In Hebrew we have the phrase "מה אתה רוצה ממני?", literally "what do you want from me?", and the stronger version "מה אתה רוצה מהחיים שלי?", literally, "what do you want from my life?". It can be used with no problem even when the other party doesn't actually want anything – e.g., when he is trying to help, but the help is unwelcome.
My first wonder is whether the phrase "what do you want from me?" has the same connotation in English, or would it be interpreted strictly as "what material benefit are you hoping to gain by interacting with me?" (and thus, sound out of place if used with the borrowed meaning)?
If the latter, what other phrase can be used to convey the same message?
The expression I have in mind is also usable in 3rd person, e.g.: "The teacher tried to explain a difficult concept, and hoped it would be as clear and exciting to the students as it was for him. But the students didn't get it or care much – they just stared at him blankly and wondered what he wanted from them."
Best Answer
I don't really speak Hebrew, but theoretically I should be able to because I studied it in school for over a decade.
In any case, I understand the phrases you have written in your question and can attest that they translate pretty much verbatim to English without loss of meaning. "What do you want from me" essentially asks "What do you expect me to do/say?" I'm having a very hard time searching for definitions because Google is pretty good at matching things regardless of correct spelling and "Whaddaya want from me" is a popular song that saturates my search results.
Your last sentence is not quite grammatically correct, particularly in the conjugation of "want." It would be better written