Questions & Answers about Da li želite račun za večeru sada?
What does da li mean here?
Da li is a very common way to form a yes/no question in Serbian.
So:
Da li želite račun za večeru sada?
= Do you want / Would you like the bill for dinner now?
It does not translate word-for-word very neatly into English, but its job is simply to mark the sentence as a question.
A very common alternative is:
Želite li račun za večeru sada?
That is also correct and often sounds a bit more compact.
Why is it želite?
Želite is the 2nd person plural present form of želeti (to want, to wish).
It can mean:
- you all want, or
- you want when speaking politely/formally to one person.
In a restaurant, staff usually speak politely to customers, so želite is the expected form.
Compare:
- želiš = you want (informal singular)
- želite = you want (formal singular or plural)
Is želite more polite than hoćete?
Usually, yes.
Both can work in some contexts, but they are not exactly the same in tone:
- želite = more polite, more courteous, more service-style
- = more direct, often more casual