tai-form" happens when you add the -tai ~たい auxiliary adjective to the ren'youkei 連用形 conjugation of a verb, causing it to change to the desiderative mood. In other words, -tai means "want to" in Japanese, and verb-tai means "want to verb."

(beware of tai 体, morpheme for "body," and tai 対, "versus." Those are also tai but not what this article is about.)

Manga: Boku no Hero Academia 僕のヒーローアカデミア

Conjugation

Since -tai is an auxiliary adjective, it's inflected the same way as
  • katsu 勝つ
    To win.
  • kachi-tai 勝ちたい
    Want to win. (base form.)
  • kachi-takatta 勝ちたかった
    Wanted to win. (past form.)
  • makeru 負ける
    To lose.
  • make-takunai 負けたくない
    Not want to lose. (negative form.)
  • make-takunakatta 負けたくなかった
    Not wanted to lose. (past negative form.)
  • nigeru 逃げる
    To run away. To escape.
  • nige-taku naru 逃げたくなる
    To become wanting to escape.
    [To start feeling like] wanting to escape.
  • nige-taku natta 逃げたくなった
    Became wanting to escape.
    [Felt like] wanting to escape.
  • nigetakute furueru 逃げたくて震える
    To tremble wanting to escape. (te-form.)
    Want to escape [so much that you] tremble.
  • nigetakute kekkon shitai 逃げたくて結婚したい
    Want to escape and want marry.
  • nigetakutemo nigerarenai 逃げたくても逃げられない
    Even if [you] want to escape [you] can't escape

Suffixing to Verbs

The -tai auxiliary is added after the ren'youkei 連用形 conjugation of verbs. See:
  • de aru である
    de aritai でありたい
    Want to be. (copula.)
    • donna ningen de aritai? どんな人間でありたい?
      What kind of human do [you] want to be?
  • iru いる
    itai いたい
    Want to be. (somewhere.)
    • soba ni itai そばにいたい
      Want to be nearby.
      [I] want to be [by your side].
  • suru する
    shitai したい
    Want to do.
    • nani ga shitai? なにがしたい?
      What do [you] want to do?
  • kuru 来る
    kitai 来たい
    Want to come.
    • asobi ni kitai? 遊びに来たい?
      Do [you] want to come play?
  • au 会う
    aitai 会いたい
    Want to meet.
  • kiku 聞く
    kikitai 聞きたい
    Want to hear.
    (often to ask something you want to hear.)
  • oyogu 泳ぐ
    oyogitai 泳ぎたい
    Want to swim.
  • korosu 殺す
    koroshitai 殺したい
    Want to kill.
  • yaku ni tatsu 役に立つ
    yaku ni tachitai 役に立ちたい
    Want to be useful.
  • shinu 死ぬ
    shinitai 死にたい
    Want to die.
  • asobu 遊ぶ
    asobitai 遊びたい
    Want to play.
  • nomu 飲む
    nomitai 飲みたい
    Want to drink.
  • kiru 切る (godan verb.)
    kiritai 切りたい
    Want to cut.
  • kiru 着る (ichidan verb.)
    kitai 着たい
    Want to wear.

Causative Passive Tai-Form

The -tai auxiliary can also be added to passive and causative conjugations of verbs. For example:
  • fumu 踏む
    To step on.
  • fumareru 踏まれる
    To be stepped on.
    (passive conjugation.)
  • fumaretai 踏まれたい
    Want to be stepped on.
  • yasumaseru 休ませる
    To force to rest. (probably not.)
    To let rest. (probably yes.)
    (causative conjugation.)
  • yasumasetai 休ませたい
    Want to let rest.
  • mitomeru 認める
    To acknowledge.
    To admit.
  • mitomesaseru 認めさせる
    To force to admit. (probably yes.)
    To let admit. (probably not.)
    (causative conjugation.)
  • mitomesasetai 認めさせたい
    Want to force [someone] to admit [something].
    Want to make [someone] admit [something].
  • bikkuri びっくり
    Feeling of surprise. (mimetic word.)
  • bikkuri suru びっくりする
    To feel surprised. (suru verb.)
  • bikkuri saseru びっくりさせる
    To make [someone] feel surprised.
    (causative conjugation.)
  • bikkuri saserareru びっくりさせられる
    To be made feel surprised.
    (causative passive conjugation.)
  • bikkuri saseraretai びっくりさせられたい
    Want to be made feel surprised.
    [I] want [you/him/her/someone] to surprise [me].
    (causative passive tai-form conjugation.)

