Russian Conditional: бы, я хотел бы and если бы

Russian has one conditional, and it is the easiest form in the language: the past tense plus the little word бы. Я хоте́л бы is I would like. There are no new endings, no person forms and no separate would have.

The whole system on one screen

Colour marks the past-tense ending; the box marks бы:

Past tense plus бы. Everything on this page is that rule in a different setting.

Бы plus the past: one form for every would

Colour marks the past-tense ending; the box marks бы:

Take the past tense and add бы. The past already agrees with gender and number, so the conditional does too:

There is no tense inside it. Я бы сказа́л is I would say, I would tell you and I would have said, all at once:

• Я бы сказа́л, но не зна́ю. - I would tell you, but I don't know.
• Бы́ло бы хорошо́. - It would be good.
• Что бы ты сде́лал? - What would you do? (to a man)

Я хотел бы: the polite request

The box marks бы:

Я хочу́ (I want) is perfectly normal Russian, and less rude than it sounds in English. Я хоте́л бы is softer, and a safe choice in a café, a shop or a ticket office:

• Я хоте́л бы ко́фе. - I'd like a coffee. (a man)
• Я хоте́ла бы чай. - I'd like tea. (a woman)
• Мы хоте́ли бы пойти́ домо́й. - We'd like to go home.
• Я хоте́л бы спроси́ть. - I'd like to ask something.

12

1. 1Я хоте́ла бы чай.
2. 2Я хоте́л бы ко́фе.

The woman: Я хотела бы чай, I'd like tea. The man: Я хотел бы кофе, I'd like a coffee.

The speaker's gender decides the form, because it is a past tense underneath. A woman who says я хоте́л бы sounds as if she is quoting a man.

Вы не могли бы...? Asking politely

The box marks бы:

The politest everyday request is a negative question with бы, could you not...? It sounds odd in English and perfectly natural in Russian. The same request gets softer as it goes:

• Вы не могли́ бы помо́чь? - Could you help?
• Вы не могли́ бы подождать мину́ту? - Could you wait a minute?
• Ты не могла́ бы помо́чь? - Could you help? (to a woman, a friend)

With вы the form is always plural, могли́, whoever you are talking to. With ты it follows the person: ты не мог бы to a man, ты не могла́ бы to a woman.

Если бы: if only, and what would happen

Colour marks the past-tense ending; the box marks бы:

For a condition that is not real (if I knew, but I don't; if I had known, but I didn't), put бы in both halves, and both verbs in the past:

• Е́сли бы я знал, я бы сказа́л. - If I knew, I'd tell you.
• Е́сли бы у меня́ бы́ли де́ньги, я бы купи́л маши́ну. - If I had money, I'd buy a car.
• Е́сли бы не дождь, мы бы пошли́ гуля́ть. - If not for the rain, we'd go for a walk.

The first also means if I had known, I would have told you. A real, open condition takes no бы at all:

• Е́сли ты зна́ешь, скажи́. - If you know, tell me.

The test: could it still happen? Then no бы.

Where бы goes

The box marks бы:

Бы is short and unstressed, and it leans on the word before it. Two positions are the usual ones:

• Я бы сказа́л. - after the first word, the commoner order in speech.
• Я сказа́л бы. - after the verb.
• Е́сли бы я знал... - in an if clause, straight after е́сли.

What it never does is start a sentence. You will also meet it fused into что́бы (что plus бы), which the subordinating conjunctions page covers.

Mistakes English speakers make

A woman who says я хоте́л бы is not making a grammar mistake so much as speaking as a man: the past form agrees with whoever is speaking.

What to do next

1. Order three things aloud with я хоте́л бы or я хоте́ла бы.
2. Ask a stranger for help with Вы не могли́ бы...?
3. Do the drill below.