“I would like to”

Question

In this exercise, I wrote “Je tiens à” instead of “J'aimerais” and this was not an accepted alternative.

Céline Pickard · Accepted Answer

Bonjour Amelia,
While "Je tiens à" and "J'aimerais" can both express desire or intention, they aren't really interchangeable. "J'aimerais" directly translates to "I would like to", which is a polite, hypothetical way to express a wish or request.
"Je tiens à +[infinitive verb]" is a really good expression to use in French. It's more formal and emphatic, often used to stress how much something matters to you. However, it is not the same as saying "I would like to":

Tenir à + [infinitive verb] = to want to do [something]
                or (more strongly) to be keen / to be anxious to do [something]

I hope this is helpful.
Bonne journée !