Difference between "möchte" and "würde"?

Hi there!

What is the difference between "ich möchte gerne" and "ich würde gerne" and when should / could each of them be used?

 

The tutor hasn't answered so I will have a go.
I think most of the time they can be used interchangeably, but Ich  würde gerne is more polite than Ich möchte.
If you use My Vocab to search, the course uses Ich möchte most of the time with only a couple of examples of Ich würde gerne.
Ich möchte is suitable for saying you want things in shops, restaurants and with friends.

Ich möchte  ein Bier - a bit abrupt
Ich möchte ein Bier bitte  or Ich möchte gerne ein Bier - more polite
Ich würde gerne ein bier or  Ich würde gerne ein bier haben - even more polite

Ich würde gerne can be use to say you would like to do things in the future. There is a German with Jenny on this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpzJ4jc5Cwg
You might also find this useful:
https://language101.com/german/how-to-learn-german/when-should-i-say-mochte-wurde-or-hatte/

 

I made a small mistake in my post, Ich würde gerne ein bier  Is not very good, although it would be understood you shouldn't leave out the haben.

Hallo RexV, 

Thanks for asking this question. And thank you sfpugh, for explaining! 

I would just like to add one thing:
"Ich würde gerne" always requires another verb - so the sentence "Ich würde gerne ein Bier" is not correct. You would have to add an infinitive at the end: "Ich würde gerne ein Bier haben". 

Otherwise, sfpugh explained correctly that "ich würde gerne ..." is slightly more polite than "ich möchte" and can be used to talk about things you want to do in the future (e.g. "ich würde gerne nach Amerika reisen" - I would like to travel to America"). 

I hope that makes sense. 

Liebe Grüße, 
Leah von Rocket German