Breakdown of Я хотел бы столик с видом и стакан воды.
и
and
вода
water
я
I
хотеть
to want
с
with (also со)
бы
would (conditional particle) / concessive particle
столик
small table
вид
view
стакан
glass
Questions & Answers about Я хотел бы столик с видом и стакан воды.
Why does the sentence use the past tense хотел if I am asking for something right now?
The combination of the past tense verb хотел and the particle бы creates the conditional mood. This is the standard, polite Russian equivalent of "I would like." Using the present tense я хочу (I want) would sound too blunt and demanding for a restaurant. Note that a female speaker would say я хотела бы.
Why are столик and стакан not in the Accusative case, since they are the things I would like?
They actually are in the Accusative case because they are the direct objects of your request. However, because both words are masculine and inanimate (not alive), their Accusative forms look exactly the same as their standard dictionary (Nominative) forms.
Why do we say с видом instead of с вид?
The preposition с (when it means "with") requires the noun that follows it to be in the Instrumental case. The masculine noun вид (view) takes the ending -ом to become видом.
Why is the word for water spelled воды here?
Воды is the Genitive case form of вода (water). In Russian, whenever you talk about a container or measure of something, like стакан (a glass), the substance inside must be in the Genitive case to express "of" — literally, "a glass of water".
Is there a difference between asking for a стол and a столик?
Yes! Столик is the diminutive form of стол (table), literally meaning "little table". In Russian cafes and restaurants, it is much more natural and polite to ask for a столик rather than a regular стол.
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