A2 · Can, must, want
Asking politely
«I would like», «could you», «may I» — three for three.
At a glance
- Remember
- voudrais is «would like»; puis-je is «may I».
- Form
- je voudraisI would like
- Signal words
- voudrais
- pourriez
- puis-je
- auriez
- Trap
- Wrong:Je veux un billet pour Lyon.Right:Je voudrais un billet pour Lyon.
Your turn
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The form
How the forms are built
Each row gives the meaning first, then the form in French. The colours show what changes from one form to the next.
stem (irregular) tense marker person ending
| I would like | je voudrais |
| you would like | tu voudrais |
| he would like | il voudrait |
| we would like | nous voudrions |
| you would like (plural, polite) | vous voudriez |
| they would like | ils voudraient |
| I could | je pourrais |
| you could | tu pourrais |
| he could | il pourrait |
| we could | nous pourrions |
| you could (relaxed) | vous pourriez |
| they could | ils pourraient |
| could you | pourriez-vous |
| may I | puis-je |
| would you have | auriez-vous |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
A wish goes in the conditional: je voudrais, not je veux.
Je voudrais un café, s’il vous plaît.I would like a coffee, please.
Inverting verb and pronoun makes the question formal.
Pourriez-vous répéter ?Could you repeat that?
puis-je exists only in questions and only formally.
Puis-je entrer ?May I come in?
A request without s’il vous plaît sounds clipped.
Je voudrais l’addition, s’il vous plaît.I would like the bill, please.
Example sentences
Je voudrais réserver une table pour deux.I would like to book a table for two.
Pourriez-vous m’indiquer la gare ?Could you show me the way to the station?
Puis-je vous poser une question ?May I ask you a question?
Auriez-vous de la monnaie ?Would you have any change?
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
Je veux is grammatically correct and socially wrong in a shop — the form a child uses while stamping a foot. Adults say je voudrais. The difference is not politeness added on top but the form that is expected at all, and English works identically: «I want the bill» is not a blunter version of «I'd like the bill», it is a different kind of sentence.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
The present tense of the modals is blunt in French: je veux is «I want», and ordering that way earns a look. The request goes in the conditional: je voudrais, «I would like». English has the same pair and the same social weight — «I want a coffee» at a counter is rude in both languages, and for the same reason.
For a question to somebody else there is pourriez-vous, «could you». The inversion of verb and pronoun makes it formal; vous pourriez with a rising tone is the same sentence one notch more relaxed, exactly as «you could just...» is softer than «could you...».
For your own permission there is puis-je, an old form of pouvoir that survives only in questions. It maps onto «may I» rather than «can I», including the register: overdone in a shop, right in an office.
So the three rungs line up one for one: je voudraiseverywherepourriez-vouswith strangerspuis-jeonly where you would say «may I» This is the page where an English speaker's social ear can be trusted directly.
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The verbs on this page, in every form: pouvoir · vouloir · avoir · indiquer · poser · plaire · entrer · répéter