Wants, Invitations, Ability and Reasons
You can already describe your world — now make things happen in it. This chapter adds four conversational tools: wanting with たい, inviting with ましょう and ませんか, ability with できる, and reasons with から.
Four tools that start conversations
Everything in this chapter bolts onto grammar you already own. Take the ます form from chapter 10, swap the ending, and you can suddenly want things, suggest plans, claim skills and explain yourself:
- 〜たいです — I want to…
- 〜ましょう ／ 〜ませんか — let's… / won't you…?
- 〜ができます — I can…
- 〜から — because…
Four endings, and small talk stops being one-way. Each pattern has its own game lesson, so you can hear all of them in native audio as you go.
Listen: I would like to…
Rocky and Kyle use たい to talk about what they want to do. Tap ► to listen.
Rockyカイルさん、冬休みは何をしますか？
Kairu san,fuyu yasumi wa nani o shimasu ka?
Kyle, what are you doing in the winter break?
Kyleまだわかりません
mada wakarimasen
I don't know yet
Kyleロキーさんは特別な計画がありますか？
Rokī san wa tokubetsuna kēkaku ga arimasu ka?
Do you, Meera, have any special plans?
Rocky山登りに行きたいです
yamanobori ni ikitai desu
I'd like to go mountain climbing
Listen: I can do this
できる — talking about ability, in a real school conversation.
Cassianピシ君は絵ができますね
pishi kun wa e ga dekimasu ne
Wow, you can draw, can't you Pishi
Pishiうん、できますよ
un, dekimasu yo
Yep, I can
Cassianカッシャンさんも絵が上手ですね
kasshan san mo e ga jōzu desu ne
And you are good too at drawing, Cassian
Pishiそうですか？ありがとう、ピシ君
sō desu ka? arigatō, pishi kun
Am I? Thanks Pishi
たいです — saying what you want to do
To say you want to do something, take the polite ます form, drop ます, and add たいです: 行きます → 行きたいです ("I want to go"). The thing you want to act on can be marked with が or を — both are correct at N5, and が adds a touch more longing. One caveat: たい is for your own wishes, and for asking about your listener's. Japanese avoids stating other people's inner wants directly.
山登りに行きたいです。
yamanobori ni ikitai desu.
I'd like to go mountain climbing.
Straight from the game's sports-centre chat about winter-break plans.
海で泳ぎたいです。
umi de oyogitai desu.
I want to swim in the sea.
おすしが食べたいです。
osushi ga tabetai desu.
I want to eat sushi.
を食べたいです is just as correct — see the FAQ below.
友だちに会いたいです。
tomodachi ni aitai desu.
I want to see my friends.
会う takes に, not を — in Japanese you meet *to* someone.
たい conjugates like an い-adjective
Grammatically, adding たい turns the verb into an い-adjective — so it negates and past-tenses exactly like one. No new machinery: if you can conjugate たかい, you can conjugate たい.
| Non-past | Past | |
|---|---|---|
| Affirmative | 行きたいです | 行きたかったです |
| Negative | 行きたくないです | 行きたくなかったです |
今日は何もしたくないです。
kyō wa nani mo shitakunai desu.
Today I don't want to do anything.
何も + a negative = "nothing at all".
昨日は走りたくなかったです。
kinō wa hashiritakunakatta desu.
Yesterday I didn't want to run.
ましょう and ませんか — let's, and won't you?
Swap ます for ましょう and you get "let's…" — confident and upbeat, best when the plan is already half-agreed. Swap it for ませんか — literally a negative question, "won't you…?" — and you get a softer invitation that leaves the other person room to say no. To accept, echo back with ましょう: いいですね、そうしましょう。
ケーキを作りましょう。
kēki o tsukurimashō.
Let's make a cake!
The cure for a boring holiday, according to the game's house lesson.
一緒に行きませんか。
issho ni ikimasen ka.
Won't you go there together with me?
How Mui invites Cassian to the seaside festival in the beach lesson.
公園で運動しませんか。
kōen de undō shimasen ka.
How about exercising in the park (with me)?
いいですね。そうしましょう。
ii desu ne. sō shimashō.
Sounds good. Let's do that.
The standard enthusiastic yes.
できます — saying what you can do
できる means "can do", and the N5 pattern is [skill]ができます. The particle must be が, never を — できる really means "is possible (for me)", so the skill is grammatically the subject. The negative is できません. The same が works with two な-adjectives you'll hear constantly: 上手 "good at" and 下手 "bad at". 「日本語が上手ですね」 is the compliment every learner hears; in the game's office the boss prefers 「よく頑張りましたね」 ("you've worked hard"). The modest reply to any compliment is いいえ、まだまだです — "oh no, I've still a long way to go".
わたしは日本語が少しできます。
watashi wa nihongo ga sukoshi dekimasu.
I can speak a little Japanese.
テニスができますか。
tenisu ga dekimasu ka.
Can you play tennis?
Answer with just できます or できません — no need to repeat the noun.
母は料理が上手です。
haha wa ryōri ga jōzu desu.
My mother is good at cooking.
わたしは歌が下手です。
watashi wa uta ga heta desu.
I'm bad at singing.
下手 about yourself is perfectly fine — modesty is the default setting in Japanese.
から — giving reasons
から attaches to the end of the reason, and the reason comes first — the mirror image of English "because". At N5, put the polite form before から: 雨ですから、…. When someone asks どうしてですか ("why?"), the reason plus から can stand alone as a complete answer: 「雨ですから。」
雨ですから、テニスをしません。
ame desu kara, tenisu o shimasen.
It's raining, so I'm not playing tennis.
The exact situation in the game's sports-centre lesson — a rained-off tennis class.
明日は休みですから、海に行きましょう。
ashita wa yasumi desu kara, umi ni ikimashō.
Tomorrow's a day off, so let's go to the sea.
から and ましょう chain together naturally — reason first, plan second.
泳ぎたいですから、プールに行きます。
oyogitai desu kara, pūru ni ikimasu.
I want to swim, so I'm going to the pool.
たい + から: two of this chapter's patterns in one sentence.
More practice in the game
All four mini-units of this chapter come straight from these seven free browser lessons, each with native Japanese audio.
Chapter vocabulary
Thirteen verbs from the game that slot straight into たい, ましょう and ができます sentences.
Tap ► to hear the native audio from the game, or tap a word to open its dictionary entry.
Declining gracefully: the power of ちょっと…
Japanese has a famously soft "no". Turning down an invitation with a flat 「行きません」 sounds cold — instead, people reach for ちょっと… ("it's a bit…") and simply trail off: 「明日はちょっと…」. Nothing more is needed; the unfinished sentence is the refusal, and everyone understands. The game's sports-centre lesson shows it in action: 「雨ですから、ちょっと…」. To soften it further, add すみません and offer another time: 「また今度、お願いします」 ("next time, please").
Test yourself
Eight questions across all four patterns — wants, invitations, ability and reasons.
8 quick questions on this chapter.
Your score
Common questions
Quick answers about this chapter's grammar.
Should I use が or を with 〜たい?
Both are correct: 水が飲みたいです and 水を飲みたいです are equally fine. が foregrounds the thing you crave and feels slightly more traditional; を keeps the verb's normal particle. The JLPT N5 accepts either, so don't lose sleep over it.
What's the difference between 〜たいです and ほしいです?
たい attaches to a verb stem and means "want to do": 泳ぎたいです ("I want to swim"). ほしい follows a noun plus が and means "want a thing": 水がほしいです ("I want water"). Both behave like い-adjectives, so the negatives are たくないです and ほしくないです.
Why does できる use が and not を?
Because できる isn't really "do" — it's closer to "be possible", and the skill is grammatically the subject: テニスができます is literally "tennis is possible (for me)". The same logic gives が to 上手, 下手, すき and きらい. Remember できる as "X is possible" and the が feels natural.
What's the difference between から and ので?
Both mean "because". から is direct and is the one you need for JLPT N5; ので is softer and more formal, and connects to the sentence a little differently — it's officially N4 territory. Stick with [polite sentence] + から for now; it's never wrong in conversation.
Want more practice? Browse all free Japanese lessons or look words up in the Japanese dictionary.