Hello Friends:
As you can tell by my greeting, I’m in the very early stages of learning Portuguese. I hope to be contributing my forum posts in written Portuguese (even if badly written Portuguese!) before long.
Until then, however, I have a question about when to use the conditional of a verb versus the imperfect. I see this topic was covered by @ward.edan back in October, but the conversation is entirely in Portuguese and - hey - beginner
What I’m most trying to understand is: How would I politely ask for something, say, in a restaurant or a hotel?
i.e. I would like white wine.
Would I use the Conditional, as in: Eu gostaria…
Or would I use the Imperfect, as in: Eu gostava…
I see that the conditional is not included in the verb conjugations here https://www.practiceportuguese.com/verb . But I read in “Portuguese Verbs and Essentials of Gramma” (Tyson-Ward) that the Imperfect is often used in place of the conditional in conversation. So, is the conditional seen as sort of formal and stuffy? Help!
Obrigada!
Rachel in Toronto