0

Can たい be used to express desire for a 2nd person to do something. For example:

I want you to come back

戻りたい

I realise the proper way to do this is to use あなたに戻って欲しい, but was just wondering if たい is also proper.

6
  • If you say あなたに戻りたい it just sounds like I want to go back to you, where the に becomes "to".
    – user36788
    Mar 8, 2020 at 11:48
  • 1
    Related japanese.stackexchange.com/q/41564/1628
    – Earthliŋ
    Mar 8, 2020 at 12:02
  • @Ben edited again
    – donburi
    Mar 8, 2020 at 14:06
  • @Earthliŋ Doesn't really answer the question of whether it can be used for second person
    – donburi
    Mar 8, 2020 at 14:06
  • @donburi In my answer to the linked question you can find the answer (〜たい should be used for first person, and second person is not the same as first person). In any case, I'm confused by this question, since you seem to know how to say it with 戻ってほしい, but you're wondering if you can use 戻りたい instead...?
    – Earthliŋ
    Mar 8, 2020 at 17:02

2 Answers 2

4

If you want to express desire for a 2nd person to do something, you can use these phrase, Aに~してほしい or Aに~してもらいたい. So you can say あなたに戻ってきてもらいたい or あなたに戻ってきてほしい.

6
  • Thanks. Don't want to be a party pooper but I already knew that. The question that I am interested in is, can verb + たい, ie: 戻りたい be used for a 2nd person. In other words,戻りたい translates to "I want you to come back"
    – donburi
    Mar 8, 2020 at 21:18
  • 1
    Do you ask that 私は、あなたに戻りたい can be translated as "I want you to come back"? No, it can't be and doesn't make sense. Mar 8, 2020 at 21:29
  • I know 戻りたい can mean "I want to come back", but I am asking if 戻りたい can also mean "I want you to come back"
    – donburi
    Mar 9, 2020 at 5:55
  • 1
    No, it can't. 戻りたい means "I want to come back". Mar 9, 2020 at 6:38
  • 1
    もっとカジュアルに言いたいのなら、"戻ってきて"だけでも通じるよ。 Mar 9, 2020 at 8:54
2

Can たい be used to express desire for a 2nd person to do something.

No. The 〜たい form to express a desire or wish can only be used to express your own feelings and applies only to the 1st person ("I"). In particular, if you say

戻りたい

it will always be interpreted as you yourself wanting to return / go back.

If you want to talk about someone else (2nd person "you" or 3rd person "he/she/it") you have to use other forms of expression, such as 〜て欲しい (if you want someone else to do something) or 〜たがる (to describe what someone else seems to want/desire).

For more information see

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .