-고 싶다: 싶다 Is an Adjective (and 싶어하다 for Others) | Korean Grammar

To say "want to do X" in Korean, you attach -고 싶다 to a verb stem: 가다 → 가고 싶다 ("want to go"), 먹다 → 먹고 싶다 ("want to eat"). Simple enough. But one fact about the little auxiliary 싶다 explains almost everything that trips learners up: 싶다 is an adjective (a descriptive verb). It describes your inner state — your desire — rather than naming an action. Once you internalize that, two things follow automatically: 싶다 attributes like an adjective (가고 싶은 것, never ×싶는), and describing someone else's wanting forces a switch to the verb 싶어하다 — the very same move as 좋다 → 좋아하다.

The basic pattern: verb stem + -고 싶다

Take any action verb, keep the stem, add -고 싶다, and conjugate 싶다 as the adjective it is. In 해요체 that's 싶어요 (its stem 싶- ends in ㅣ, so it takes -어요).

지금 집에 가고 싶어요.

jigeum jibe gago sipeoyo

I want to go home right now.

주말에는 아무것도 안 하고 그냥 쉬고 싶어요.

jumareneun amugeotdo an hago geunyang swigo sipeoyo

On weekends I just want to do nothing and rest.

언젠가 제주도에서 살아 보고 싶어요.

eonjenga jejudo-eseo sara bogo sipeoyo

Someday I'd like to try living on Jeju Island.

Because 싶다 is an adjective, it conjugates like one across the board: past 가고 싶었어요 ("I wanted to go"), negative 가고 싶지 않아요 ("I don't want to go"). Nothing new — it's the standard adjective machinery.

사실은 어제 그 파티에 가고 싶었어요.

sasireun eoje geu patie gago sipeosseoyo

Honestly, I wanted to go to that party yesterday.

오늘은 아무것도 하고 싶지 않아요.

oneureun amugeotdo hago sipji anayo

Today I don't want to do anything.

The attributive proof: 가고 싶은 것, not ×가고 싶는 것

Here's where "싶다 is an adjective" earns its keep. When you modify a noun with a want — "the thing I want (to do)," "a place I want to go" — 싶다 takes the adjective attributive -(으)ㄴ, giving 싶은. It does not take the verb ending -는, even though the main verb it rides on is an action verb. This is the -(으)ㄴ vs -는 divide doing exactly what it always does: adjective → -(으)ㄴ.

제가 하고 싶은 말이 있어요.

jega hago sipeun mari isseoyo

There's something I want to say.

가장 가고 싶은 나라가 어디예요?

gajang gago sipeun naraga eodiyeyo

What country do you most want to go to?

💡

The last word decides the attributive, and here the last word is 싶다 — an adjective. So it's 하고 싶은 말 (-은), never ×하고 싶는 말. Don't be fooled by the action verb 하다 sitting in front of it; 싶다 is what attaches to 것/말/나라, and 싶다 is an adjective.

싶어하다: the verb form for other people

Now the mirror image of 좋다/좋아하다. Because 싶다 is an adjective describing an inner state, you can only assert it confidently about yourself — you know your own desires, but you can't directly declare what's going on inside someone else's head. So when the wanter is a third person, Korean switches to the derived verb 싶어하다 ("to (show that one) wants"), which frames the desire as observable behavior.

Who wants?	Word	Type	Example
I / you (1st–2nd person)	-고 싶다	adjective	저는 물을 마시고 싶어요
he / she / they (3rd person)	-고 싶어하다	verb	아이가 물을 마시고 싶어해요

저는 물을 마시고 싶어요.

jeoneun mureul masigo sipeoyo

I want to drink water. (1st person — adjective 싶다)

아이가 물을 마시고 싶어해요.

aiga mureul masigo sipeohaeyo

The kid wants to drink water. (3rd person — verb 싶어하다)

동생이 자꾸 밖에 나가고 싶어해요.

dongsaeng-i jakku bakke nagago sipeohaeyo

My younger sibling keeps wanting to go outside.

