To start with, I'm not asking about how 〜たい and 〜ほしい (and their derivative
forms, like 〜てほしい, たがる, etc etc) structures work. I want to know whether is
natural/grammatically correct to say, for example, ラーメンを食べるのがほしいです instead of
ラーメン(を/が)食べたいです.
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2023-03-07T16:47:51.203
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2023-03-08T03:34:02.037
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question
grammar
〜のがほしい instead of 〜たい
It's a grammatical sentence but its meaning is totally different from
ラーメンを／が食べたいです. It means you want _something_ that is related to eating of
ramen. It might be a doll that eats ramen or something like a bowl or a spoon
with which you eat ramen.

> ラーメンを食べる **の** がほしいです。  
>  I want **one** that eats ramen.  
>  I want **one** for eating ramen.  
>  etc.
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2023-03-07T19:01:24.177
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2023-03-07T19:01:24.177
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answer
ラーメンを食べるのがほしいです is gramattical but isn't a valid sentence for "I want to
[verb]".

If you want to find a similar construction with verb nominalization for that
purpose, -することを欲する is a valid construction in place of -したい, with the caveat
that it's a construction that's too rigid to use in conversation or even in
writing. One appropriate context I can think of is some old translation of
Chinese literature or Bible.

> ラーメンを食べることを欲します
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2023-03-08T03:34:02.037
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answer