GrammarA2· Reisen & Hotel

Konjunktiv II: höfliche Bitten und Wünsche

Polite requests and wishes: could and would

Kartoffel · your teacher

Hi! Let's look at this one together — step by step, no rush.

6 parts · about 5 min

1What & when

In one line

To ask politely, use könnte, hätte gern, wäre or würde gern.

Before

Rufen Sie mir ein Taxi!

Watch the sentence change …

The command becomes a polite question. Könnten comes first, and rufen goes to the end.

„Könnten Sie mir bitte ein Taxi rufen?“ — Could you call me a taxi, please?

Kartoffel

First, what is it?

The is a special verb form. Germans use it for wishes, polite requests and things they imagine. It's German's 'could' and 'would'. You already know one form: möchte (would like). Now come könnte, hätte, wäre and würde.

Kartoffel

And when do you need it? More often than you'd think:

Reisen & HotelYou need it when you ask strangers for something and want to sound friendly. At a hotel you need it all the time. You ask for a quiet room, or whether a room is still free. You ask someone to repair the heating. You complain about a cold shower without a fight. Ich will ein Zimmer sounds like a demand. Ich hätte gern ein Zimmer sounds polite.

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