"I want to eat Korean food." "I want to go to Seoul." "I want to learn Korean." These are among the first things anyone wants to say in a new language. In Korean, expressing desires uses the pattern ~고 싶다.
The pattern
Verb stem + 고 싶다
먹다 (to eat) → 먹고 싶다 (want to eat) 가다 (to go) → 가고 싶다 (want to go) 배우다 (to learn) → 배우고 싶다 (want to learn)
그냥 add 고 싶다 to any verb stem. It doesn't change based on the verb.
In a sentence (polite)
~고 싶어요 is the polite form you'll use most.
한국 음식을 먹고 싶어요. I want to eat Korean food. 서울에 가고 싶어요. I want to go to Seoul. 한국어를 배우고 싶어요. I want to learn Korean. 쉬고 싶어요. I want to rest. 집에 있고 싶어요. I want to stay home.
Banmal (casual)
~고 싶어: drop the 요.
커피 마시고 싶어. I want to drink coffee. (to a close friend)
Negative: don't want to
~고 싶지 않다 or more naturally ~기 싫다
가고 싶지 않아요. I don't want to go. 먹기 싫어요. I don't want to eat. (stronger reluctance)
The critical rule: other people's wants
Here's where learners make a very common mistake.
You cannot use ~고 싶다 to talk about other people's wants in declarative sentences.
✗ 친구가 먹고 싶어요. "My friend wants to eat." ← incorrect ✓ 친구가 먹고 싶어해요. "My friend wants to eat." ← correct
For third person (he, she, they), you must use ~고 싶어하다. "to appear to want to."
The logic: you can know your own desires directly. Others' desires you can only observe and infer. Korean grammar encodes this distinction.
| Person | Pattern | Example |
|---|---|---|
| I / we | ~고 싶다 | 저는 가고 싶어요 |
| You (asking) | ~고 싶어요? | 가고 싶어요? (Do you want to go?) |
| He / she / they | ~고 싶어하다 | 친구가 가고 싶어해요 |
Past tense: wanted to
~고 싶었다
한국에 가고 싶었어요. I wanted to go to Korea. 어렸을 때 의사가 되고 싶었어요. When I was young, I wanted to become a doctor.
Combining with other patterns
~고 싶어서: because I want to
한국어를 배우고 싶어서 공부해요: I study because I want to learn Korean.
~고 싶다 is one of those patterns you'll use literally every day. Once it's automatic, you can express the motivation behind almost anything you do.
Practice it with a structured Korean course: the spaced repetition system makes verb patterns like this stick through real sentence recall, not just translation drills.