Thread: want

What is the right word for , to want
I've seen two very different words that are supposed to mean the same thing.

To want - хотеть, желать.

There are 3 ways to say, for example, "I want to buy this book".
1. Я желаю купить эту книгу. (sounds a little snobish)
2. Я хочy купить эту книгу. (good, but a little rude)
3. Я бы хотел(а) купить эту книгу. (excellent)

Russian "Я бы хотел..." is very polite and common form, it's equal to English "I'd like to..."

By the way, "Я хочy." (without definition what you want) means "I'm horny". So be carefull.

You can also say "mne hochetsya..."

Mne hochetsya posmotret' futbol.

One book told me that to want was чинить.
So what does чинить mean?

Naah, чинить means 'fix, repair, mend etc.'

what the crap is up with that....man how could you confuse the two?

You can also use "чинть" in this context: "Он всегда чинит скандалы" - "He always makes scandals".
May be that's what your book meant - like he wants scandals.

Someone teach me how to use Бы.

@Dogboy: У тебя coursebook нет? I think that every book will explain бы and it's usage.

lol, i think it's pretty obvious i don't have a coursebook.

@Jasper: There's been like hundreds of posts over the past months where some reference was made to "Hey, Dogboy, go buy a book!"

Basic usage:
бы + past tense form

Я бы хотел...
I would like

Было бы здорово, если бы ты завтра пришел.
It would be really nice if you came tomorrow.

Я бы тебе помогал, если бы ты не так подлым был.
I would help you if you weren't so mean.