How to Say ‘What do you want?’ in Japanese
何がほしいの？
nani ga hoshii n
[nahn ga hoh-SHEE noh]
💬 Usage Tip: ほしい means wanting a thing, and it takes が. To say you want to do something, use たい instead: 何が見たいの？ "What do you want to watch?".
Phrase Breakdown
何
nani
[nahn]
what
Question word "what." In polite questions, often appears as 何ですか (what is it?).
趣味は何ですか。
What is your hobby?
が
ga
[ga]
subject marker
A particle marking the subject of the sentence.
興味がある分野を教えてください。
Please tell me the field you are interested in.
ほしい
hoshii
[hoh-SHEE]
want; would like (something)
い-adjective meaning “to want (a thing).” Pattern: Nがほしい = “I want N.” (Not used for actions; for actions use 〜たい).
新しい靴がほしい。
I want new shoes.
の
n
[noh]
questioning explanatory tone
Adds an explanatory or asking tone, often softening the question.
どうしたの？
What happened?
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