"Ils souhaiteraient signer ce contrat rapidement."

Translation: They would like to sign this contract quickly.

[jayaoyama]

souhaiter ≠ to like

[Andre872035]

It expresses intention, same way as English "would like"

[TimmyKilminster]

Exactly: "they would wish" sounds strange.

(Though not as strange as some of the accepted options, which include "They would like swiftly signing that agreement.")

[--Roody--]

I think we should get used to the fact that the conditional souhaiter is best translated as "would like". This might be counterintuitive, but it's a fact.

[Dave962976]

Yes, this is really confusing. It always seems to be defined elsewhere as "to wish". I guess it makes sense as a loose translation, but "loose" translations are usually WRONG in Duo. Has anyone tried "would wish"?

[Angela470035]

It accepted it today 30 March 2021.

[Dave962976]

Thank you Angela!

[SallyGreen3]

audio could easily be singular not plural yet il souhaiterait signer ce contrat rapidement was rejected.

[malabhargava]

I used hope, to my regret

[Andre872035]

Indeed, "They hoped to sign this contract quickly" gives slightly different hue to it; something that maybe didn't happen even if they had such a wish: in French it would correspond to "Ils espéraient signer ce contrat rapidement"

[effyleven]

How often will I have to spell "souhaiteraient" in real life?
Any workarounds? (I am only half joking.)

[dospescados]

Does this work" They would hope to sign this contract quickly"?

[MichaelHaa65689]

is there an acoustical difference between "il souhaiterait" and "ils souhaiteraient"? If not, shouldn't both be accepted?

[David219902]

Why does rapidement not come immediately after the verb?

[TimmyKilminster]

They seem to prefer to put multisyllabic adverbs at the end.

[Martyn413385]

..use a fast pen? Alternatively sign it as soon as possible.