Polite Form of mögen - Ich möchte

The expression Ich möchte (I would like...) is used in so many everyday speaking scenarios, it might well be called the most useful expression in German, especially for tourists attempting to express a wish or intention when shopping, dining, purchasing transportation tickets, etc. Above all, it is the "go to" expression when one wants to be polite when making any kind of request.

Think about the difference in meaning between the two sentences below:

I want a coke.
I would like a coke.

Which option is more polite?

In English when people want to make a request sound extra polite, they add would to the sentence. In German you would change mögen / mag (like) to möchten (would like).

I would like = Ich möchte

Möchten is called a modal verb (a special type of verb). You will learn more about modal verbs in your German II course. For now all you have to learn what möchten means and how it is conjugated. Just like mögen, the first (ich) and third person singular (er, sie, es) forms are the same; let's listen and then look at how we conjugate this helping verb:

Practice Activity

Listen to Clara as she states what she would like to eat. Then test yourself.

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