Wishing, politely
I would like to fix the lamp tomorrow.
Left column: the order of the concepts, as chips — the slots you fill (who, action, thing, when) and the fixed words the language adds (a modal, a negator, a question marker). Click a slot, here or in the bar above, to choose what goes in it. Right column: the sentence those concepts make, the other orders the language allows, and the other ways to say it — each with what it changes. The rows are the languages switched on at the top of the page.
Try:
| Language | The order of the concepts | The sentence, other orders, other ways to say it |
|---|---|---|
| EnglishEnglish | would like to modal 'Would' is the conditional: it turns a statement of will into a wish that has not been granted yet. That distance is the politeness. The verb never changes: would like, for everyone. | I would like to fix the lamp tomorrow. Other ways to say it I'd like to fix the lamp tomorrow. polite the spoken form: I'd like to. Same politeness, less stiff. I would love to fix the lamp tomorrow. polite warmer and more eager — an answer to an invitation more than a request. |
| FrançaisFrench | voudrais modal The conditional of vouloir: je voudrais. The politeness is the conditional ending (-rais) — the same ending that makes 'would'. | demain Après-demain = the day after tomorrow. Je voudrais réparer la lampe demain. Other ways to say it J’aimerais réparer la lampe demain. polite “I would love” j’aimerais — warmer, and more of a hope than a request: what you say about something you may not get. |
| EspañolSpanish | me modalgustaría modal Me gustaría is built like me gusta: the thing 'would please' me, so the person is a dative (me, le, nos, les) and the verb stays gustaría whoever wishes. For a noun: a mi hermano le gustaría — the a-phrase and the le both name him. | mañana Also 'morning' (la mañana): mañana por la mañana = tomorrow morning. Pasado mañana = the day after tomorrow. Me gustaría arreglar la lámpara mañana. Other ways to say it Quisiera arreglar la lámpara mañana. polite “I would want” quisiera — the past subjunctive of querer. More formal and more deferential: the request at a counter or in a letter, and said of yourself — of someone else it sounds like a wish they cannot have. |
Hover a word to see which concept it fills. The verb is always in its dictionary form: every pattern here is built on a modal, which carries the person and the tense, so any verb stays grammatical in every language. Where the modal is an ending (Korean, Japanese, Hindi's 'can'), the stem is computed. What this cannot show is agreement beyond the modal — adjectives, plural objects — which the grammar chapters cover.
For the same idea said at three levels of politeness, see Compare.