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JLPT N4Verb Forms

がる／がっている— Describing Others' Feelings

Attached to emotion adjectives to describe the OUTWARD signs of a third person's feelings, since you cannot directly claim to know another's inner mind.

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Pro lessonUNIT 7 · VERB FORMS

Structure · 形

[い-adj stem / 〜たい stem] + がる (habitual) / がっている (right now)

Examples · 例文

  • 子供は新しいおもちゃを欲しがっている。

    Kodomo wa atarashii omocha o hoshigatte iru.

    The child clearly wants the new toy.

    欲しい (want) → 欲しがっている (showing signs of wanting).

  • 猫は外に出たがっている。

    Neko wa soto ni detagatte iru.

    The cat is showing signs of wanting to go outside.

    出たい (want to go out) → 出たがっている (visibly wanting to).

  • 彼は試験を怖がっている。

    Kare wa shiken o kowagatte iru.

    He is acting scared of the exam.

    怖い (scary/afraid) → 怖がっている (showing fear).

Usage notes · 注意

  • Empathy rule: You avoid 彼は欲しい ('he wants') because it presumes knowledge of his mind; use 欲しがる instead.
  • Note the object shift: 欲しい takes が (おもちゃが欲しい), but 欲しがる takes を (おもちゃを欲しがる) because がる makes it a transitive-style verb.
  • がる turns an emotion adjective into a verb: 悲しい (sad, state) → 悲しがる (to act/appear sad).

Commonly confused with

The JLPT rarely asks whether you recognise a pattern — it asks which of several similar patterns fits. These are the ones がる／がっている is tested against.

vs〜たい (直接)

〜たい / 欲しい state YOUR OWN desire directly; がる is required to describe a third person's desire from the outside.

vs〜そう (様態)

〜そう ('looks like', 嬉しそう) is a momentary visual impression; がっている describes ongoing observable behavior over time.

More verb forms

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