# BCS - would like to know



## qwqwqw

Dobar dan,

Kako se na BCSM kaže "I would like to know..."?  *Ja bih želil da znam/znati*... ili možda samo *ja bih da znam*?

Unaprijed hvala.


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## slavic_one

Želio/Htio bih znati./ Želio/Hteo bih da znam.


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## Vanja

Ja bih želeo/la da znam....
Voleo/la bih da znam...
Hteo/la bih da znam....

or želeo/voleo/hteo bih znati...

(ja bih da znam - not impossible tho)


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## qwqwqw

Vanja said:


> (ja bih da znam - not impossible tho)



That's how I saw it in a news piece.  Thought it might be a mistake.


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## Duya

It's sort of shorthand to drop "volio/želio"  (but it must be followed by da+present, not an infinitive):

_Ja bih da plešem ~ Pleše mi se_ 'I feel like dancing'


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## qwqwqw

Oh, so one can't use this in a formal letter like for example "I would like to know your office hours".  It means "feel like knowing" rather than "would like to know".  This is good to know.  Thank you.


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## itreius

qwqwqw said:


> That's how I saw it in a news piece.  Thought it might be a mistake.



Could you give the context? I'm asking because for me the above meaning (_I would like to know_) is unnatural and because it might have meant something completely different depending on the sentence. I'd always interpret it as _I would if I knew_ (i.e. _Ja bih da znam kako_ -> _I would if I knew how_).


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## qwqwqw

"Zovem se... i ja bih da znam kako stvari funkcionišu. Mašine, planete, ljudsko  tijelo, ljudski um, društvo, prirodne sile, svijet sve... Nemam i  vjerovatno nikad neću imati sve odgovore, ali to me ne sprječava da  pitam“


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## itreius

Oh, that _is_ indeed the meaning that's being discussed in this thread. I didn't know it was common. Sorry for derailing.


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## qwqwqw

You mean "feel like" rather than "would like to"?


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## itreius

The sentence you copy-pasted has the "right" meaning, the one Vanja mentioned and the one you were asking for (_would like to know_).


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## Duya

I was the one who introduced 'I feel like' into perspective. However, it was a broad statement and should be put in context: _I feel like knowing_ is not really a meaningful statement in any language, is it? Thus, the only sensible reading of _Ja bih da znam_ is 'I'd like to know'.


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## qwqwqw

That's true.  I just wanted to be sure.
................

Thank you all for your help.  So long.


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