I Want You To Do That
“Action conquers fear.” – Peter N. Zarlenga
Let’s remember all the way back to when you learned about wanting / not wanting something (ほしい and ほしくない). You learned how to say things like:
aねこ は ほしくない
As for a cat, I don’t want one
a犬 が ほしい です！
I want a dog!
Remember when things were simple like that? I don’t. Anyways, now you’re going to learn how to want an action (i.e. learn how to want to do something), using te-form. Check out these sentences.
aねこ を たべて ほしい です。
I want you to eat a cat.
aえいが を 見て ほしい です。
I want you to watch a movie.
Now, something funny is happening here. Notice how you want someone else to do something? Not yourself? This version of ほしい only works for wanting someone else to do something. It makes sense, too. It’s a combination of te-form (which is like telling someone to do something) and ほしい, which is your want. So, by that logic, you’re telling someone to do something you want them to do.
aあそこ に 行ってほしい。
I want you to go over there.
aちょっと はなして ほしい です。
I want you to talk a bit.
a私 の オフィス に 来て ほしい です。
I want you to come to my office.
The same works for negative te-form.
a肉 を たべないで ほしい です。
I want you to not eat meat.
aボビーさん と あそばないで ほしい。
I want you to not play with Bobby.
So the question is, what kinds of things do you want someone to do? What do you not want them to do? Let’s explore that a little bit.