auxiliary N4 common casualpolitewritten
〜たがる — to show signs of wanting to ~
〜たがる ・ たがる
Builds on 連用形（ます形）
Meaning
- show signs of wanting to ~ / be eager to ~ — describes someone else's desire to do something, inferred from their behavior
Key sentence
弟は外に出たがっている。
My little brother wants to go outside (you can tell).
Formation
| Attaches to | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb (ます-stem, i.e. the 〜たい stem) | V(stem) + たがる | 行く → 行きたがる / 食べる → 食べたがる |
Examples
子供たちは何でも自分でやりたがる。
Kids want to do everything by themselves.
彼はその話をしたがらない。
He's reluctant to talk about it.
When you can't use it
- Like がる, it's for a third person's desire, not your own. For what you yourself want to do, use 〜たい (行きたい), not 行きたがる.
Easily confused with
〜たい 〜たい states your own desire to do something ('I want to ~'). When reporting someone else's desire you switch to 〜たがる, since you're describing observed behavior, not your own feeling. 〜がる がる turns adjectives of feeling into 'show signs of ~' (怖がる). たがる is the same idea applied to the verb-desire 〜たい — 'show signs of wanting to do ~.'
Notes
- Often appears as 〜たがっている for an ongoing observed wish, and 〜たがらない for visible reluctance.
See 〜たがる in real sentences
Jengo shows 〜たがる the way you actually meet it: inside real Japanese sentences, so it sticks instead of staying an abstract rule.
Study it in Jengo