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A recent question I asked on Hinative showed that たい can be used when talking
about other people's feelings and still be natural.

<https://hinative.com/en-US/questions/21298937>

According to the Japanese native user who answered the question,
both「友人Aは辛いものを食べたい」and 「友人Aは辛い物を食べたがる」are natural sentences despite the former
using たい to talk about what 友人A wants.

I'm not really sure why this is...?

The user's explanation is that both are explaining to the person that I am
talking to, 友人B, that 友人A likes spicy things in slightly different ways.

Yet other sources straight up say you can't do this the former? Not sure
what's going on here.

Furthermore, I have an extended question, and that is that if たがる is supposed
to be used over たい when talking about other people's feelings because we can't
truly understand other people's feelings...

Then can we also not say something like 「友人Aは辛い物が好きだ」because there'd be no way
to know whether spicy things are actually likable to 友人A?

The user on Hinative says that this is also a natural sentence and that me
saying this is simply leaving how assertive I am about this statement up in
the air. While adding そう or らしい makes it clear that I am not saying this
statement as a fact.

If we cannot make a definite statement about other people's feelings in
Japanese because we are not them, then why is 「友人Aは辛い物が好きだ」allowed?
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question
grammar
A question on subjectivity. たい＆たがる
Let’s evaluate naturalness in polite style first because plain style hides
some of the unnaturalness.

Suppose you are discussing with someone which restaurant to choose for your
next gathering. Taro is absent but he will also be at the gathering. You
decide to convey his preference to another person.

You would probably say either one of the following.

>   1. 太郎は辛いものを食べたがっています。
>

Taro may or may not have directly told you that he wants to eat spicy food for
this particular occasion, but he was certainly giving off that impression last
time you spoke to him about the matter. If this information turns out to be
incorrect and he later tells you that he didn’t want to eat spicy food, you
would probably argue with him, pointing to the earlier behavior or words of
his that made you assume he wanted to eat spicy food.

>   2. 太郎は辛いものを食べたいみたいです。
>

>   3. 太郎は辛いものを食べたいようです。
>

You may or may not have heard this from Taro or someone else, but you somehow
got the impression that Taro wants to eat spicy food. If this information
turns out to be incorrect, you would probably have to accept the blame because
it was your judgment, after all. #3 sounds more formal than #2.

>   4. 太郎は辛いものを食べたいそうです。
>

This is hearsay. (Note the い before そう.) You have certainly heard this from
Taro or someone else. If the information turns out to be incorrect, you would
probably blame the source while feeling somewhat responsible for conveying
incorrect information without verifying it.

>   5. 太郎は辛いものを食べたいらしいです。
>

This is similar to #4, but you are rather indifferent to the accuracy of the
information. If it turns out to be incorrect, you don't have a clear source to
blame and you definitely don’t want to take the responsibility yourself.

Now, suppose the discussion is going the other direction, and you decide to
remind them that Taro wants to eat spicy food by reiterating it. You might
say:

>   6. 太郎は辛いものを食べたい **ん** です。
>

In all these sentences, 食べたい is used in a subordinate clause with an
expression that conveys some mood. I for one cannot think of a realistic
context where the following straight assertion truly sounds natural.

> ? 太郎は辛いものを食べたいです。

It only sounds natural in a rather artificial context where you are describing
Taro with complete objectivity like a voice-over narrator in a documentary
video.

Now, back to plain style. If 太郎は辛いものを食べたい sounds natural in some contexts, I
would say it is because it works as a substitute for at least some of the more
complete sentences above.

On the other hand, the following is a natural statement about Taro’s, more
permanent, preference.

> 太郎は辛いものが好きです。

If Taro has declared that he likes spicy food, it is fact enough for you. You
don’t need to assume anything.
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answer