A2 · Can, want, must · about 4 minutes
Asking politely
Where English reaches for « would », this reaches for a past tense.
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“New to me”: the explanation first, then practice. “Test myself”: 3 short questions – get at least two right and you go straight to the harder exercises.
Words you will need1
They appear in this topic’s examples and exercises and are new at this point on the learning path.
- entrarto go in
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Understand
RememberWhoever wants something says queria; the imperfect here is politeness, not time.
- Signal words
- queria
- podia
- poderia
- posso
- tinha
The form
How the forms are built
Each row gives the meaning first, then the form in Portuguese. The colours show what changes from one form to the next.
stem (regular) tense marker person ending
| I would like | (eu) queria |
| you would like | (tu) querias |
| he / she would like, you would like | (ele / ela / você) queria |
| we would like | (nós) queríamos |
| you would like, plural and formal | (vós) queríeis |
| they would like, you would like (plural) | (eles / elas / vocês) queriam |
| I could | (eu) poderia |
| you could | (tu) poderias |
| he / she could, you could | (ele / ela / você) poderia |
| we could | (nós) poderíamos |
| you could, plural and formal | (vós) poderíeis |
| they could, you could (plural) | (eles / elas / vocês) poderiam |
| I would like | queria |
| could you | podia |
| could you (formal) | poderia |
| may I | posso |
| would you have | tinha |
| would you give me | dava-me |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
The request goes in the imperfect, not the present.
Queria um café, se faz favor.I would like a coffee, please.
podia asks, poderia asks formally.
Podia repetir?Could you say that again?
posso with a questioning tone asks permission.
Posso entrar?May I come in?
se faz favor at the end, or it sounds curt.
Queria a conta, se faz favor.I would like the bill, please.
Example sentences
Queria reservar uma mesa para dois.I would like to book a table for two.
Podia indicar-me a estação?Could you point me to the station?
Posso fazer-lhe uma pergunta?May I ask you a question?
1 more example sentences
Tinha trocos?Would you have any change?
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
Read queria as a past tense and you understand I wanted and wonder why the waiter brings it anyway. It is a request in the present, dressed in the form of the past — the same trick English plays with « I was wondering if you could », where nobody is talking about yesterday either.
Quick check
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Practise
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The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
Quero means I want, and ordering that way earns a look. The request goes in the imperfect: queria. It is not a past tense — it is the polite form, and in everyday speech it is commoner than the Condicional.
English builds its politeness out of « would »: « I would like », « would you mind », « I was wondering whether ». Portuguese has a conditional too and could use it, and in writing it does — gostaria de, poderia. Across a counter it reaches one step further back instead, into the imperfect, and that step is the one an English speaker does not expect.
Addressed to someone else: podia — also imperfect — or poderia in the conditional, one degree more formal. For your own permission posso with a questioning tone is enough in any register.
And one phrase softens any request: se faz favor or por favor at the end.
The verbs on this page, in every form: poder · fazer · querer · ter · entrar · repetir · reservar