I'm back from my (what felt like forever) hiatus. My mom is now out of the hospital, and I've just completed a massive project at work, so I've now got some more free time to get back to grammar studies.
The i-adjective ほしい is used to express desire, often towards objects. This is in contrast to the たい verb conjugation that expresses the desire to perform an action. It's usually used with the particle が, although the particle は can also be used, often when using the negative form of the word.
誕生日に新しい自転車がほしい。
I want a new bicycle for my birthday.
今お茶がほしくないよ。
I don't want tea right now.
モールに行った時に、
プレッツェルがほしかった。
When we went to the mall, I wanted a pretzel.
ほしい is similar to たい in that both of them are private predicates. This means that they cannot be used to directly say what another person wants. ほしい has a counterpart verb, ほしがる, which can be used to make an observation about what another person may want.
リーさんは彼女をほしがっているよ。
(I think that) Lee-san wants a girlfriend.
カナト君はケーキをほしがってるね。
Kanato wants cake (it seems to me).
Note that when the verb form is used, the particle を is used with it, rather than は or が.
It's also good to note a few other words that are private predicates: うれしい (happy), かなしい (sad), and いたい (painful).
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