10.3 Desire, Invitation & Ability

Expressing desire

〜たいです — 'want to do'

To say you want to do an action, attach たい to the ます-stem (the part of the verb left when you remove ます). いきます→いきたい, たべます→たべたい, のみます→のみたい. Add です to make it polite: にほんへいきたいです (I want to go to Japan). Crucially, 〜たい then inflects like an い-adjective, not like a verb:

• Negative: いきたくないです (I don't want to go)
• Past: いきたかったです (I wanted to go)
• Past negative: いきたくなかったです (I didn't want to go)

The direct object may take either を or が — みずをのみたい and みずがのみたい are both accepted at N5, with が subtly emphasising the thing wanted. One important restriction: 〜たい describes the speaker's own desire (or, in questions, the listener's). You do not use plain 〜たい to state a third person's desire; that needs 〜たがっている, which is beyond N5.

〜がほしいです — 'want a thing'

When you want a noun (an object) rather than an action, use 〜がほしいです. The thing wanted is marked with が, and ほしい is itself an い-adjective: あたらしいくるまがほしいです (I want a new car); みずがほしいです (I want some water). It inflects exactly like 〜たい: ほしくないです (don't want it), ほしかったです (wanted it). Compare the two desire patterns carefully — verb + たい for actions, noun + が + ほしい for things.

Inviting and suggesting

〜ましょう and 〜ましょうか

〜ましょう ('let's') proposes doing something together and is formed from the ます-stem: いく→いきましょう (let's go), たべる→たべましょう (let's eat). It is the natural way to agree to an invitation: いいですね、たべましょう (sounds good, let's eat). 〜ましょうか adds か and has two senses: offering to do something for someone — にもつがおおいですね。てつだいましょうか (you have a lot of bags; shall I help?) — or checking a joint plan — なんじにいきましょうか (what time shall we go?).

〜ませんか — soft invitation

〜ませんか literally 'won't you…?' is a polite invitation: あした、いっしょにえいがをみませんか (won't you watch a movie with me tomorrow?). A common enthusiastic reply pairs いいですね with the たい-form: いいですね、ぜひみたいです (great, I'd love to). Note the flow that N5 loves to test: an invitation with 〜ませんか is often accepted with 〜ましょう.

Skill and ability

じょうず and へた — being good or bad at something

じょうず (上手) means 'skilled / good at' and へた (下手) means 'unskilled / bad at'. Both are な-adjectives, and the activity you are good or bad at is marked with が: ピアノがじょうずです (good at piano); りょうりがへたです (bad at cooking). A cultural point that surfaces in listening: じょうず is normally used to praise others, not yourself; a modest speaker who is praised replies いいえ、まだまだです (no, I still have a long way to go). The softener あまり + negative gives 'not very good at': りょうりはあまりじょうずではありません (I'm not very good at cooking).

できる and 〜ことができる — ability

できます (できる) means 'can do / be able to' and, like じょうず, marks its object with が: にほんごができます (I can (speak) Japanese); うんてんができます (I can drive). To turn any verb into an ability statement, add ことができます to its dictionary form: はなす→にほんごをはなすことができます (I can speak Japanese); およぐ→100メートルおよぐことができます (I can swim 100 metres). This ことができる pattern is fully productive and a reliable N5 answer when the item asks for 'can do'. The shorter potential forms (のむ→のめる, たべる→たべられる) mean the same thing and appear in the bank too, but 〜ことができる is the pattern most explicitly taught and tested at N5.

The preference family — すき, だいすき, きらい

Closely related to desire are the preference な-adjectives, which pattern exactly like じょうず: すき (好き, liked), だいすき (大好き, love), and きらい (嫌い, disliked). The thing liked is marked with が: わたしは すしが すきです (I like sushi); えいがを みることが だいすきです (I love watching movies). Notice that to like a whole activity you nominalise the verb with こと — みることが すきです literally 'the act of watching is liked'. Keep these apart from the wanting patterns: すき/だいすき describe a standing preference, whereas 〜たい and 〜ほしい describe a want at this moment.

Potential-form basics

Besides 〜ことができる, N5 introduces the shorter potential form of the verb itself. The rules are compact:

Once a verb is in the potential form its object is usually marked with が rather than を: にほんごが はなせます (can speak Japanese). This mirrors できる and じょうず, all of which prefer が for the thing you are able to do or good at.

Common が-marking traps

The single most tested nuance in this section is the particle. じょうず, へた, すき, きらい, ほしい, できる, and the potential forms all take が for their target, even though the English translation ('good at it', 'can speak it', 'want it') tempts learners into を. So にほんごが じょうずです and えいごが できます are correct, while にほんごを じょうずです is wrong. A second trap is applying 〜たい to someone else — plain 〜たいです is for the speaker (or, in a question, the listener), so you cannot say あの ひとは いきたいです to report a third person's wish at N5.

Worked scenario — accepting an invitation

Put the patterns together: A asks いっしょに コンサートに いきませんか (won't you go to a concert with me?); B, keen, replies いいですね、ぜひ いきたいです。いきましょう (great, I'd love to — let's go). Here 〜ませんか opens the invitation, 〜たいです voices B's desire, and 〜ましょう seals the joint plan. This invitation-to-agreement flow, together with correct が-marking for skill and ability, covers the desire, invitation, and ability items you will meet on test day.

ほしい versus たい — keeping them straight

Because both translate as 'want', pair them in your mind by what follows. 〜がほしい wants a noun: プレゼントが ほしいです (I want a present). 〜たい wants an action: プレゼントを かいたいです (I want to buy a present). If the English cue is 'want a/an [thing]', use ほしい; if it is 'want to [verb]', use たい. Like 〜たい, plain ほしい is reserved for the speaker's own wish; reporting a third person's want uses ほしがっています, which sits just above N5 but is worth recognising in a passage.

Offering versus inviting

Finally, distinguish 〜ましょうか (offering to do something for the listener — にもつを もちましょうか, shall I carry your bag?) from 〜ませんか (inviting the listener to join you — いっしょに いきませんか, won't you go with me?). The first offers a service that you alone will perform; the second proposes a shared activity. Mixing them up changes who actually does the work, and listening questions frequently hinge on catching exactly that difference.