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姉は学校を卒業後は海外留学したいそうです。

ane ha gakkou wo sotsugyougo ha kaigairyuugaku shitai sou desu.

My sister says that she wants to study abroad after graduating from school.

I found this sentence on http://www.mahou.org

If it is correct, would I also be able to write the same sentence (expressing the same meaning) in the following manner? I am specifically wondering about expressing desire of a third party subject using したい as opposed to したがっています. (also, is the translation's use of "says" problematic?)

姉は学校を卒業後は海外留学したがっているそうです。

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  • Minor observation: If we use romaji wouldn't: "Ane wa gakkou wo sotsugyou-go wa kaigai-ryuugaku shitai sou desu" be easier to read? (I don't want to edit the question directly in case yadokari has a strong preference.)
    – Tim
    Aug 28, 2012 at 1:18
  • @tim, feel free to edit, it's not my romaji
    – yadokari
    Aug 28, 2012 at 1:19
  • What about this using wo attached to another noun? That sounds very odd to me.. Wouldn't it be better to say 学校を卒業した後に or 学校を卒業したら?
    – Jacob Wolfe
    Sep 10, 2016 at 8:55

2 Answers 2

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The two sentences mean different things.

～したがる means that the subject expresses the desire to do the mentioned action. (The means of expression does not have to be explicit; for example, if it is apparent that your sister wants to study abroad from her behavior, you can say 姉は海外留学したがっている even if she does not say so explicitly.)

If you say

姉は海外留学したいそうです。 I heard that my sister wants to study abroad.

it means that you heard (probably from your sister herself) that your sister wants to study abroad.

If you say

姉は海外留学したがっているそうです。 I heard that my sister expressed her desire to study abroad.

it cannot be your sister from whom you heard it, because if so, it should be 姉は海外留学したいそうです instead of 姉は海外留学したがっているそうです.

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  • thank you that is what I wanted to know. Would it be grammatically incorrect to say "姉は海外留学したいです。" (without the そう) ?
    – yadokari
    Aug 27, 2012 at 21:42
  • @yadokari: It is incorrect, and I am sure that there are several questions on this website which discuss why. (I am not sure if it is “grammatically incorrect” or “something-else-cally incorrect,” though. :))
    – Tsuyoshi Ito
    Aug 27, 2012 at 21:43
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    @yadokari: Found several related questions: “When to use 欲しがる instead of 欲しい” by Mark Hosang and “Is ～がる suffix limited to specific adjectives only?” by Lukman.
    – Tsuyoshi Ito
    Aug 27, 2012 at 21:46
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    @TsuyoshiIto, would you say that's also the case for 留学したい「ん」です? Although I agree that the rule generally applies, I can think of situations (e.g. the third person is 身内 and you want to make a strong statement) where 姉は海外留学したいんです doesn't sound that unnatural to me.
    – dainichi
    Aug 28, 2012 at 1:17
  • @dainichi: That is a good point. I agree that 姉は海外留学したいんです sometimes makes sense. It is a strong assertion because if you say it in that way, you are speaking in your sister's shoes. I am not sure about the relation between this and existence of ん, but your example is indeed much more natural with ん than without ん because んです makes a strong assertion, which is consistent with the fact that you are making a claim as if you are your sister.
    – Tsuyoshi Ito
    Aug 28, 2012 at 12:31
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If you heard it from someone other than your sister, そうです is appropriate. If you heard it from your sister directly, you would say:

姉は学校を卒業後は海外留学したがっているそうです。

or alternatively,

姉は学校を卒業後は海外留学したいと言っています。

If it's just a guess or a perception, you would say:

姉は学校を卒業後は海外留学したいと思います。(I think my sister wants to study abroad).
姉は学校を卒業後は海外留学したそうです。(It seems my sister wants to study abroad).

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  • thank you. How would you translate the original sentence?
    – yadokari
    Aug 27, 2012 at 19:44
  • The one you posted in your question? That would be closer to "I heard that my sister wants to study abroad".
    – rurouniwallace
    Aug 27, 2012 at 19:45

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