Expressing hope for other people to do/be/have something


I'm wondering if there is a specific construction, or certain constructions,
to express the hope, wish, or desire that other people do/be/have etc
something; i.e. the subjunctive (even though I haven't seen it referred to as
that in Japanese grammar).

I'm familiar with 「たがる」for talking about other people's wants from the
speaker's perspective, but as yet I've not encountered anything regarding what
the speaker wants _for_ others to do/be/have; etc, either selfishly (see
example #1, below) or altruistically (examples #2 and #3). I'm guessing there
are various ways to express it, depending on various factors such as degree of
hypothesis, level of politeness or informality; selfish vs altruistic desire;
etc.

For example:

>   1. "I hope that this novelist continues to write books forever."
>   2. "I'd love for my sister and her boyfriend to get married soon."
>   3. "I think it would be fantastic if the lobbyists got what they wanted."
>

My (woefully inept) attempts would be:

>   1. この小説家{しょうせつか}がずっと本{ほん}を書{か}けばいいんですよ。
>   2. 私は姉{あね}と彼{かれ}がすぐに結婚{けっこん}するのが大好{だいす}きです。
>   3. ロビイストが望{のぞ}むものを手{て}に入{い}れば、それは素晴{すば}らしいことと思{おも}います。
>

Much appreciated!




The simplest expression is `person + に(は) + te-form + ほしい`, which roughly
corresponds to "I want someone to do something". When politeness or keigo is
not important, this is the default choice.

  * この小説家にはずっと本を書いていてほしい。
  * 姉に彼氏と早く結婚してほしい。
  * あのロビイストには望むものを手に入れてほしい。

As usual, `person + に(は)` can be dropped if it can be inferred from the
context:

  * 早く結婚してほしい。 (compare: 早く結婚したい。 = "I want to marry soon")

Politer ways are ～てくれると嬉しい (≒I'd be glad if ...), ～てくれたら嬉しい, ～ていただけると助かります,
～れば素晴らしい, etc., some of which can be used to ask someone a favor.

  * この小説家がずっと本を書いていてくれると嬉しい。

Note that ～が(大)好きだ does not work as you expect. It's an adjective that
describes someone's general taste or preference, not a one-time intention or
hope.




The simplest expression is `person + に(は) + te-form + ほしい`, which roughly
corresponds to "I want someone to do something". When politeness or keigo is
not important, this is the default choice.

  * この小説家にはずっと本を書いていてほしい。
  * 姉に彼氏と早く結婚してほしい。
  * あのロビイストには望むものを手に入れてほしい。

As usual, `person + に(は)` can be dropped if it can be inferred from the
context:

  * 早く結婚してほしい。 (compare: 早く結婚したい。 = "I want to marry soon")

Politer ways are ～てくれると嬉しい (≒I'd be glad if ...), ～てくれたら嬉しい, ～ていただけると助かります,
～れば素晴らしい, etc., some of which can be used to ask someone a favor.

  * この小説家がずっと本を書いていてくれると嬉しい。

Note that ～が(大)好きだ does not work as you expect. It's an adjective that
describes someone's general taste or preference, not a one-time intention or
hope.

