Expressing hope for other people to do/be/have something

Question

I'm wondering if there is a specific construction, or certain constructions, to express the hope, wish, or desire that other people do/be/have etc something; i.e. the subjunctive (even though I haven't seen it referred to as that in Japanese grammar).

I'm familiar with 「たがる」for talking about other people's wants from the speaker's perspective, but as yet I've not encountered anything regarding what the speaker wants for others to do/be/have; etc, either selfishly (see example #1, below) or altruistically (examples #2 and #3). I'm guessing there are various ways to express it, depending on various factors such as degree of hypothesis, level of politeness or informality; selfish vs altruistic desire; etc.

For example:

1. "I hope that this novelist continues to write books forever."
2. "I'd love for my sister and her boyfriend to get married soon."
3. "I think it would be fantastic if the lobbyists got what they wanted."

My (woefully inept) attempts would be:

1. この小説家{しょうせつか}がずっと本{ほん}を書{か}けばいいんですよ。
2. 私は姉{あね}と彼{かれ}がすぐに結婚{けっこん}するのが大好{だいす}きです。
3. ロビイストが望{のぞ}むものを手{て}に入{い}れば、それは素晴{すば}らしいことと思{おも}います。

Much appreciated!

Answer 1

The simplest expression is person + に(は) + te-form + ほしい, which roughly corresponds to "I want someone to do something". When politeness or keigo is not important, this is the default choice.

• この小説家にはずっと本を書いていてほしい。
• 姉に彼氏と早く結婚してほしい。
• あのロビイストには望むものを手に入れてほしい。

As usual, person + に(は) can be dropped if it can be inferred from the context:

• 早く結婚してほしい。 (compare: 早く結婚したい。 = "I want to marry soon")

Politer ways are ～てくれると嬉しい (≒I'd be glad if ...), ～てくれたら嬉しい, ～ていただけると助かります, ～れば素晴らしい, etc., some of which can be used to ask someone a favor.

• この小説家がずっと本を書いていてくれると嬉しい。

Note that ～が(大)好きだ does not work as you expect. It's an adjective that describes someone's general taste or preference, not a one-time intention or hope.

Answer 2

～といい works well for what you are describing.

It literally means "it would be good if ..." so in that sense you are expressing a hope or wish that a certain circumstance comes to pass. That can relate to other people or even yourself, and so can be used to express the meanings in your examples.

Use the plain form with といい.

For example, （あなたが）試験に合格するといい。 I hope that you pass the test.

I'll leave it to the native speakers to translate your examples best. But I might as well attempt it. I welcome corrections but it might be something like this:

(1)この小説家がずっと作品をつくるといい。
(2)姉が近いうちに彼氏と結婚するといい。
(3)ロビイストの思いどおりにいくといい。