When to use it
Use it at a ticket office. For the way back too, ask for "hin und zurück".
The sentence in English: “I would like a one-way ticket to Naples.”
"I would like a one-way ticket to Naples" uses "would like", a polite "want", and "to" for the destination.
- I
- pronounpersonal pronoun, always written with a capital letter
- would
- auxiliary verbwill · form: conditional · with "like" it makes a polite request
- like
- verblike · form: base form (infinitive without "to") · "would like" means "want", said politely
- a
- determinerindefinite article
- one-way
- adjectivecompound adjective; a ticket only for going, not for coming back
- ticket
- nounnoun
- to
- prepositionpreposition of direction
- Naples
- proper nounproper noun; the English name of Napoli
The sentence in German: “Ich hätte gern eine einfache Fahrkarte nach Neapel.”
"Ich hätte gern eine einfache Fahrkarte nach Neapel" uses "hätte gern", a very common polite way to order. "Einfach" (simple) means one-way, and "nach" is used before city names.
- Ich
- pronoun"I"
- hätte
- auxiliary verbhaben · mood: subjunctive II (Konjunktiv II) · person: first · number: singular · "would have"; with "gern" it means "I would like"
- gern
- adverb"gladly"; "hätte gern" = "would like"
- eine
- determinerindefinite article, feminine: "a"
- einfache
- adjective"simple"; "einfache Fahrkarte" = "one-way ticket"
- Fahrkarte
- nounfeminine noun: "ticket" for transport
- nach
- preposition"to" with names of cities and countries
- Neapel
- proper nounGerman name of Naples
What changes from one language to the other: English × German
English "would like" matches German "hätte gern". English says "one-way"; German says "einfach". German uses "nach" for cities, where English uses "to". City names change too: Neapel, Naples.
Example conversation
— Ich hätte gern eine einfache Fahrkarte nach Neapel.
— I would like a one-way ticket to Naples.
— Erste oder zweite Klasse?
— First or second class?