Querer Conjugation in Spanish, Translation, Examples

The Spanish verb querer is a common verb that means to want, to wish, to love or to like, and its conjugation is highly irregular. Both its stem and endings often depart from the norm in unpredictable ways. This article includes querer conjugations in the present, past, conditional and future indicative, the present and past subjunctive, the imperative, and other verb forms. There are only three verbs that are conjugated in the same way as querer, and all three are derived from it: bienquerer (to like or be fond of), desquerer (to cease wanting or loving) and malquerer (to dislike). None of them are particularly common. Using the Verb Querer The verb querer can be translated to English in several different ways. The most common meaning is to want or to wish, as in El nià ±o quiere muchos regalos para su cumpleaà ±os (The boy wants a lot of presents for his birthday), or Ella quiere que todos los nià ±os sean felices (She wishes for all children to be happy). When used with people (or pets), the verb querer can also mean to love. Although the verb amar means to love, it is often used in more profound or romantic relationships. You can use the verb querer as in Quiero mucho a mi mejor amigo (I really love my best friend) or La nià ±a quiere a sus maestros (The girl loves her teachers). In the last example, querer has a connotation of to appreciate more than to love. Also, notice that when used in this way with people or pets, the personal a is always used before the direct object. Querer Present Indicative In the present indicative tense, the verb querer is stem-changing. This means that the e in the stem of the verb changes to ie when part of a stressed syllable. Yo quiero I want Yo quiero viajar a Espaà ±a. Tà º quieres You want Tà º quieres un carro nuevo. Usted/à ©l/ella quiere You/he/she wants Ella quiere a sus amigos. Nosotros queremos We want Nosotros queremos tener paz en el mundo. Vosotros querà ©is You want Vosotros querà ©is aprender italiano. Ustedes/ellos/ellas quieren You/they want Ellos quieren mucho a sus mascotas. Querer Preterite Indicative In the preterite tense, querer is irregular, since the stem changes to quis-. The preterite is used to talk about completed actions in the past. When using the verb querer in the preterite, it has the meaning of something that someone wanted but did not obtain. For example, Quise ir a la fiesta means I wanted to go to the party but I ended up not being able to go. Yo quise I wanted Yo quiseviajar a Espaà ±a. Tà º quisiste You wanted Tà º quisisteun carro nuevo. Usted/à ©l/ella quiso You/he/she wanted Ella quisoa sus amigos. Nosotros quisimos We wanted Nosotros quisimos tenerpaz en el mundo. Vosotros quisisteis You wanted Vosotros quisisteisaprender italiano. Ustedes/ellos/ellas quisieron You/they wanted Ellos quisieron mucho a sus mascotas. Querer Imperfect Indicative The imperfect tense conjugation of querer is regular. You start with the stem quer- and add the imperfect ending for -er verbs (à ­a, à ­as, à ­a, à ­amos, à ­ais, à ­an). In the imperfect tense the verb querer usually means wanted, but can also be translated as was wanting or used to want. The imperfect is used to talk about ongoing actions in the past. With the verb querer it means that someone wanted something, but we dont know if they obtained it or not. Yo querà ­a I used to want Yo querà ­aviajar a Espaà ±a. Tà º querà ­as You used to want Tà º querà ­as un carro nuevo. Usted/à ©l/ella querà ­a You/he/she used to want Ella querà ­a a sus amigos. Nosotros querà ­amos We used to want Nosotros querà ­amos tener paz en el mundo. Vosotros querà ­ais You used to want Vosotros querà ­ais aprender italiano. Ustedes/ellos/ellas querà ­an You/they used to want Ellos querà ­an a sus mascotas. Querer Future Indicative To conjugate the future tense you start with the infinitive (querer) and add the future tense endings (à ©, à ¡s, à ¡, emos, à ¡is, à ¡n). However, the verb querer is irregular because there is an extra r in the stem, so it ends up being querr-. Yo querrà © I will want Yo querrà © viajar a Espaà ±a. Tà º querrà ¡s Youwill want Tà º querrà ¡s un carro nuevo. Usted/à ©l/ella querrà ¡ You/he/shewill want Ella querrà ¡a sus amigos. Nosotros querremos Wewill want Nosotros querremostener paz en el mundo. Vosotros querrà ©is Youwill want Vosotros querrà ©is aprender italiano. Ustedes/ellos/ellas querrà ¡n You/theywill want Ellos querrà ¡n a sus mascotas. Querer PeriphrasticFuture Indicative The periphrastic future is formed with the present indicative conjugation of the verb ir (to go), the preposition a, and the infinitive querer. Yo voy a querer I am going to want Yo voy a querer viajar a Espaà ±a. Tà º vasa querer You aregoing to want Tà º vasa querer un carro nuevo. Usted/à ©l/ella vaa querer You/he/shegoing to want Ella vaa querer a sus amigos. Nosotros vamosa querer We aregoing to want Nosotros vamos a querer tener paz en el mundo. Vosotros vaisa querer You aregoing to want Vosotros vaisa querer aprender italiano. Ustedes/ellos/ellas vana querer You/they aregoing to want Ellos vana querer mucho a sus mascotas. Querer Present Progressive/Gerund Form The gerund  or present