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Same as English? 2008/8/11 15:04
Konnichiwa, minna-san. I'm trying my best to learn japanese all by myself while i learn spanish at school but i've been having some trouble with some verbs. Are verbs such as want, like, hate and ect also verbs in japanese? If so, can you please use some examples and show me how you would express those words? Arigatou gozaimasu.
by Curious American  

Japanese 2008/8/11 16:16
Curiuos,

Are verbs such as want, like, hate and ect also verbs in japanese?

No, quite often they are not.

If so, can you please use some examples and show me how you would express those words?

If you are serious about learning, I recommend getting a proper textbook or reading a learners' guide on the web.
by Dave in Saitama rate this post as useful

want, like, and hate in Japanese 2008/8/12 00:22
I'm a native Japanese and quite interested in your grammatical question. First, please understand that grammar classifies not the meaning but the form of a word.
WANT is usually translated into HOSHI-I, an i-type adjective; LIKE,to SUKI-NA/DA, a na-type adjective; and HATE, to KIRAI-NA/DA, also a na-type adjective.
Not that we do not have true verbs indicating similar meanings, such as HOSSURU, KONOMU, and KIRAU, but they are not often used in conversation. I suppose one of the reasons for this is that such verbs should be used in the progressive form like HOSSITEIRU, which is rather awkward when there is an alternative adjective.
by . rate this post as useful

... 2008/8/12 09:49
Just like you see completely different sentence structures from English in Spanish, you will encounter (if not more) vastly different expressions in
Japanese too. While I agree with Dave in Saitama that you should get some structured textbooks to learn, I will just list a few examples to give you a taste of it :)

I want [something]
- Watashi wa [tenisu raketto] ga hoshii desu. (I want a tennis racket.)
"hoshii" is an adjective, so it is literally "I am desiring a tennis racket."

I want [to do something]
- Watashi wa tenisu wo shitai desu. (I want to play tennis.)
The verb "to play tennis" is "tenisu wo shimasu." You take the stem of the verb "shi(masu)" and add "...tai desu" (again, adjective-like expression) to express that you want to do something.

I like [something]
- Watashi wa [pasuta] ga suki desu. (I like pasta.)
I hate [something]
- Watashi wa [tomato] ga kirai desu. (I dislike tomatoes.)
"suki" and "kirai" are adjectives (gramatically different classification from "hoshii" and "...tai" expressions).
by AK (Japanese) rate this post as useful

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