# nomitai, nomitagatte



## MrsSpooky

I'm using Pimsleur method to learn Japanese and am close to finishing the first set of CDs.

One thing that I'm having a hard time with is the verb to drink.

They have us saying things like:

I would like to drink 
he/she would like to drink 
I am going to drink
he/she is going to drink

Then there are the forms for 'want to drink.'  And I'm getting confused on the usage of 'ga' and 'wo' with this verb.

I may be starting to get it but it trips me up every time and they've been reviewing it in almost every lesson.  Can someone help?  Thanks in advance!


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## MrsSpooky

I forgot nomimas.  

If someone could help me figure out which is which (which to use when referring to one's self or to others, that would be most appreciated).


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## Aoyama

Irasshai to the Forum Spooky.


> I forgot nomimas


you mean "nomimas*u*", you already know that in Japanese, every syllable must end with a vowel, except when it ends with -n.
The way you put your question is not very clear, but I'll try to give you some elements to ponder about :
- nomu = to drink
- nomimasu = polite conjugated form of nomu = I (or other subject) drink
- nonde imasu = I am drinking
- nomitai = I want to drink
- nomitagateru = I feel like drinking
- nomeru = drinkable (to be able to be drunk) /no*me*masu


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## MrsSpooky

Hi, thanks much!  Yes, this answers my question.  Sorry I wasn't clear 

The CD gives you something to say "My wife would like some sake" and we have to say out loud the sentence in japanese.  I was having a terrible time between nomitai and nomitagateru.  

The way it was sounding on the CD, a different form would be used if someone else wanted to drink than if it was something I wanted to drink and I wasn't sure if that was the case or if I'm not listening closely enough.

I appreciate your help!


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## kenjoluma

---tai (want to --- *usually* 1st person or adjective form)
---tagaru (hearsay - someone seems like, I heard someone wants to- *usually* 2nd and 3rd person)

and 'gateiru' is actually '-tagaru +tteiru(-ing)'


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## Poposhka

Haha I remember this from the Pims CD. Be aware that they will NEVER use that form in the CD series again. (iirc). But it's etched into my brain.


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## MrsSpooky

Poposhka said:


> Haha I remember this from the Pims CD. Be aware that they will NEVER use that form in the CD series again. (iirc). But it's etched into my brain.



HA!  it figures. 

I found a web site where someone went and typed in transcripts of Pims I, 1 through 21.  It's helped a LOT!!  

They do go rather quickly and some of the words that they don't walk you through syllable by syllable get past me.

Turns out, someone in one of the comments said nomitagate(i)ru n design is used when saying someone else would like to drink.  They said:


_"nomitai desu" = "I want to drink." It's a pretty blunt way of expressing your desire to drink.

"nomitai n desu ga" = "I would like to drink." It's a more polite way to say it.

"nomitagatte iru n desu ga" = "He/she would like to drink." This is the 3rd person form of the previous statement._

This seems correct, and I guess this is what I was looking for when I originally posted the question.

Pardon the spelling, we haven't gotten to that yet.


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## Juuuergen

MrsSpooky:

Your last post is basically what I have learned, however, "ndesu" is basically "because." So "nomitagatte irundesu" would mean "because he/she is thirsty." According to my college Japanese textbook, "nomitagatte iru" would be more proper; "he/she seems thirsty."

According to the textbook (_Yookoso! An Invitation to Contemporary Japanese_):

In Japanese, different grammatical constructions are needed when describing your own emotional state as opposed to that of others. You know your own emotional state, but you can only guess about that of other people from their appearance, behavior, or statements. To describe someone else's emotional state, you can attach "garu" to the root of an adjective to mean "has the appearance of" or "appears to be." Thus, when you are lonely, you say "Sabishii desu." But when someone else is lonely, you say "Sabishigatte imasu." (He is lonely, or he appears to be lonely". However, it is permissible to ask other people directly about their emotional states: e.g. "Sabishiku arimasen ka?" (Aren't you lonely?)


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## MrsSpooky

Thank you VERY much!

That makes perfect sense, and will help for future lessons and verbs.  I'm still a rank beginning and sometimes it is hard to get the exact sounds because they are using native speakers talking like what you would hear if you were to actually be in Japan.  That's a good thing, but when trying to determine exactly what is being said, it's difficult without having it written out.

I appreciate the help!


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## ccdesan

Forgive the thread necromancy here, but I just wanted to say a huge thanks to those who cleared up the strange and unique usage of "nomitagatte iru" in the Pimsleur course. Armed with that, I was able to search intelligently for other uses of this particular construct. Domo arigatō gozaimasu!


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