When to use it
Use it when looking for a cooking class or talking about your hobbies.
“I want to learn to cook traditional dishes.” · The sentence in English
"I want to learn to cook traditional dishes" links verbs with "to": want to learn, learn to cook.
- I
- pronounpersonal pronoun, always written with a capital letter
- want
- verbwant · tense: present · person: first · number: singular · followed by "to" + verb
- to
- particleinfinitive marker before the verb
- learn
- verblearn · form: base form (infinitive without "to") · after "to"
- to
- particleinfinitive marker before the verb
- cook
- verbcook · form: base form (infinitive without "to") · after "to"
- traditional
- adjectiveadjective
- dishes
- nounplural noun; prepared food
“Ich möchte lernen, traditionelle Gerichte zu kochen.” · The sentence in German
"Ich möchte lernen, traditionelle Gerichte zu kochen" uses "möchte", softer than "will". After "lernen" comes a comma and an infinitive group with "zu" at its end: "…Gerichte zu kochen".
- Ich
- pronoun"I"
- möchte
- auxiliary verbmögen · mood: subjunctive II (Konjunktiv II) · person: first · number: singular · "would like"; the usual polite way to say what you want
- lernen
- verblernen · form: infinitive · "to learn"
- traditionelle
- adjective"traditional", plural ending -e
- Gerichte
- nounneuter plural noun: "dishes" (food)
- zu
- particle"to" before an infinitive, after a comma
- kochen
- verbkochen · form: infinitive · "to cook"
What changes from one language to the other · English × German
English puts "to" right before "cook"; German puts "zu" before "kochen" at the end of the group and separates it with a comma. German "ich will" can sound blunt, so "ich möchte" is the usual choice.
Example conversation
— Ich möchte lernen, traditionelle Gerichte zu kochen.
— I want to learn to cook traditional dishes.
— Hier gibt es jeden Samstag einen Kochkurs.
— There is a cooking class here every Saturday.