てほしい — Want someone (else) to do something
Combined with the te-form of a verb (てほしい), it expresses the speaker's desire for someone else to perform that action for the speaker. Distinct from 欲しい (to want an object).
Structure
[Verb te-form] + ほしい / ほしいです
Examples
早く来てほしい。
Hayaku kite hoshii.
I want you to come quickly.
来て (come, te-form) + ほしい = want someone to come
先生に説明してほしいです。
Sensei ni setsumei shite hoshii desu.
I want the teacher to explain it.
先生に (to the teacher) + 説明して + ほしい
もう少し待ってほしかった。
Mou sukoshi matte hoshikatta.
I wanted you to wait a little more.
待って + ほしかった = past 'wanted someone to'
• てほしい = want someone to do (for you); marks the person with に. • 欲しい (no verb) = want an object (車が欲しい). • Negative: てほしくない = don't want someone to do. • More polite: ていただきたい or てもらいたい. • てほしい is fairly direct/casual and mainly first-person.
Commonly confused with
The JLPT rarely asks whether you recognise a pattern — it asks which of several similar patterns fits. These are the ones てほしい is tested against.
vs 〜たい
たい = 'I want to do it myself' (私が行きたい); てほしい = 'I want someone ELSE to do it' (来てほしい).
vs てもらいたい / ていただきたい
Same core meaning but more polite/indirect; てほしい is the plainer, more direct request of a desire.
vs 欲しい (object)
Plain 欲しい wants a thing (marked with が); てほしい wants an action performed by another person.
More expressions
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