# Θα ήθελα μια μπύρα, παρακαλώ



## silver frog

Hi. A friend of mine wrote this sentence in his journal (just this sentence, nothing else). 

Θα ήθελα μια μπύρα, παρακαλώ

I'm not even sure if it modern or ancient Greek  (he's not a native Greek speaker, so I don't know if the sentence is grammatically correct either). Could you please help me understand what it means? I never studied Greek.

I tried googling it, to check if it is a saying or famous quotation, but with no result. 
I did some lexical research and I think the last term (παρακαλώ) may mean something like "please". I also think the second last word (μπύρα) probably means "beer". 

Can you please help me? Are my guesses correct and what does the sentence mean exactly? Thanks in advance.


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## ireney

Hello 

Good work! The phrase means "I would like a beer, please"


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## silver frog

Thank you very much ireney!


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## Δημήτρης

Unnecessary details:


> I'm not even sure if it modern or ancient Greek (he's not a native Greek speaker, so I don't know if the sentence is grammatically correct either).


Absolutely correct -and overly polite- Modern Greek.


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## silver frog

Δημήτρης said:


> Unnecessary details:
> 
> Absolutely correct -and overly polite- Modern Greek.



Thanks! Is there a more informal way to say the same thing? (i.e. "I'd like a beer now")


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## ireney

I wouldn't call it _overly_ polite. You can easily omit the "please" (παρακαλώ) of course and it would still be polite.


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## Δημήτρης

Well, maybe it is just the "situation" that I have in my mind, but being in a Greek bar and saying "*I would like* a beer, please" sounds funny to me...
If it was "I would like a <insert famous wine here>, please" in a classy French restaurant, it's perfectly OK.


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## silver frog

Thanks for the answers!


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## winegrower

silver frog said:


> Thanks! Is there a more informal way to say the same thing? (i.e. "I'd like a beer now")


"Παλληκάρι, πιάσε μια μπύρα (να πούμε)".  ( Not exactly slang but very colloquial/friendly and certainly non offensive, unless you're in a fancy place!


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## silver frog

winegrower said:


> "Παλληκάρι, πιάσε μια μπύρα (να πούμε)".  ( Not exactly slang but very colloquial/friendly and certainly non offensive, unless you're in a fancy place!



Thank you! What does it mean exactly?


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## w4tt4n4b3

silver frog said:


> Thank you! What does it mean exactly?


If I wanted to translate it I'd write "dude, grab a a beer for me, will you? or something like that. Instead of dude I could say "lad, grab a beer for me..."


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## silver frog

w4tt4n4b3 said:


> If I wanted to translate it I'd write "dude, grab a a beer for me, will you? or something like that. Instead of dude I could say "lad, grab a beer for me..."



I see! Basically the same meaning, but more informal. Thank you very much everyone for the excellent explanations! ^_^


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