What is the difference between “～たい” and “～ことを望む”?

What is the difference between “～たい” and “～ことを望む”?

STT:

As you may know, I have been trying to translate English sentences into Japanese. I am very pleased by the results. But there is something that is troubling me.

I have noticed that when I try to translate “X wants to do Y” into Japanese, the results include “XはYをしたいです” and “XはYをすることを望みます”.

For example:

English sentence: Foreign workers want to work in that kind of environment.

Japanese translation 1: 外国人労働者はその様な環境下で働くことを望みます。

Japanese translation 2: 外国人労働者はその様な環境下で働きたいです。

Both Japanese translations translate to the same sentence in English. But they cannot be exactly the same, can they?

This brings me to my question. What is the difference between 〜たい and 〜ことを望む?

Answer #1:

Being able to use “～たいです” is only when the subject is “私” or “私たち”.

e.g. 私はトイレに行きたいです。(Eng. “I want to go to the bathroom”) ✓

あなたはトイレに行きたいです。(Eng. “You want to go to the bathroom”) ✗

彼女はトイレに行きたいです。(Eng. “She wants to go to the bathroom”) ✗

私たちは野球を観戦したいです。(Eng. “We want to watch a baseball game”) ✓

あなた方は野球を観戦したいです。(Eng. “You guys want to watch a baseball game”) ✗

外国人労働者は野球を観戦したいです。(Eng. “Foreign workers want to watch a baseball game”) ✗

“～ことを望みます” can be used in any case where the subject is “私”, “彼／彼女”, “私達”, or “彼ら／彼女ら”.

e.g. 私はトイレに行くことを望みます。(Eng. “I want to go to the bathroom”) ✓

あなたはトイレに行くことを望みます。(Eng. “You want to go to the bathroom”) ✗

彼はトイレに行くことを望みます。(Eng. “He wants to go to the bathroom“) ✓

私たちは野球を観戦することを望みます。(Eng. “We want to watch a baseball game”) ✓

あなた方は野球を観戦することを望みます。(Eng. “You guys want to watch a baseball game”) ✗

外国人労働者は野球を観戦することを望みます。(Eng. “Foreign workers want to watch a baseball game”) ✓

If it is “～ことを望んでいます”, it can be used in any case where the subject is “私”, “あなた”, “彼／彼女”, “私達”, “あなた方” or “彼ら／彼女ら”.

e.g. 私はトイレに行くことを望んでいます。(Eng. “I want to go to the bathroom”) ✓

彼はトイレに行くことを望んでいます。(Eng. “He wants to go to the bathroom”) ✓

あなたはトイレにいくことを望んでいます。(Eng. “You want to go to the bathroom”) ✓

私たちは野球を観戦することを望んでいます。(Eng. “We want to watch a baseball game”) ✓

外国人労働者は野球を観戦することを望んでいます。(Eng. “Foreign workers want to watch a baseball game”) ✓

あなた方は野球を観戦することを望んでいます。(Eng. “You guys want to watch a baseball game”) ✓

Answer #2:

I feel discomfort with the Japanese sentence which I assume you translated the English sentence “Foreign workers want to work in that kind of environment,” into “外国人労働者はその様な環境下で働きたいです”.

I think that the reason is that “たい” cannot be used by everybody, and that it is cases in the first-person such as “私” or cases where you say “この子おしっこしたいんです” (Eng. “The reason is this child wants to pee”) as a spokesperson for people who cannot speak for themselves.

I think that you insert “ん” even in the latter case, and use it in cases where you judge from a situation that you saw from “the outside” as a third party, and explain it with “～なの(or “ん”)です”.

Therefore, “～はその様な環境下で働きたいです” is restricted to times when the speaker is a spokesperson for foreign workers, and even then, it is more natural to insert “の” into “～働きたいのです”.

Consequently, since there is only one natural translation, your question “What is the difference between ‘～たい’ and ‘～ことを望む’?” becomes unnecessary.

Answer #3:

“～たい” is an expression that you use when “you show your own desires”. When you use it for other people, in the case where you use “～たい” because it is the act of “verbalizing other people's situations”, it will become “～たいと思う(≈望む)”.

If you translate “want” literally, it will become “希望する”. “希望する” is reworded as a simple expression called “望む”.

There is no proper use of the person that is subject to the expression for “want”, but in cases where you use “～たい”, you will add other words and subtle proper uses will result from it.

Because “want” is a word that does not choose the person, when you literally translate it into Japanese, it will result in the more acceptable translation of “望む” which does not distinguish between persons.

...“want” ≈ “望む” > “～たい”

Japanese translation 1...It will be interpreted as “explaining” the situation of the party concerned.

Japanese translation 2...It will be interpreted as “speaking for” the desires of the party concerned.

Answer #4:

“和訳2:外国人労働者はその様な環境下で働きたいです。”

I cannot help but say that this is also an unnatural expression for Japanese, but there probably is no help for machine translation.

As I explained in the English Language Cat., It follows that “希望します” is a literary expression or “formal” expression. In contrast to this, it follows that “～たいと思います” or “～たいです” are colloquial expressions or “informal” expressions.

For translation, you will inevitably end up choosing either a “colloquial translation” or a “literary translation”. If you happen to mix the two, it follows that they will be “useless translated sentences”.

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