participle for the verb querer is formed regularly, by starting with stem of the verb quer- and the ending the ending -iendo (for -er and -ir verbs). The present participle can be used to form progressive tenses like the present progressive, which usually requires the auxiliary verb estar. However, it is rare to use the verb querer in progressive tenses, since to want already implies an ongoing action. Therefore, it sounds redundant to say està ¡ queriendo (is wanting) and it is simpler to say quiere (wants). The form queriendo is more commonly used as an adverb, as in Queriendo ayudar, hicimos un gran esfuerzo (Wanting to help, we made a great effort). Present Progressive ofQuerer està ¡ queriendo She is wanting Ella està ¡ queriendo a sus amigos. Querer Past Participle The past participle is formed with the stem quer- plus the ending -ido. It can be used to form perfect tenses, such as the present perfect. The present perfect is formed with the auxiliary verb haber and the past participle querido. Present Perfect ofQuerer ha querido She has wanted Ella ha querido a sus amigos. Querer Conditional Indicative The conditional tense is usually translated to English as would verb. Similar to the future tense, it is conjugated by starting with the infinitive form. However, just like in the future tense, the verb querer is irregular because it has an extra r, so it uses the stem querr-. Yo querrà ­a I would want Yo querrà ­a viajar a Espaà ±a si no me diera miedo viajar en avià ³n. Tà º querrà ­as Youwould want Tà º querrà ­as un carro nuevo, pero està ¡n muy caros. Usted/à ©l/ella querrà ­a You/he/shewould want Ella querrà ­a a sus amigos si fueran mà ¡s amables. Nosotros querrà ­amos Wewould want Nosotros querrà ­amostener paz en el mundo, pero sabemos que es muy difà ­cil. Vosotros querrà ­ais Youwould want Vosotros querrà ­ais aprender italiano, pero preferisteis aprender francà ©s. Ustedes/ellos/ellas querrà ­an You/theywould want Ellos querrà ­an mucho a sus mascotas si se portaran mejor. Querer Present Subjunctive The present subjunctive is used for subjective situations like desires, doubts and recommendations. It is formed starting with the first person singular present indicative conjugation (yo). It is also stem-changing (e to ie) when the e falls on the stressed syllable. Que yo quiera That I want El agente de viajes espera que yo quiera viajar a Espaà ±a. Que tà º quieras That you want El vendedor espera que tà º quieras un carro nuevo. Que usted/à ©l/ella quiera That you/he/she want Mamà ¡ espera que ella quiera a sus amigos. Que nosotros queramos That we want Los diplomà ¡ticos esperan que nosotros queramos tener paz en el mundo. Que vosotros querà ¡is That you want El maestro espera que vosotros querà ¡is aprender italiano. Que ustedes/ellos/ellas quieran That you/they want Papà ¡ espera que ellos quieran mucho a sus mascotas. Querer Imperfect Subjunctive There are two options for conjugating the imperfect subjunctive. Option 1 Que yo quisiera That I wanted La agente de viajes esperaba que yo quisiera viajar a Espaà ±a. Que tà º quisieras That you wanted El vendedor esperaba que tà º quisieras un carro nuevo. Que usted/à ©l/ella quisiera That you/he/she wanted Mamà ¡ esperaba que ella quisiera a sus amigos. Que nosotros quisià ©ramos That we wanted Los diplomà ¡ticos esperaban que nosotros quisià ©ramos tener paz en el mundo. Que vosotros quisierais That you wanted El maestro esperaba que vosotros quisierais aprender italiano. Que ustedes/ellos/ellas quisieran That you/they wanted Papà ¡ esperaba que ellos quisieran mucho a sus mascotas. Option 2 Que yo quisiese That I wanted La agente de viajes esperaba que yo quisiese viajar a Espaà ±a. Que tà º quisieses That you wanted El vendedor esperaba que tà º quisieses un carro nuevo. Que usted/à ©l/ella quisiese That you/he/she wanted Mamà ¡ esperaba que ella quisiese a sus amigos. Que nosotros quisià ©semos That we wanted Los diplomà ¡ticos esperaban que nosotros quisià ©semos tener paz en el mundo. Que vosotros quisieseis That you wanted El maestro esperaba que vosotros quisieseis aprender italiano. Que ustedes/ellos/ellas quisiesen That you/they wanted El papà ¡ esperaba que ellos quisiesen mucho a sus mascotas. Querer Imperative The imperative mood is used to give orders or commands. It is not common to use commands with the verb querer, because usually you dont tell people to want something. However, it is possible that you would tell someone to love someone else, which is one of the meanings of the verb querer. Therefore, the examples below were changed to show more realistic situations of querer in the imperative. Positive Commands Tà º quiere Love!  ¡Quiere a tus amigos! Usted quiera Love!  ¡Quiera a su madre! Nosotros queramos Let's love!  ¡Queramos a nuestros hermanos! Vosotros quered Love!  ¡Quered a vuestra familia! Ustedes quieran Love!  ¡Quieran a sus padres! Negative Commands Tà º no quieras Don't love!  ¡No quieras a tus amigos! Usted no quiera Don't love!  ¡No quiera a su madre! Nosotros no queramos Let's not love!  ¡No queramos a nuestros hermanos! Vosotros no querà ¡is Don't love!  ¡No querà ¡is a vuestra familia! Ustedes no quieran Don't love!  ¡No quieran a sus padres!