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JLPT N4Verb Forms

〜たがる— (Third person) wants to do

Expresses a third person's desire to do something, inferred from their outward behavior. たがる is the 'observed' counterpart of たい, used to describe someone else's visible wish.

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Pro lessonUNIT 61 · VERB FORMS

Structure · 形

[Verb masu-stem] + たがる / たがっている

Examples · 例文

  • 子供はいつもゲームをしたがる。

    Kodomo wa itsumo geemu wo shitagaru.

    Kids always want to play games.

    し + たがる = shows an outward desire to do

  • 彼は日本に行きたがっている。

    Kare wa Nihon ni ikitagatte iru.

    He wants to go to Japan (judging by his behavior).

    行き + たがっている = showing signs of wanting to go

  • 犬が外に出たがっているので、散歩に行ってきます。

    Inu ga soto ni detagatte iru node, sanpo ni itte kimasu.

    The dog wants to go outside, so I'll take it for a walk.

    出 + たがっている = visibly wanting to go out

Usage notes · 注意

  • Key: たい = first-person 'I want to'; たがる = third-person 'they (visibly) want to.' Same pattern as 欲しい vs 欲しがる.
  • たがる conjugates as a u-verb: たがります, たがった.
  • たがっている describes the ongoing state of showing the desire.
  • Note: the object of たがる is often marked with を, whereas たい allows が or を (水が/を飲みたい → 水を飲みたがる).

Commonly confused with

The JLPT rarely asks whether you recognise a pattern — it asks which of several similar patterns fits. These are the ones 〜たがる is tested against.

vs〜たい

たい states the SPEAKER'S own desire (and can question the listener's). たがる is only for a third party's desire inferred from their behavior — you can't use たがる about yourself.

vsほしがる

ほしがる is the same がる mechanism but for wanting an OBJECT (a noun), while たがる is for wanting to DO an action (a verb).

More verb forms

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