Tagaru and Garu in Japanese: Talking About Other People's Feelings

The rule: feelings belong to the speaker

Japanese has a group of words that describe inner states: emotions such as ureshii, happy, kanashii, sad, and sabishii, lonely; sensations such as samui, cold, itai, painful, and kayui, itchy; and desires with hoshii and the tai form. In a plain statement, these describe the speaker. Samui! means I'm cold, not it is cold in general.

When the subject is someone else, a bare statement like kare wa samui sounds as if you are claiming direct access to his body and mind. Japanese prefers you to show what the statement is based on: what you can see, what you heard, or what the person said. English makes no such distinction, which is why learners are often surprised by it.

Questions to the listener are fine, because you are asking them to report their own feelings: samui? Are you cold? Nani ga tabetai desu ka? What would you like to eat? The issue only arises when you state a third person's feelings as fact.

How to form garu and tagaru

For i-adjectives, drop the final i and add garu: samui becomes samugaru, kowai becomes kowagaru. For na-adjectives that describe feelings, add garu to the stem: iya becomes iyagaru, to dislike or be reluctant; zannen becomes zannengaru, to show regret.

For tagaru, take the tai form, which is itself an i-adjective, and do the same: ikitai becomes ikitagaru, tabetai becomes tabetagaru. Hoshii becomes hoshigaru.

The result is a regular godan verb ending in ru, so it conjugates like toru: garanai, gatta, gatte iru. For someone's current feeling, the te iru form is almost always used: ikitagatte iru, she wants to go. The plain form tends to describe habits or general tendencies: kodomo wa amai mono o hoshigaru, children tend to want sweet things.

Garu with adjectives: samugaru, hazukashigaru and more

Garu means to show signs of a feeling, through facial expression, words or behaviour. Hazukashigaru is to act shy or be embarrassed in a way others can see. Itagaru is to show pain, for example by complaining or wincing. Because it describes observable behaviour, it works well for children, pets, patients and anyone whose reactions you are reporting.

Several garu verbs have taken on fixed meanings. Tsuyogaru means to put on a brave face, to act tougher than you feel. Omoshirogaru means to find something amusing, and mezurashigaru to treat something as a novelty. Garu also forms nouns for types of people: samugari, someone who feels the cold easily; hazukashigariya, a shy person; sabishigariya, someone who gets lonely easily.

Notice the particle in the first two examples. Kowai and hazukashii take ga for what you fear or are embarrassed about, but kowagaru and similar verbs are transitive, so the object takes o: inu o kowagaru, to be afraid of dogs.

Tagaru and hoshigaru: what other people want

Tagaru describes someone else's wish to do something, based on how they behave or talk. It is especially common when parents talk about children, and when people talk about family members or friends in a slightly detached way. Hoshigaru does the same for wanting a thing.

The particle changes here too. With the tai form, the object can take ga or o: mizu ga nomitai or mizu o nomitai. With tagaru, it takes o. With hoshii, the thing wanted takes ga; with hoshigaru, it takes o.

The nuance: an outside view

Garu and tagaru describe feelings as seen from outside. That is exactly why they are grammatically correct for third persons, but it also gives them a slightly detached, observing tone. Talking about your own children or younger siblings this way is completely natural. Talking about your manager or a customer this way can sound as though you are commenting on their behaviour, and sometimes as if their feelings are childish.

Garu also has a slightly negative edge in some contexts, suggesting someone is making a show of a feeling. Kare wa itsumo isogashigatte iru, he's always acting busy, can imply he is exaggerating. In polite speech about people above you, choose an alternative from the next section.

Other ways to describe someone else's feelings

Garu is not the only option, and in conversation it is often not the most common. Japanese has several ways to add the evidence it expects, each with a slightly different meaning. Choosing among them is part of sounding natural.

When you are explaining something you know well about a close person, n desu can also make a direct statement acceptable: otōto wa Nihon ni ikitai n desu, my brother wants to go to Japan, you see. The n desu presents it as information you are passing on.

Common mistakes with garu and tagaru

• Saying kanojo wa kanashii as a plain statement. Use kanashisō desu, kanashinde iru or kanashigatte iru.
• Keeping ga with hoshigaru: kodomo ga omocha ga hoshigatte iru. The object of hoshigaru takes o.
• Using the plain form for a current feeling: kare wa ikitagaru for he wants to go right now. Use ikitagatte iru.
• Using garu about yourself. Watashi wa samugatte iru sounds odd; just say samui. The exception is fixed nouns like samugari, I'm someone who feels the cold.
• Adding garu to adjectives that are not about feelings: takagaru for expensive does not work. Garu attaches to emotion and sensation words.
• Using tagaru about a superior in a meeting. Report their words with to osshatte imashita, or use yō desu.