And because 싶어하다 is a verb, its attributive is the verb ending -는: 가고 싶어하는 사람 ("a person who wants to go"). The word class flips, so the ending flips with it.

이 영화를 보고 싶어하는 친구가 많아요.

i yeonghwareul bogo sipeohaneun chin-guga manayo

A lot of my friends want to see this movie.

💡

Let the subject pick the word. I / you want → the adjective 싶다 (가고 싶어요, 가고 싶은 곳). He / she / they want → the verb 싶어하다 (가고 싶어해요, 가고 싶어하는 사람). The class you land on then decides the attributive: adjective → -은, verb → -는.

The object particle: 을/를 or 이/가

One nuance worth flagging. The object of the main verb inside -고 싶다 can be marked either with the expected object particle 을/를, or — pulled by 싶다's stative, adjective-like nature — with the subject particle 이/가. Both are correct and both are heard.

물을 마시고 싶어요.

mureul masigo sipeoyo

I want to drink water. (object 물을)

물이 마시고 싶어요.

muri masigo sipeoyo

I want to drink water. (stative 물이 — equally natural)

The 을/를 version foregrounds the action ("drink water"); the 이/가 version leans into the desire as a state. With 싶어하다 (a plain verb), the object is normally just 을/를.

A bonus meaning: 보고 싶다 = "miss you"

One phrase you'll meet everywhere: 보고 싶다 literally is "want to see," but with a person it means "miss." 보고 싶어요 to a friend isn't "I want to look at you" — it's "I miss you." It's the single most common way to say you miss someone.

엄마, 너무 보고 싶어요.

eomma, neomu bogo sipeoyo

Mom, I miss you so much.

Common Mistakes

1. Using 싶다 for a third person's want — ×친구가 가고 싶어요 (to mean 'my friend wants to go'). Switch to 싶어하다.

❌ 친구가 여행을 가고 싶어요.

Reads as YOU wanting — for the friend's want, use 가고 싶어해요.

✅ 친구가 여행을 가고 싶어해요.

chin-guga yeohaeng-eul gago sipeohaeyo

My friend wants to go traveling.

2. Giving 싶다 a verb attributive — ×가고 싶는 곳. 싶다 is an adjective: -은.

❌ 제가 가고 싶는 곳은 부산이에요.

Wrong — 싶다 is an adjective; the attributive is 싶은: 가고 싶은 곳.

✅ 제가 가고 싶은 곳은 부산이에요.

jega gago sipeun goseun busanieyo

The place I want to go is Busan.

3. Attaching -고 싶다 to the full 하다 form — ×공부하다고 싶어요. It attaches to the stem: 공부하 + 고.

❌ 한국어를 공부하다고 싶어요.

Wrong — -고 싶다 attaches to the stem: 공부하고 싶어요.

✅ 한국어를 공부하고 싶어요.

hangugeoreul gongbuhago sipeoyo

I want to study Korean.

4. Using 싶어하다 for your own first-person want — ×저는 가고 싶어해요. For yourself, use the adjective 싶다.

❌ 저는 집에 가고 싶어해요.

Wrong — for your own desire use 싶다: 가고 싶어요.

✅ 저는 집에 가고 싶어요.

jeoneun jibe gago sipeoyo

I want to go home.

Key Takeaways

"Want to" = verb stem + -고 싶다, and 싶다 is an adjective — it conjugates like one (싶어요, 싶었어요, 싶지 않아요).
Its attributive is the adjective ending -(으)ㄴ: 가고 싶은 것, never ×싶는.
For a third person's want, switch to the derived verb 싶어하다 (아이가 가고 싶어해요), whose attributive is the verb ending -는 (싶어하는).
The main verb's object may take 을/를 or, pulled by 싶다's stative nature, 이/가 (물을/물이 마시고 싶어요).
This adjective-vs-verb-of-desire split is the same machinery as 좋다/좋아하다; 보고 싶다 with a person means "miss."

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