Want
Extremely basic overview of how to WANT things in Japanese.
Truly I have been slacking on my homework this week.
Now I want to cleanly transition to the grammar section.
Grammar section
WOah.
Basic style 〜たい verb form
〜たい is a verb suffix that means to want something. In order to use it, you take the dictionary form of a verb, take the stem and add たい.
For example, 食べる (たべる, I eat) to 食べたい (食べたい, I want to eat).
It conjugates as one would expect if you knew it already.
たい (I want) -> たくない (I don't want)
The ない conjugates like い adjectives, becoming なかった.
たくない (I don't want) -> たくなかった (I didn't want)
Basic style がほしい with nouns
Another way to want things is to use がほしい (sometimes seen as 欲しい). This deviates from たい as it is used with nouns instead of verbs.
E.g. 食べ物がほしい (たべものがほしい, I want food).
食べ物がほしくない (たべものがほしくない, I do not want food).
ほしい acts like an adjective, and can be treated as such. It can conjugate as such:
ほしくない - Do not want
ほしくなかった - Did not want (past tense)
ほしかった - Wanted
Careful about ほしくなかった, which is distinct from 欲しくなった (ほしい with past tense なる -> なった. lit. became wanted.).