How to tell them apart
The core contrast is whose desire is being expressed. たい describes the speaker's own desire to perform an action (食べたい = I want to eat), while てほしい expresses wanting someone else to do something for the speaker (教えてほしい = I want you to teach me). Swapping them is unnatural because たい cannot target another person's action, and てほしい cannot describe your own action.
- 欲しい・ほしい Use てほしい when you want someone else to do something for you.
- たい Use たい when you yourself want to do something.
| Grammar point | Meaning | JLPT level |
|---|---|---|
| 欲しい・ほしい shii hoshii | Want someone to do something | N4 |
| たい tai | to want to do something | N5 |
欲しい・ほしい shii hoshii
Want someone to do something
てほしい expresses the speaker's wish for someone else to do a particular action. It follows the te-form of a verb, as in 来てほしい or 食べてほしい, and the person expected to act is marked with に when stated, while ほしい itself conjugates like an i-adjective. It sounds direct, so it is avoided toward superiors, and an unstated actor must be recovered from context rather than assumed.
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今日中に答えを出してほしい。
I need your answer before the end of the day.
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何を買ってきてほしいの？
What do you want me to buy for you?
たい tai
to want to do something
The suffix たい expresses that the speaker wants to do the action of the verb. It attaches to the masu-stem, as in 食べたい or 行きたい, and conjugates like an i-adjective, so the negative is たくない and the past is たかった. You can use たいですか to ask the listener what they want to do, but statements about a third person usually require forms like たがる or たいと言っている.
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もっとやりたいことがある。
There's something else I want to do.
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先生になりたいんだ。
I'd like to be a teacher.
欲しい・ほしい and たい are JLPT N5–N4 grammar points that Japanese learners often mix up. This page compares them side by side on meanings, usage and example sentences, so you can tell them apart.