水が欲しい
mizu ga hoshii
The English phrase "I want water" is expressed in Japanese as 水が欲しい (mizu ga hoshii).
This phrase is used to express a desire for a physical object and is generally used for the speaker's own desires. Note that while 水が欲しい expresses a desire for the object 'water' itself, 水を飲みたい specifically expresses the desire to 'drink' water.
What does it mean word for word?
In this phrase, hoshii means "want".
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
The phrase 水が欲しい is an informal way to say "I want water". To make the phrase polite and suitable for use with strangers or in formal settings, you can add desu to the end to form 水が欲しいです. For a polite way of asking for water, you can use O-mizu o onegai shimasu.
How does it change in a sentence?
The particle ga marks the object of desire in this sentence structure. It is common to add the honorific o before mizu to show respect.
How do you pronounce it?
mizu ga hoshii
Did you know?
- In a restaurant, if you say 水が欲しい, you might sound like a spoiled child or a demanding person. To get service, it is much more natural to use a request form like お水をください instead of stating a desire.
- While mizu means 'water', adding the honorific o to create o-mizu is so common that many Japanese speakers use it even when speaking to themselves or their own pets.
- The word hoshii is exclusively used for wanting an object. If you want a person to do something for you, you cannot use this word and must use a different grammatical structure.
Examples in context
- 水が欲しいです。mizu ga hoshii desu.I want water.
- 喉が渇いたから、水が欲しい。nodo ga kawaita kara, mizu ga hoshii.I'm thirsty, so I want water.
Example conversation
Misaki and Ren are hiking on a sunny day.
- 美咲 Misaki蓮くん、水が欲しいな。Ren-kun, mizu ga hoshii na.Ren, I want some water.
- 蓮 Ren僕のボトルを使う？Boku no botoru o tsukau?Do you want to use my bottle?
- 美咲 Misaki本当？ありがとう！Honto? Arigato!Really? Thank you!
- 蓮 Renいいよ。はい、どうぞ。Ii yo. Hai, douzo.No problem. Here you go.
