htio bih / željela bih

Polite Wishes

Level 3

A conditional wish makes a request less direct.

How It Works

A male speaker can say Htio bih čaj and a female speaker Htjela bih čaj. Želio bih and željela bih use the same conditional structure.

The request can name a thing or an action: htjela bih vodu and htjela bih platiti. Keep the full infinitive when the request is followed by a verb.

Politeness comes from the whole interaction, not just one verb form. A polite conditional can be combined with molim, and a plural subject needs bismo rather than bih.

Examples (3)

  1. Htio bih čaj, molim.

    I would like tea, please.

    A male speaker uses htio bih.

  2. Željela bih platiti.

    I would like to pay.

    A female speaker uses željela bih before an infinitive.

  3. Htjela bih čašu vode.

    I would like a glass of water.

    Htjela agrees with the female speaker, not with the requested object.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

htio bih / željela bihLevel 3Polite Wishes

Learn This First

A conditional form of a desire verb softens a request while preserving speaker agreement.

Words in This Pattern

htjetiželjetibiti