Help たがっている

Hello, I'm on Genki I lesson 11. I joined this forum in order to get some help with some questions that I may have in learning Japanese. Please let me know of any other place that offers help to new learners in a forum or casual-style format.

１．けんさんはかしゅになりたかったと言っていました。
2．けんさんはかしゅになりたかったがっていました。

Would sentence 2 be grammatically correct or should it end with います？Did I use たがっている correctly？

Thank you.

a. Regarding the tense; are you trying to make it into the past tense? Or does he still wish to be a singer? Depending on the intention, the word ending will change.
b. No, you didn't use たがっている correctly. Should be an easy fix if you reread what you wrote. Conjugate the verb by using たがっている. Right now you have first conjugated the tense, then tacked on たがっている, which is why it is funny.

This is a good place to ask casual, or even super technical and high-level questions. We have all sorts of learners on this forum.

Majestic said:

k casual, or even super technical and high-level questi

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Thanks for the fast reply. I think I understand now after looking at more examples like:
"きむらさんが、あなたにあいたがっていましたよ。"

So my corrected sentence would instead have なりたがっていました?
けんさんはかしゅになりたがっていました。
(It seems) Ken wanted to become a singer.

You got it!