ar galėtumėte
Polite Requests with the Conditional
Ar galėtumėte + infinitive means could you …? and is a polite everyday way to ask for something: Ar galėtumėte man padėti? (Could you help me?) With a friend, say galėtum: Gal galėtum paskambinti vėliau? (Could you maybe call later?)
How It Works
The two forms you need
- galėtumėte for jūs: one person you address politely, or several people. Ar galėtumėte pakartoti? (Could you repeat that?)
- galėtum for tu: a friend, a relative or a child. Ar galėtum atnešti vandens? (Could you bring some water?)
You can use these two as ready-made phrases now. The whole conditional comes later in The Conditional Mood. For choosing between tu and jūs, see Informal Tu and Polite Jūs.
Building the request
Ar + galėtumėte + infinitive. The infinitive keeps its usual cases, so padėti (to help) still takes the dative: Ar galėtumėte man padėti? See Want, Can and Know How With an Infinitive and Verbs That Take the Dative.
From direct to very polite
- Padėkite! A direct request or command, depending on tone and context.
- Ar galite padėti? A direct question: Can you help?
- Ar galėtumėte padėti? Softer: Could you help?
- Atsiprašau, gal galėtumėte padėti? An added softener. Atsiprašau and gal add even more politeness.
Two close relatives: norėčiau (I would like) for your own wishes, and Ar būtų galima …? (Would it be possible …?) when you do not name who should do it. See Polite Wishes With Norėčiau.
Examples (6)
- Atsiprašau, ar galėtumėte man padėti?
Excuse me, could you help me?
Word by Word: Excuse-me, whether (you) could to-me help?
Man is dative because padėti takes the dative.
- Ar galėtumėte pakartoti lėčiau?
Could you say that again more slowly?
Word by Word: Whether (you) could repeat more-slowly?
- Gal galėtum paskambinti vėliau?
Could you maybe call later?
Word by Word: Maybe (you) could call later?
Galėtum is the tu form. Gal makes the request gentler.
- Ar galėtumėte pasakyti, kur yra stotis?
Could you tell me where the station is?
Word by Word: Whether (you) could tell, where is station?
- Ar galėtum atnešti man stiklinę vandens?
Could you bring me a glass of water?
Word by Word: Whether (you) could bring to-me glass of-water?
- Ar galėtumėte uždaryti langą?
Could you close the window?
Word by Word: Whether (you) could close window?
Common Mistakes
Mixing the jūs pronoun with the tu verb form.
Ar jūs galėtum man padėti?Ar jūs galėtumėte man padėti?The verb must match the pronoun. With jūs, use galėtumėte; keep galėtum for tu.
Putting the person helped in the accusative.
Ar galėtumėte mane padėti?Ar galėtumėte man padėti?Padėti (to help) takes the dative: man, tau, mums. With the accusative, padėti means to put, so mane padėti sounds like put me down.
How It Connects
Learn This First
A conditional form of galėti makes a polite request with an infinitive action.
- norėti / galėti / mokėti + infinitiveWant, Can and Know How with an Infinitive
Know the galėti-plus-infinitive pattern.
Level 1 - tu / jūsInformal Tu and Polite Jūs
Distinguish galėtum for tu from galėtumėte for jūs.
Level 1 - Questions With arYes-No Questions with Ar
Recognize ar introducing the request as a question.
Level 1
Related Patterns
- norėčiauPolite Wishes with Norėčiau
The other polite conditional chunk: I would like.
Level 3 - Conditional: -čiau, -tum, -tųThe Conditional Mood
The full conditional mood that galėtumėte comes from.
Level 4 - atsiprašauSorry and Excuse Me
Atsiprašau often opens a polite request.
Level 1 - gal / galbūt / turbūt / tikriausiaiMaybe and Probably
Gal softens a request even more.
Level 2
Words in This Pattern
Practice ar galėtumėte in Bubblegum
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