tabetai

Tabetai is a Japanese expression meaning "want to eat." It is not a standalone verb but a form attached to the stem of a verb to express desire. The common pattern is to take the verb 食べる (taberu, to eat) and add たい to its stem, producing 食べたい (tabetai), meaning "want to eat." This construction behaves like an i-adjective in conjugation.

Conjugation and forms: The tai form attaches to the verb stem, so 食べたい changes with politeness and tense. Plain forms include 食べたい (want to eat) and 食べたくない (don’t want to eat). Past desire appears as 食べたかった (wanted to eat). Polite forms add です or ですか, as in 食べたいです and 食べたいですか. There are also more formal negatives, such as 食べたくありません, and past polite forms like 食べたかったです.

Usage and nuance: Tabetai expresses a current or future desire rather than a plan or obligation. It can specify an object, for example, 寿司を食べたい (I want to eat sushi). It is commonly used in everyday conversation and in language learning materials. To express someone else’s desire, one can say 彼は食べたいです or 他の人が食べたいと思っている.

Related forms: The negative たくない and the past 食べたかった are widely used with other verbs in the same pattern (e.g., 見たい, 行きたい). For a more hedged or speculative intent, speakers may use 食べたいと思う (I think I want to eat).

Overall, tabetai is a basic, widely used way to express personal appetite or preference in Japanese.