がる

See also: かる

Japanese

to behave or act as if feeling in a certain way
恥(は)ずかしがらないで、前(まえ)に出(で)てきてください。
Hazukashigaranai de, mae ni detekite kudasai.
Please don't be shy (don't act all shy) and come up here.
- 1928, Motojirō Kajii, Sakura no ki no shita ni wa [Under the cherry trees]‎^[1], Modern kanji and kana edition:
  
  俺(おれ)を不(ふ)安(あん)がらせた神(しん)秘(ぴ)
  ore o fuan-garaseta shinpi
  mystery that made me anxious
to pretend
今(いま)から強(つよ)がっても無駄(むだ)だ。
Ima kara tsuyogatte mo muda da.
There's no point in acting like a tough guy now.

This attaches to an adjective stem and creates a verb expressing a third party's feelings or a behavior that manifests such feelings. For example:

会(あ)いたい (aitai, “want to meet sb.”) → 会(あ)いたがる (aitagaru, “act as if wanting to meet sb.”)
重(ちょう)宝(ほう) (chōhō, “a treasure; convenient”) → 重(ちょう)宝(ほう)がる (chōhō-garu, “to value as a treasure; to value as convenient”)

Conjugation of "がる" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs.)