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I am currently learning Japanese, I am still a beginner and right now I am trying to say something like "I want to learn driving a car" or "I want to learn how to drive a car". I was trying to use 車を運転する combined with 習いたい but I don't know how to connect these two words so it makes sense.

Thanks in advance!

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  • *i meant "words" not "sentences " – Jessica Jun 7 '17 at 18:31
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    You can always edit your post to improve it or make corrections. It's not set in stone. – Em. Jun 7 '17 at 18:37
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    The most generic expression is 車の運転を覚えたい (verb: おぼえる). 習う means to learn something from a teacher. 学ぶ is closer to "to study" or "to learn a lesson". – user4092 Jun 7 '17 at 21:10
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    ^ I think you have 習うand 学ぶ mixed up はぁ・・user4092さんは日本語母語話者なんですけどね・・ 習う means to learn something from a teacher. 学ぶ is closer to "to study" or "to learn a lesson" 私もそう思いますけど・・ – Chocolate♦ Jun 7 '17 at 22:55
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    mi‌​sleadingでしょうか さあ、どうでしょう・・きっと「学」の漢字は、もともとそういう意味なんでしょうね・・学‌​ぶと習うのニュアンスが分かりません それなら、これなんか超おススメです！ →　japanese.stackexchange.com/a/18658/9831 – Chocolate♦ Jun 8 '17 at 0:32
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There are a number of ways to do this.

  1. 車の運転を習いたい. A suru-verb like 運転 can work as a noun if you dropped the する part. 運転 means driving all by itself. Literally, "I want to learn driving of a car."
  2. 車を運転する方法を習いたい. 方法 is a noun meaning "method/way", and 車を運転する is used as a (gapless) relative clause that modifies 方法. Literally, "I want to learn the way of driving a car."
  3. どうやって車を運転するか習いたい. Here どうやって is "how", and どうやって車を運転するか is an embedded question meaning "how I (can) drive a car". Literally, "I want to learn how I (can) drive a car."

The first one is the simplest and most natural way if you just want to say you want a driver's license. The other two are wordy and usually unnecessary (but they can help you to learn the Japanese grammar).

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  • is there a reason you said を習いたい as opposed to が習いたい? – A.Ellett Jun 7 '17 at 23:06
  • @A.Ellett Good question, according to this PDF, を～たい and が～たい are sometimes interchangeable, while younger people tend to prefer the former. But somehow I strongly feel 車の運転が習いたい is ungrammatical. ケーキが食べたい and テレビが見たい are okay, of course. Hmm...I don't know why. – naruto Jun 7 '17 at 23:21
  • now i'm hungry. – A.Ellett Jun 7 '17 at 23:22
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I think you can express that like this:

車を運転することが出来るようになりたい: "I want to be able to drive a car"

or you could say something like this:

車を運転することを学びたい: "I want to learn how to drive a car"

For making these expressions you need to learn how to make a verb or a sentence into a noun with こと or の. More information in Minna No Nihongo Shokyuu II Lesson 38 or the youtube video "Japanese verbs into nouns - Japanese in 5! #25" from the Japanese from zero channel

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