第100課: Want & Feeling II: ～がる

～がる is an extremely important suffix to overcome restrictions on person with phrases of emotional/physical state in Japanese. 

The Suffix ～がる

Adjectival phrases of emotion in Japanese cannot take third person subjects. Meaning, you cannot say things like.

1a. 鈴木さんは失恋して悲しいです。X
1a. Suzuki is heartbroken and sad. 

To overcome this grammatical restriction, the suffix ～がる is needed. 

1b. 鈴木さんは失恋して悲しがっています。
1b. Suzuki seems sad from being heartbroken. 

To conjugate, you simply attach ～がる to the stem of adjective regardless of class. Although we haven't gotten into what ～がる means, it is conveniently similar to "seem" in English. There are important differences that we'll get to later, so pay close attention!

 Sad 悲しい To seem sad 悲しがる
 Happy 嬉しい To seem happy 嬉しがる
 Embarrassing 恥ずかしい 
 To seem embarrassed 恥ずかしがる
 Scared 怖い To seem scared 怖がる
 New 新しい To be fond of new things 新しがる
 Rare 珍しい To seem rare 珍しがる
 Want to... ～たい To seem to want ～たがる

Conjugation Note: Be careful to note confuse ～たかった and ～たがった or ほしかった and ほしがった, especially when listening as it may be tricky. Note that ～がる behaves like any other verb phrase. So, if ～ている is needed, you'll need to use ～がっている.

Usage Note: It's also interesting to note that there are many adjectival phrases that ～がる is never used with for whatever reason. Some include 好きだ, 涼しい、軽い, きれいだ, etc. One restriction is that it can't be used with adjectives that show no emotional aspect of someone. There is also a subjective/objective aspect to adjectives that mustn't be ignored. When you "like" someone, that isn't a one time thing. But, いやだ could be temporary. This is one reason why you can say 嫌がる but not 好きがる. 

Although this suffix is one method of getting around third person restrictions on emotion phrase.

2. わたしがアイスクリームを食べたがると、母が食べさせてくれた。
    Whenever I wanted to eat ice cream, my mother would let me eat it. 

Phrase Note: An easy example of debunking the claim that ～がる is used only in third person is the pattern ～がり屋, which is used to describe people's natures. So, if you're hot-nature, you're an 暑がり屋.   

Using 食べたい would present an even worse grammatical error, which is using the conjunctive particle と (conditional form) with an adjective. So, what does ～がる mean? In most cases, it assesses the outward appearance or overall knowledge of something and relates the situation with the internal state of the person in question.

3. 遼太朗は顔には出さなかったが、心の中では悔しがっていた。 
    Ryotaro didn't let out, but he was regretting inside. 

It may also be the case that it is used to help show an internal state not shown outwardly, and this can be referring to an attitude being floated by the person in question or an attitude grasped by someone else. 

4. 遼太朗は表面上は悔しがったが、心の中では喜んでいた。
   Ryotaro was regretting outwardly, but he was rejoicing inside. 


5. 俺だけが面白がってたのか。
    Was I the only one who thought (that) was funny.

Note: This example shows how ～がる may be used to show a situation different than everything else. 

6. 弟はおもちゃを見ると、いつもほしがる。
    My little brother always wants a toy when he sees it. 

Note: This example shows how ～がる may be used to show someone being unreasonable.  

7. 人はみな他人の事情を知りたがる。 
    People want to know about everyone else's situation.

8.　生徒は新しい単語や言い回しを知りたがりますが、まずは基本を教えることが大事です。 
      Students want to know new words and expressions, but it's important to first teach the basics. 

9. 寒がりだから、カナダのらしはつらかった。
    Because I'm cold-nature, life in Canada was harsh.

10. あつがり屋だから、テキサスの暮らしはひどく辛かったよ！
      Because I'm hot-nature, life in Texas was extremely harsh!

11. べつにすまながらなくてもいい。
      You really don't have to feel sorry.  
From 海辺のカフカ by 村上春樹.

12. 子供が食事を食べたがらない。
      My child doesn't want to eat dinner. 

13. 彼女はアイスクリームをべたがっている。
      She wants to eat ice cream.

14. だれでもかみしんじたがります。
      Everyone wants to believe in God.

Grammar Note: ～たがる is used here because this is a general statement that may not be 100% true. ～がる gives a sense that someone/ feels or thinks that way.  

参照: https://www.lang.nagoya-u.ac.jp/nichigen/menu7_folder/symposium/pdf/8/06.pdf 

 Aside from ～がる

Of course, there are other things you can use. For instance, ～そうだ after the stems of adjectives means "seems....". You may use かもしれない (might) or だろう・でしょう (probably). Of course, there are many other things. At the individual phrase level, however, you will see that some things should just never be used for oneself and others that should only be used in reference to others.

15a. 私は怒っている。 △
15b. 私は腹が立っている。〇
        I'm angry.

16. 彼女は私のことを怒っていた。
      She was angry at me.

17. いや、（彼は）僕のことを怒ってるかもね。（Casual) 
     Well, (he) might actually be angry at me.

18. 山田さんはとても悲しそうですね。
      Yamada-san seems so sad, doesn't she? 

 Attribute: No Restrictions

Words that refer to someone's wants, feelings, or likes don't need another pattern when used as an attribute/general knowledge (総合的な知識). Thankfully there are situations where the first/second and third person grammatical distinctions aren't necessary. This also goes for with situations reflecting on the past where something is already known. 

19. 母が好きな食べ物は寿司です。
     The food my mother likes is sushi.

20. 若い人たちは海外に出たいのだ。
      Young people want to go overseas.

21. 弟はそのごろ韓国に行きたかったです。
      My younger brother wanted to go to Korea then.

22. 参加したい人は図書館に行ってください。
      Those that want to participate, please go to the library. 

23. 日本ではうらな運勢うんせいをみてもらいたい人が多いみたいです。
       In Japan, it seems that a lot of people want their fortunes read by fortune-tellers.

24. すぐやりたがる人はいやだ。
      People that want to immediately do it are a pain.


Grammar Note: This doesn't give you a 100% free pass to not use ～がる when the situation calls for it. 

Practice (2):

1. She is afraid of spiders.
2. I am very sad.
3. The teacher is afraid of ghosts.
4. She hates going to the countryside. 
5. He seemed very happy.  
Practice (2):

1. She is afraid of spiders.
2. I am very sad.
3. The teacher is afraid of ghosts.
4. She hates going to the countryside. 
5. He seemed very happy.