Present Simple

[jayjay]

Can anyone help with the following..
Is this sentence expressing desire in present simple...'I would like a tea'.
IE it means you would like tea now even though the now is not stated.

Thanks.

[Juanes]

I agree. And a native speaker would say: I'd like some tea. Or I would like some tea.

[matter]

Is this sentence expressing desire in present simple...'I would like a tea'.
IE it means you would like tea now even though the now is not stated.

Not necessarily. Consider the following:
- What would you like for breakfast tomorrow?
- I would like a full English breakfast.

Your sentence ("'I would like a tea") may well be referring to the present but only by the context would we know it.

[danielinbo]

Pardon me, but it's not the Present Simple anyway.

"I like tea" is the Present Simple.

"I would like a tea" or varients thereof (I might like a tea, I should like a tea) is a construction with a modal verb and the bare infinitive.

But yes, you have the meaning sussed. It's most likely to be a request form, a synonym of:
"I will have a tea", "Can I have a tea?" and so on.

Unless, of course, there's some sentence stress on "would", like this:
"I WOULD like a tea"
which sort of suggests that none is available or that circumstances don't allow it..

Hope that helps..