Questions & Answers about Vem skulle vilja betala notan?
Why do we use skulle vilja instead of just vill here?
Skulle vilja translates directly to "would like". Using skulle (would) makes the question much more polite and less direct than asking Vem vill betala notan? (Who wants to pay the bill?). This is the standard way to express polite requests or wishes in Swedish.
Why are there two verbs in their infinitive form (vilja and betala) in a row?
Skulle is a helping verb, and it forces the next verb into its infinitive (dictionary) form, which is vilja. Then, vilja is also a helping verb that takes an infinitive, so the main action verb betala (to pay) also stays in the infinitive. They just stack up!
Since this is a question, shouldn't the verb come first? Why isn't it "Skulle vem..."?
When a question word like vem (who) is the subject of the sentence, it goes in the first position, and the verb comes second. This is just like in English: we say "Who would like to pay?" not "Would who like to pay?".
Is notan the only word for "the bill"? I thought "a bill" was en räkning.