To like as in requesting

Question

What would be the correct way to ask "I would like to reserve a table for dinner"? As I am confused between Gustaria and Quisiera.

welcome to the forum, :) - 006595c6, Jul 28, 2017

Answer 1

Hi trevor, welcome to SD.

Well, both would work beautifully.

me gustaría reservar una mesa para cenar,

Quisiera reservar una mesa para cenar.

also:

Me gustaría/quisiera hacer una reserva para dos /tres etc para esta noche.

Depending on how many of you will go to the dinner.

:) - FELIZ77, Jul 30, 2017

Answer 2

Heidita's answer is probably all you need to know. However, I will throw in one extra little tidbit that I have learned.

Me gustaría is the conditional form of gustar.

Quisiera is the past / imperfect subjunctive of querer (to want)

Why isn't querría (the conditional form of querer) used instead?

To be honest, I'm not sure why but from prior threads here on SD it just isn't . One member said he didn't think he used the word "querría" since 1976.

It is approved (by the RAE, the Spanish grammar police) to use quisiera (the imperfect subjunctive) as a substitute for querría in this and in conditional (si) sentences. When used in this way, it has a conditional meaning even though it is imperfect subjunctive.

Opinions differ, but I have heard that quisiera can have almost an apologetic tone and is very widely used both for polite requests and when asking for big favors.

:) - FELIZ77, Jul 30, 2017

Answer 3

Me gustaría is in conditional tense and means would like.

Quisiera comes from the verb querer , which means want. It . is used mostly in the same circumstances as Me Gustaría but it's not conditional. It's past subjunctive. Since the subjunctive is not very much used in English, it's difficult to translate.

Anyway, Me gustaría or Quisiera could both be used to say "would like" or for polite requests with almost the same meaning among native Spanish speakers.

Me gustaría una habitación grande por favor. Quisiera una habitación grande por favor.

I'm going to give you a third one that could be used too. I'm not sure if it's the correct grammatical tense but it's commonly used.

Querría una habitación por favor. (don't use it but don't be surprised if you hear it)