Breakdown of watasi ha gakkou ni ikitai desu.
はha
topic particle
ですdesu
to be
私watasi
I
学校gakkou
school
にni
destination particle
行くiku
to go
〜たい〜tai
to want to
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Questions & Answers about watasi ha gakkou ni ikitai desu.
What does は indicate in 私は学校に行きたいです?
は is the topic‐marking particle. It tells us that 私 (“I”) is the topic of the sentence—what we’re talking about. It doesn’t translate directly into English but sets the stage: “As for me, …”
Why is に used after 学校?
に marks the destination or goal of movement. Here, 学校に means “to school.” Whenever you’re going somewhere, you generally attach に to the place you’re heading toward.
How do we derive 行きたい from the dictionary form 行く?
To express desire (“want to do something”) in Japanese, you take the verb stem (for 行く, remove く, leaving 行き) and add たい. So 行く (iku) → 行き (iki) + たい (tai) = 行きたい (“want to go”).
Is 行きたい a verb or an adjective?
Grammatically, 行きたい behaves like an い-adjective. You can modify it like other い-adjectives (e.g. 行きたくない for “don’t want to go,” 行きたければ for “if you want to go,” etc.).
Why is です added after 行きたい? Can I omit it?
Adding です makes the sentence polite. In formal or polite speech, you say 行きたいです. In casual conversation, especially with friends, you can drop です and just say 行きたい.
What’s the difference between 学校に行きたい and 学校へ行きたい?
Both に and へ can mark direction. に emphasizes the goal (“to school”), while へ emphasizes the movement toward that direction. In this simple sentence, they’re mostly interchangeable:
• 学校に行きたい。
• 学校へ行きたい。
Can 私は be omitted here?
Yes. Japanese often omits the topic or subject if it’s clear from context. In a conversation where it’s obvious you’re talking about yourself, you can simply say: 学校に行きたいです。
How do you pronounce 行きたいです?
It’s pronounced “i-ki-tai-desu.” The 行き part is いき, たい is たい, and です is です (pronounced des without a strong “u”).