がる - Grammar Discussion

to feel・to think, to act as if, to want・to desire

Structure

  • いAdj[] + がる
  • なAdj + がる
  • [Third Person]

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Why is た ommited in the example sentence " 今いまNintendoスイッチを持もっている人ひとは皆みんなゼルダの伝説でんせつブレスオブザワイルドを ほしがっている だろう"?

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I’m confused why in the example in the screenshot here it is 欲しがる人 rather than 欲しがった人 as I expected to have to use た form as the thing is modifying the noun 人 as in the grammar point https://bunpro.jp/grammar_points/357

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Hey :grin:

Sorry for the late answer :bowing_man:

It comes from ほしい (to want an object) so the form is ほしがる
It would be したがる if someone wanted to do something (する + たい + がる)。

今Nintendoスイッチを持っている人は皆ゼルダの伝説ブレスオブザワイルドをほしがっているだろう。They want the game, the object.

今Nintendoスイッチを持っている人は皆ゼルダの伝説ブレスオブザワイルドを(やりたがっている - やる is used more often for playing games)したがっているだろう。They want to play the game (want to do an action)

Is it a bit more clear now?

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Thank you mrnoone, it is clearer now.

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Hey :grin:

They are both natural. Depends what do you want to say.

君の車をほしがる人はいないと思う。 “I think there will be/is no one who wants to have your car.”
君の車をほしがっている人はいないと思う。 “I think there’s no one who wants your car (now).”
君の車をほしがった(ほしがっていた)人はいないと思う。“I think there is no one who would have wanted your car”
君の車をほしがった(ほしがっていた)人はいないと思う。
“I think there was no one who wanted your car”

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Why is this answer not こわがた? I mean, I, too am terrified of aliens, but am more terrified of not understanding Japanese grammar! :scream:

Thank you in advance!

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I’m wondering if I answer it myself. Let me try this. If you read the sentence as When I was a child was feeling terrified of aliens, then it would be the past tense of the enduring state. (And, I forgot がるis a not る verb.)
怖がる --> こわがっている --> こわがっていた

Am I correct? If so, I can go back to just working about aliens. :grinning::sunglasses:

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@nadrad314

Thats right :heart_eyes:

Thanks!:alien:

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I don’t get this grammar point at all :frowning:

Any tips?

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Hey and sorry for the late answer :bowing_man:

I will try to explain it, if you have additional questions, feel free to ask! :slight_smile:

TL:DR
There are some adjectives that are limited only to the first person (speaker). If we want to use them when speaking about others we have to make them more objective by adding expressions of conjecture like がる、みたい、よう、らしい or quoting with と言う and the like. Or it will sound rude (or cause confusion).

Long version:
Basically, in Japanese, there are adjectives we call personal. Those personal adjectives can be only used when the speaker (writer) speaks about himself. And cannot be used when talking about someone else, or it would be considered rude. Cultural thing.

So:
子猫がほしい ← I want a kitten. Is OK.
トムさんは子猫がほしい ← Tom wants a kitten. Not good. The personal pronoun is used when speaking about a 3rd person (Tom). This is considered rude.

And in this situation, がる is a lifesaver, since it basically means “to think that… to act in a certain way…” it makes adjective it is attached to much less direct (basically softens it by expressing uncertainty, which is considered polite and proper) and allows us to use those personal adjectives when speaking about other people. It makes them more objective.

It applies to all expressions of conjecture, since all of them express variying degree of uncertainity (みたい、らしい、よう、etc). Quoting can be also used.

So:
トムさんは子猫をほしがっている。OK (not rude)
トムさんは子猫をほしいみたい。 OK (not rude)
トムさんは子猫をほしいと言う。 OK (not rude)

I hope it helps,
Cheers :+1:

(There are some additional nuances, for example if Tom is anime character and talks in 3rd person then トムは子猫が欲しい sounds OK, etc.)

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Thanks! It makes sense. I also started to get the feel of it (and the difference in meaning with other grammar points) with the example sentences

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Where it says X 行きたがります at the side, does that mean that the contruction isn’t allowed or it just doesn’t work with the verb 行く? And…just because I’m curious, how would you say someone wanted to go? Would it be the usual たい construction?

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Hey :bowing_man:

It normally works with 行く、 you can use all: 行きたがる・行きたがります・行きたい・行きたいです, etc without any problems, like with all other verbs.

I have replaced it with information about たがる being simply an instance of たい + がる.

Sorry for the inconvenience,
Cheers!

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Ah, I thought the X meant you couldn’t do it - thanks for clarifying :slightly_smiling_face:

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Could you add the negative construction? My first time I guessed, thinking がる was ichidan, but it turned out to be godan, so I got it wrong - if something like “+ がらない(で)” was included I think it might be useful.

On the example " いやがっているから、ちょっとはなれてあげてね", I put がって, with no いる, as I’ve only seen -てから before. I’m just wondering how to know when not to use -てから but to include the いる part too also - thanks!

いやがってから corresponds to the てから grammar point.
いやがっているから corresponds to the ている and から grammar points.

The てから grammar point only applies when から directly follows て.

is there ever a situation where いい can be used with がる?
if yes, how should they be formed? (for example, よがる?)

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