～てほしい
want someone to do
～てほしい expresses that the speaker wants someone else to do something. It is made by taking the て-form of a verb and adding ほしい, and it matches English “I want you to ...”. The person you want to act is marked with に.
Compare it with ～たい: 行きたい means you want to go, while 行ってほしい means you want someone else to go.
1. Wanting someone to do something
Use ～てほしい to ask for or wish for another person's action.
ちょっと手伝ってほしい。
“I want you to help me a little.”
- ちょっと = a little, a bit
- 手伝ってほしい（てつだってほしい）= want (you) to help
2. Wanting someone not to do something
To say you want someone not to do something, use the negative ない-form + でほしい.
ここでタバコを吸わないでほしいです。
“I want you not to smoke here.”
- ここ = here
- で = location marker (at, in)
- タバコ = cigarette, tobacco
- を = object marker
- 吸わないでほしい（すわないでほしい）= want (you) not to smoke
- です = polite copula
How to form it
Verb て-form + ほしい (negative: ない-form + でほしい)
- 手伝う（てつだう）= to help → 手伝ってほしい（てつだってほしい）= want (someone) to help
- 来る（くる）= to come → 来てほしい（きてほしい）= want (someone) to come
- 吸う（すう）= to smoke → 吸わないでほしい（すわないでほしい）= want (someone) not to smoke
Key idea
～てほしい points your desire at another person's action. You are not the one doing it, you are the one hoping for it.
Other N4 grammar
Updated .