сакав да прашам

Polite Requests with the Past

Level 3Sounds Like saka da; sakav da prašam

To sound polite, Macedonian speakers often use the past: Сакав да прашам нешто. (I wanted to ask something.) Another polite choice is би сакал or би сакала: Би сакал една соба.

How It Works

Plain сакам (I want) is not rude. Сакам едно кафе. is fine in a café. But when you interrupt someone, ask a favour or speak to a stranger, Macedonian speakers often make the request gentler.

1. The past: сакав да … The past form of сака + да + a present verb, just like сака да + сегашно време:

  • Сакав да прашам нешто. — I wanted to ask something.
  • Сакав да ве замолам за една услуга. — I wanted to ask you a favour.

English does the same thing with "I wanted to ask…" The wish is still a present wish; the past only makes it sound less direct.

2. The conditional: би сакал / би сакала. Би + the l-form of сака means "would like" (see можен начин: би + л-форма). The l-form agrees with the speaker:

  • би сакал — a man speaking
  • би сакала — a woman speaking
  • би сакале — several people, or polite Вие

It can take a noun (Би сакал една соба.) or да + verb (Би сакала да платам.). To offer something politely, ask with Вие: Дали би сакале да пиете нешто? (see ти и Вие).

Adding politeness words: these forms go well with ве молам and извинете from благодарам; ве молам; извинете: Извинете, сакав да прашам каде е станицата.

Examples (6)

  1. Сакав да прашам нешто.

    I wanted to ask something.

    Word by Word: I-wanted to I-ask something.

    A soft way to start a question, especially when you interrupt someone.

  2. Извинете, сакав да ве замолам за една услуга.

    Excuse me, I wanted to ask you a favour.

    Word by Word: Excuse-me, I-wanted to you I-ask for one favour.

  3. Би сакал една соба за две ноќи.

    I would like a room for two nights.

    Word by Word: Would liked one room for two nights.

    A man is speaking, so the l-form is сакал.

  4. Би сакала едно кафе со млеко, ве молам.

    I would like a coffee with milk, please.

    Word by Word: Would liked one coffee with milk, please.

    A woman is speaking, so the l-form is сакала.

  5. Дали би сакале да пиете нешто?

    Would you like something to drink?

    Word by Word: Whether would liked to you-drink something?

    Би сакале with Вие makes a polite offer.

  6. Сакаме да резервираме маса за вечерва.

    We want to book a table for this evening.

    Word by Word: We-want to we-book table for this-evening.

    The plain present сакаме is also fine for simple requests like this one.

Common Mistakes

  • Putting a present verb after би.

    Би сакам едно кафе.
    Би сакал едно кафе.

    Би is always followed by the l-form, not by a present verb. A man says би сакал, and a woman says би сакала.

  • Using the masculine l-form when a woman is speaking.

    Јас сум Ана. Би сакал една соба.
    Јас сум Ана. Би сакала една соба.

    The l-form agrees with the speaker. Ana is a woman, so she says би сакала.

  • Leaving out да before the second verb.

    Сакав прашам нешто.
    Сакав да прашам нешто.

    Macedonian has no infinitive, so the second verb needs да in front of it: сакав да прашам.

How It Connects

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

сакав да прашамLevel 3Polite Requests with the Past

Learn This First

Polite requests combine сака да and the conditional.

Words in This Pattern

сакапраша