{"id":6862,"date":"2014-08-14T13:28:04","date_gmt":"2014-08-14T13:28:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/?p=6862"},"modified":"2014-08-15T09:09:06","modified_gmt":"2014-08-15T09:09:06","slug":"i-would-like","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/i-would-like\/","title":{"rendered":"I Would Like …"},"content":{"rendered":"

Very often when learning Italian you\u2019ll find that a simple English phrase can be translated in several ways depending on the context. Here\u2019s a classic example: in English, the expression \u2018I would like\u2019 can cover the following situations:<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> I would like<\/u> to learn Italian
2.<\/strong> I would like<\/u> a good Italian dictionary please
3.<\/strong> I would like<\/u> to go to Siena
4.<\/strong> I would like<\/u> a ticket to Siena please<\/p>\n

In Italian, however, the above phrases use two different expressions. Let\u2019s have a look at the translations:<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> I would like<\/u> to learn Italian
mi piacerebbe<\/u> imparare l\u2019Italiano<\/strong><\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> I would like<\/u> a good Italian dictionary please
vorrei<\/u> un buon vocabolario della lingua italiana per favore<\/strong><\/p>\n

3.<\/strong> I would like<\/u> to go to Siena
mi piacerebbe<\/u> visitare Siena<\/strong><\/p>\n

4.<\/strong> I would like<\/u> a ticket to Siena please
vorrei<\/u> un biglietto per Siena per favore<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\"Siena<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
I would like<\/u> a ticket to Siena please = vorrei<\/u> un biglietto per Siena per favore. <\/strong>Photo: Piazza del Campo, Siena (CC) by Phillip Capper.<\/font><\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

As you can see, whereas in English we can use the conditional \u2018would like\u2019 in all four sentences, in Italian we differentiate between what we would like<\/u> by using the verb piacere<\/strong>, and what we would want\/need<\/u> by using the verb volere<\/strong>. N.B. If you still get confused about the correct use of piacere<\/strong> to express the concept \u2018to like\u2019, then I suggest that you brush up by reading<\/font><\/em> this useful blog on the topic<\/em><\/font><\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

It certainly helps to understand when you need to use piacere<\/strong> and when to use volere<\/strong> if you remember that mi piacerebbe<\/strong> literally means \u2018it would please me\u2019, and vorrei<\/strong> means \u2018I would want\/need\/require\/desire\/wish\u2019. Let\u2019s try and make sense of this by having another look at examples 1. and 2.<\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> I would like<\/u> to learn Italian
mi piacerebbe<\/u> imparare l\u2019italiano<\/strong>, literally: it would please me<\/u> to learn Italian<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> I would like<\/u> a good Italian dictionary
vorrei<\/u> un buon vocabolario della lingua italiana per favore<\/strong>, literally: I would want\/require<\/u> a good Italian dictionary please<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n

As you can see, vorrei<\/strong> is most commonly used in a formal situation where we want to ask for something politely:<\/p>\n

vorrei delle banane per favore<\/strong> = I\u2019d like some bananas please
vorrei un bicchiere d\u2019acqua per favore<\/strong> = I\u2019d like a glass of water please<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\"glass<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
vorrei un bicchiere d\u2019acqua per favore<\/strong> = I\u2019d like a glass of water please. Photo (CC) by ps50mm<\/font><\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

and, of course, it changes depending on the person or people doing the wanting\/needing:<\/p>\n

vorremmo un tavolo per quattro per favore<\/strong> = we\u2019d like a table for four please
vorrebbero una camera per due notti<\/strong> = they\u2019d like a room for two nights<\/p>\n

we can also use the imperfect tense of volere<\/strong> to express the same concept:<\/p>\n

volevo<\/u> due etti di Parmigiano per favore<\/strong> = I\u2019d like<\/u> two hundred grams of Parmesan please, literally: <\/font>I was wanting<\/u> two hundred grams \u2026
<\/font><\/em>volevamo<\/u> due biglietti per Pisa per favore<\/strong> = we\u2019d like<\/u> two tickets for Pisa please, literally: <\/font>we were wanting<\/u> two tickets<\/font> \u2026<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Very often when learning Italian you\u2019ll find that a simple English phrase can be translated in several ways depending on the context. Here\u2019s a classic example: in English, the expression \u2018I would like\u2019 can cover the following situations: 1. I would like to learn Italian 2. I would like a good Italian dictionary please 3…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":90,"featured_media":6871,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[351061],"class_list":["post-6862","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-grammar","tag-italian-conditional-tense"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/90"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6862"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6862\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6874,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6862\/revisions\/6874"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}