Si vous voudriez - French Mistake

Mistakes will always be made in French, and now you can learn from them.

Wrong: Si vous voudriez

Right: Si vous voulez

Explanation: In English, "I would like" is softer and more polite than "I want," and French has a similar distinction: je voudrais and je veux. So English speakers wanting to say "if you like" often come up with "si vous voudriez." However, si cannot be followed by the conditional - you can only say si vous voulez. Likewise for "si je voudrais" > si je veux and "si tu voudrais" > si tu veux.

Related lessons: Si | Vouloir | Conditional | Politeness