Learn Hardcore Swedish: Skulle du vilja titta på min bok nu? - Would you like to look at my book now?

Skulle du vilja is a softer, more polite way to ask, similar to English would you like to. Vill du is direct and perfectly fine, but it can sound a bit more blunt. Use:

Vill du titta på min bok nu? = Do you want to…? (direct)
Skulle du vilja titta på min bok nu? = Would you like to…? (polite, inviting)

Is skulle a past tense? Why use a “past” form for a present-time request?

Yes, skulle is historically the past (preterite) of ska, but in modern Swedish it’s also used for hypotheticals and to soften requests—much like English would. It doesn’t put the action in the past here; it just makes the question more tentative and polite.

Why is it vilja (infinitive) and not vill?

Because skulle is the finite verb here. In combinations like this, the next verb appears in the infinitive:

Skulle du vilja … (would you like to…) By contrast, without skulle you’d conjugate vilja:
Vill du … (do you want to…)

Why is there no att before titta?

After modal-like verbs (ska, vill, kan, måste) and in the formula skulle vilja, Swedish normally omits att before the infinitive:

Skulle du vilja titta … (not Skulle du vilja att titta …) Use att only when introducing a full clause:
Skulle du vilja att jag tittar på din bok? (…that I look at your book)

Why titta på? Should it be titta i or läsa for a book?

titta på = look at (the object or its exterior/appearance)
titta i = look in/through (browse the contents)
läsa (i) = read (from/in) the book If you want someone to examine the content, titta i min bok or bläddra i min bok is often more natural than titta på min bok.

Could I use se or kolla instead of titta?

se (på) is more neutral/less effortful than titta and is common with things you watch (se/titta på TV). With a book, se på min bok is possible but less idiomatic than titta på or titta i.
kolla (på/i) is colloquial: Vill du kolla i min bok nu?
kika (på/i) is also casual and gentle: Skulle du vilja kika i min bok?

Does nu have to be at the end? Can I move it?

Nu commonly appears toward the end in this kind of question, and that’s the most neutral: Skulle du vilja titta på min bok nu? You can front it for emphasis (Nu, skulle du …?), but that sounds marked or rhetorical. Keep it at the end in normal speech.

Why is it min bok and not min boken or mitt bok?

bok is an en-word (common gender): en bok → min bok.
With a possessive (min/mitt/mina), you do not add the definite suffix: min bok (not min boken).
Plural: mina böcker. Ett-word example: ett hus → mitt hus.

What’s the word order doing here?

Yes/no questions put the finite verb first. Here the finite verb is skulle:

Statement: Du skulle vilja titta på min bok nu.
Question: Skulle du vilja titta på min bok nu? Then comes the subject (du) and the rest of the verb chain (vilja titta …).

Can I say Skulle du titta på min bok nu? without vilja or kunna?

That’s not the usual way to make a polite request. Skulle du titta … tends to feel incomplete or hypothetical (e.g., Skulle du titta … om jag bad dig?). For requests, use Skulle du vilja … or Skulle du kunna …

Difference between Skulle du vilja … and Skulle du kunna …?

Skulle du vilja … = Would you like to … (asks about willingness/desire; inviting)
Skulle du kunna … = Could you … (asks about ability; classic polite request) Both are polite; kunna can sound slightly more formal/service-oriented.

How do I add “please” in Swedish?

Swedish often uses phrasing rather than a direct “please.” Your sentence with skulle du vilja is already polite. Options:

Kan/Skulle du vara snäll och titta på min bok nu?
…, tack. (added as a separate politeness marker in speech: Skulle du vilja titta på min bok nu? Tack.) Avoid overusing snälla in adult contexts; it can sound child-directed or pleading.

How do people answer politely?

Positive: Ja, gärna. / Ja, det vill jag. / Absolut.
Negative: Nej, tyvärr inte. / Inte just nu, tyvärr. / Kanske senare. Gärna means “gladly,” which fits very well after a skulle du vilja question.

Should I ever use ni instead of du here?

For one person, modern Swedish defaults to du. Ni is plural you. Singular Ni exists in some service contexts for formality, but it can feel old-fashioned or regionally marked. For normal interaction, stick to du: Skulle du vilja …