手伝いたい
tetsudaitai
In Japanese, 'I want to help' is expressed as 手伝いたい (tetsudaitai).
This phrase is used to express a desire to assist someone with a task or piece of work.
How does it change in a sentence?
To make the plain form 手伝いたい polite, you can add です to the end to create 手伝いたいです.
How do you pronounce it?
tetsudaitai
Did you know?
- Japanese has a distinct difference between 手伝う, which is helping someone with a task they are already doing, and 助ける, which is rescuing someone from a crisis or danger.
- The grammatical ending たい used in 手伝いたい is strictly for the first person. You cannot use it to say 'He wants to help' without adding an extra explanatory verb, as Japanese avoids attributing internal feelings to others directly.
- In Japanese, expressing a strong personal desire like 手伝いたい can sometimes sound slightly selfish or intrusive if offered too directly to a superior. It is often more culturally appropriate to ask 手伝いましょうか or 'Shall I help?' to leave the decision to the other person.
Examples in context
- 友達の引っ越し、手伝うよ。Tomodachi no hikkoshi, tetsudau yo.
- バーベキューパーティーの準備、助けるよ。Baabekyuu paatii no junbi, tasukeru yo.
- 少しでも手伝いたい。Sukoshi demo tetsudaitai.I want to help, even just a little.
- 荷物運びを手伝いたいのですが。Nimotsu hakobi o tetsudaitai no desu ga.I would like to help carry the luggage.
- 料理を少し手伝いたい。Ryori o sukoshi tetsudaitai.I want to help with the cooking a bit.
Example conversation
Ren is cleaning the living room alone.
- 美咲 Misaki蓮、手伝いたいんだけどいい？Ren, tetsudaitai ndakedo ii?Ren, I want to help, is that okay?
- 蓮 Renいいよ。ありがとう、美咲。Ii yo. Arigatō, Misaki.Sure. Thanks, Misaki.
- 美咲 Misakiどこをすればいい？Doko o sureba ii?Where should I do?
- 蓮 Renあそこの棚をお願い。Asoko no tana o onegai.Please do that shelf over there.
