Breakdown of Želela bih da prijavim gubitak svoje debitne kartice.
biti
to be
da
that
hteti
would like
svoj
my
Questions & Answers about Želela bih da prijavim gubitak svoje debitne kartice.
Why is it želela bih instead of just želim?
Želela bih means I would like, which is a polite, softened way to make a request.
- želim = I want
- želela bih = I would like
In places like a bank, police station, or customer service desk, želela bih sounds more natural and courteous than želim.
Also, želela bih is specifically the female form. A male speaker would say želeo bih.
Does želela mean the speaker is female?
Yes. In this sentence, želela shows that the speaker is female.
Serbian often marks gender in past-participle-based forms like this one:
- želela bih = a woman saying I would like
- želeo bih = a man saying I would like
So if a man were speaking, the sentence would be:
Želeo bih da prijavim gubitak svoje debitne kartice.
What exactly does bih mean here?
Bih is the auxiliary used to form the conditional, the equivalent of would in English.
So:
- želela = wanted / wished
- bih = would