Breakdown of Je voudrais payer, est-ce que c'est possible ?
je
I
être
to be
ce
it / this (with être)
est-ce que
is it that / do / does (question marker)
vouloir
to want
payer
to pay
possible
possible
je voudrais
I would like
Questions & Answers about Je voudrais payer, est-ce que c'est possible ?
Why is payer not conjugated here?
When you use je voudrais (I would like) followed by an action, that second verb stays in its original dictionary form, called the infinitive. Here, payer means to pay. It works just like English: you say I would like to pay, rather than conjugating the second verb.
Is it wrong to say Je veux payer instead?
What exactly is est-ce que doing in the second half of the sentence?
Est-ce que is a standard phrase used to turn a normal statement into a yes/no question. The statement here is c'est possible (it is possible). By adding est-ce que to the front of it, you easily flip it into the question is it possible?
Why is it written as c'est instead of ce est?
When the short word ce (it/this) comes right before a word starting with a vowel, like est (is), the first vowel is dropped and replaced with an apostrophe. So ce and est combine to make c'est. This makes the words flow together smoothly when speaking.
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