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What's the difference in using どうしようもない and 気がしてならない. For example:

どうしようもなく行きたい

行きたい気がしてならない

I think both of them translate to "I can't help but want to go".

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  • I've never heard "行きたい気がしてならない." Further more, never heard "~たい気がしてならない." Is what you want to say "~したくてたまらない" ?
    – Spoonail
    Commented Apr 9, 2020 at 11:17
  • @Spoonail Is that grammatically incorrect or just awefully akward? Doesn't the sentence translate to "I get the feeling (someone) wants to go".Or should  たがっている気がしてならない be used here?
    – Newbie
    Commented Apr 11, 2020 at 9:28
  • The use of the phrase is wrong, you seem to misunderstand the meaning of it. See my answer for more information.
    – Spoonail
    Commented Apr 11, 2020 at 15:01

2 Answers 2

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どうしようもなく行きたい means you have an uncontrollably strong desire to go ("I reeaally want to goooo!! I can't hold it!!").

行きたい気がしてならない means you cannot get the desire out of your head, but it does not have to be strong ("I don't know why but somehow I do feel like going." / "I can't help feeling like going.").

See also:

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  • As I said in my answer, 行きたい気がしてならない seems to be invalid. If you don't mind, I'd like to know some example of 行きたい気がしてならない or just ~たい気がしてならない.
    – Spoonail
    Commented Apr 11, 2020 at 14:49
  • ^ 少納言に「本当は、その日記を読んでみたい気がしてならない。」っていう例がありました(少納言ではこの1件しかヒットしませんでしたが)
    – chocolate
    Commented Apr 11, 2020 at 15:35
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I think both of them translate to "I can't help but want to go".

No.
"どうしようもなく行きたい" does but "行きたい気がしてならない" doesn't.
Furthermore, "行きたい気がしてならない" is invalid.

You should think of "~気がしてならない" as "I assume... " or "I believe..." (with "I don't know what actually happens.")
You can't assume your feeling.
You totally know the fact you want to go, right?

I think it's confusing "~気がしてならない" is explained along with the word "feeling."
Yes, it can be translated into "I can't help but feeling..," but it's more related to forecasting or sensing than feeling emotion.
Emotion itself hardly comes with "~気がしてならない."

X 辛い気がしてならない
X 悲しい気がしてならない

So far I've explained with my native sense, but some corpuses would help you more.
I like this but more are listed here.
http://www.kotonoha.gr.jp/shonagon/

Some examples from the corpus above:

「どうもフィーリクスに騙されているような気がしてならない。」
"I strongly suspect I'm duped by フィーリクス."

「いつの日か、あなたが答を知る気がしてならないの」
"I highly believe you'll know the answer someday."


Doesn't the sentence translate to "I get the feeling (someone) wants to go".Or should  たがっている気がしてならない be used here?

In that case, たがっている気がしてならない should be used, like:

「彼女が遊園地に行きたがっている気がしてならない。」
"I get the feeling she wants to go to the amusement park."

Then it makes sense 👍

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