + ことにする)

高すぎて　買えなかった。 "It was too expensive, and I couldn't buy it." (て-form + potential negative)

難しすぎると　思いませんか。 "Don't you think it's too difficult?" (と思う)

25.6 Vocabulary List