Chart

For reference, a tai-form conjugation chart.

-Tee ~てぇ

Sometimes -tai ~たい is pronounced as -tee ~てぇ instead. This is a colloquialism, a contraction in speech, so it's not formal Japanese. Nevertheless, it works the same way as the normal -tai.
  • geemu yaritai ゲームやりたい
    geemu yaritee ゲームやりてぇ
    [I] want to play [video-]games.

This -tee ~てぇ is not to be confused with the casual quoting particle tte って.

-Tee ~てー

Sometimes -tee ~てぇ is spelled -tee ~てー instead, with the

Manga:

Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Part 5

, Jojo no Kimyou na Bouken Ougon no Kaze ジョジョの奇妙な冒険 黄金の風

  • ichigo keeki ga
    kuitee-n-da yo'
    ore wa'!

    イチゴケーキが 食いてーんだよッ オレはッ!
    I want to eat a strawberry cake!

More Examples

やりたいこと

Manga:

Aho Girl

/ Aho Gaaru アホガール

  • Context: Yoshiko よしこ has been asked what she wants to do.
  • yaritai koto...
    やりたいこと…
    A thing [I] want to do...
  • :thinking:
  • hito no ue ni tachitai
    人の上に立ちたい
    [I] want to stand above people.
    (as in, looking down upon them, like a king, etc.)
  • sore wa......それは……
    That's......

しにたい

Manga: Demi-chan wa Kataritai 亜人ちゃんは語りたい

  • Context: Sakie 佐藤早 attempts to look cute.
  • ja... ja~~~n~
    じゃ…じゃ~~んー
    Ta... tada!
  • do... dou desu ka ne~~?
    ど…どうですかね~~?
    H... how [do I look]?
  • shinitai しにたい
    [I] want to die.
  • Bonus: manga title
    • ajin (demi)-chan wa kataritai
      亜人(デミ)ちゃんは語りたい
      Demi's want to talk.
      (*demi is gikun for ajin 亜人, "demi-human.")
    • kataru 語る
      To talk. (about something, in this case, about themselves, probably.)

喜ぶ顔が見たい

Manga: Uchouten Kazoku 有頂天家族

  • yorokobu kao ga
    mitai kara da!

    喜ぶ顔が 見たいからだ!
    Because want to see rejoicing face. (literally.)
    Because [I] want to see [her smiling].

触りたい…モテたい…


Manga: Boku no Hero Academia 僕のヒーローアカデミア

  • Context: Mineta 峰田 being Mineta.
  • haa... はぁ…
    Hah...
  • nyotai
    sawaritai

    女体 触りたい
    [I] want to touch a woman's body.
    • nyotai 女体
      Female body.
      (this ends with the morpheme for "body," tai 体, not the desiderative auxiliary adjective -tai this article is about!)
    • sawaru 触る
      To touch.
  • motetai モテたい
    [I] want to be popular with girls.
  • chokkyuu da ne
    直球だね
    [Direct, aren't you]?
    • chokkyuu 直球
      Straight ball. (baseball term.)
      Direct. (when used as a metaphor.

Further Reading

In Japanese, the "" happens when you add the~たい auxiliary adjective to the連用形 conjugation of a verb, causing it to change to the desiderative mood. In other words,means "want to" in Japanese, and verb-means "want to verb."(beware of homonyms 体, morpheme for "body," and対, "versus." Those are alsobut not what this article is about.)Sinceis an auxiliary adjective, it's inflected the same way as i-adjectives in Japanese.Theauxiliary is added after the連用形 conjugation of verbs. See:Theauxiliary can also be added to passive and causative conjugations of verbs. For example:For reference, a-form conjugation chart.Sometimes~たい is pronounced as~てぇ instead. This is a colloquialism, a contraction in speech, so it's not formal Japanese. Nevertheless, it works the same way as the normalThis~てぇ is not to be confused with the casual quoting particleって.Sometimes~てぇ is spelled~てー instead, with the prolonged sound mark ー . It's the same thing, only spelled differently.

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