„Ich hätte“ oder „ich hatte“ [closed]

Question

I have translated both hatte and hätte and it says would have. Do these words have some differences? I have searched other questions and saw that the words really exist, initially my thought was that it was a typo.

So is it (The only instance where I come across this word is at a restaurant)

Ich hätte gerne or ich hatte gerne?

I have also seen words like konnen/könnten (suppose both these words also mean the same, correct me if I am wrong).

So how does these words differ from each other?

Please give examples to explain the difference.

Answer 1

These are different conjugations. Usually, verbs endind -te are written in their preterite form (past form). Umlauts ¨(ä, ö, ü) are usually used for the conditional of the verb, and change the pronunciation of the vowel.

Present:

I have = ich habe
I can = ich kann

Preterite:

I had = ich hatte
I could = ich konnte

Conditional:

I would have = Ich hätte
I (possibly) could = Ich könnte

In restaurants, it is usual to use the conditional to speak in a more polite way.

Gern means that you like or would like to do/have sth.

Ich schwimme gern = I like to swim (present)
Ich hatte gern = I liked to have (preterite, because of hatte and not habe)
Ich hätte gern = I would like to have (conditional)