Breakdown of Je me demandais si ma requête était possible.
je
I
être
to be
mon
my (mon, ma, mes)
possible
possible
si
if
se demander
to wonder
la requête
the request (formal, legal)
Questions & Answers about Je me demandais si ma requête était possible.
Why use the imperfect je me demandais when I am asking the question right now?
This is the imparfait d'atténuation (imperfect of politeness). Even though you are wondering in the present, using the imperfect softens the statement so it doesn't sound too direct or demanding. It mirrors how we use "I was wondering" in English.
Could I use the conditional here, like Je me demanderais, to be polite?
No, that wouldn't sound natural. While we often use the conditional to soften requests with verbs like vouloir (je voudrais) or pouvoir (pourrais-je), the verb se demander relies on the imperfect tense to create that polite distance.
If the request is for right now, why does the second half of the sentence use était instead of est?
This happens because of the sequence of tenses. Since the main verb (demandais) is grammatically in a past tense, the dependent clause must shift to the past as well to match it. Even though your request is still possible in the present, French grammar requires était to agree with the imperfect main clause.
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