So I know that when an i-adjective like 速い becomes an adverb to modify a verb
you have to change the い to く, like 速く走る (to run quickly).

I'm having trouble understanding the grammar in 強くありたい. I know it means 'I
want to be strong' but shouldn't 強く modify ありたい like the example above? I want
to be/to exist/to live _strongly_ instead of wanting to posses the
characteristic of being a _strong_ person.
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2019-01-20T02:58:53.757
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2020-01-08T02:17:53.957
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question
grammar
i-adjective modifying ある (eg 強くありたい)
Japanese i-adjectives (速い, 強い...) are inherently predicates, so in theory they
don't need another verb "to be" to support. Here, the extra ある is a kind of
rhetorical reflection of the _will_ to be (in a state), or consciously keep
being.

It can be used in the same way with na-adjectives and nouns in the form ～である.
Of course, である can be also just an expanded form of ～だ, so the form is less
exclusive than i-adjectives (whose conjugations, like 速かった is contraction of
速くあった too, but it never expands anymore).

> 強くあろうとする _strive to be strong/tough_  
>  生涯気高くあった _remained dignified throughout one's life_  
>  80歳になっても健康でありたい _want to stay healthy at the age of 80_  
>  良き教育者であれ _Be a good educator!_

This is a relatively literary, solemn expression. Also, the difference with
～くなる/～になる is that なる implies you are currently not in the state (80歳になる means
you aren't now), which is not the case with ～くある/～である (健康でありたい doesn't mean
you aren't now).

**PS**

[adjective]くある also appear when you attach a focusing particle to an
i-adjective.

> 薄く **は** あるが、持ち運ぶには重すぎる  
>  = 確かに薄いが、… / 薄いことは薄いが、…  
>  _It's slim to be sure, but too heavy to carry around._
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2019-01-20T06:31:12.293
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2019-01-20T06:31:12.293
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answer