〜がる / たがる

JLPT N4 Japanese self-study　·　~10 min　·　Shows signs of feeling ~ / seems to want to ~

'She acts cold.' 'He wants to go abroad (you can tell).' In Japanese, you can't directly describe others' feelings — you use がる/たがる to say they SHOW SIGNS of feeling/wanting.

What you'll learn

• い-adj + がる: shows signs of feeling ~ (e.g., 寒がる = acts cold)
• verb + たがる: shows signs of wanting to do ~ (3rd person)
• 〜がり: a person prone to ~ (e.g., 怖がり = scaredy-cat)

How to study “〜がる / たがる”

“〜がる / たがる” (Shows signs of feeling ~ / seems to want to ~) is a JLPT N4 chapter of our free Japanese self-study course, about 10 min. You learn by doing — flashcard drills and fill-in-the-blank quizzes graded on the spot — completely free, with no sign-up and no ad wall. Once it clicks, read the matching in-depth explainer over in Grammar.