One of the first things people want to say in Japanese is, well… what they want.
Luckily, Japanese has a simple and very common pattern for this. To say you want a thing (a noun), you can use:
[Noun] がほしいです
This post will walk you through how it works, when to use it, and what to watch out for.
The basic pattern
The structure is simple:
Noun + がほしいです
- が (ga) is technically a subject marker, but in this pattern it marks the noun you desire—the thing you want.
- ほしい means “want” / “would like.”
- です makes the sentence polite.
Examples
- お水がほしいです。
- Omizu ga hoshii desu. — I want some water.
- 新しいスマホがほしいです。
- Atarashii sumaho ga hoshii desu. — I want a new smartphone.
- 休みがほしいです。
- Yasumi ga hoshii desu. — I want a day off. / I want some time off.
If you can name the thing, you can usually plug it into this pattern.
Politeness level
がほしいです is polite and safe for everyday situations. You can use it with:
- people you don’t know well
- colleagues
- shop staff
- teachers
If you’re talking informally with friends or family, you’ll very often hear:
Noun がほしい。
Example:
コーヒーがほしい。
Kōhī ga hoshii. — I want coffee.
Same meaning—just less formal.
Talking about someone else’s desires
Here’s an important rule for beginners:
You generally don’t use ほしい to directly state what another person wants.
For example, this sounds unnatural as a direct statement:
He wants a car.
For example, saying “He wants a car” directly with ほしい can sound unnatural in Japanese (e.g., 彼は車がほしい).
Instead, Japanese usually uses different grammar, such as ほしがっています, or you can quote what they said.
Examples (for reference):
- 彼は車をほしがっています。 — He seems to want a car / He’s showing that he wants a car.
- 彼は「車がほしい」と言っています。 — He says he wants a car.
For now, remember this:
がほしいです is mainly for your own wants. This keeps beginners out of trouble.
What you can and can’t say with ほしい
You can use ほしい for:
- physical objects
- things you can have or be given
- some abstract nouns like time, rest, or freedom
Examples:
- 時間がほしいです。 — I need some time.
- 自由がほしいです。 — I want freedom.
Don’t use it for actions (verbs).
This is incorrect:
日本に行くことがほしいです。
(I want to go to Japan.)
Japanese uses a different form for verbs and actions:
日本に行きたいです。
(I want to go to Japan.)
Making it sound natural
A couple of small tips will help your Japanese sound more natural:
1) Don’t overuse “I”
Japanese usually omits the subject when it’s obvious.
水がほしいです is a complete sentence. Context does the rest.
2) Keep it short in real life
In a shop, you might say:
Mサイズがほしいです。
I want size M.
(And in many situations, people also use request-style phrases like Mサイズをお願いします or Mサイズください, but がほしいです is still perfectly understandable.)
