Querer means to want, to love. Learn five tenses, then practise each person.
Present: quiero, quieres, quiere, queremos, queréis, quieren.
Querer in the present tense
Use the present for current states, habits and actions. The subject can be omitted when the verb makes it clear.
Vosotros is informal plural you in Spain. Ustedes uses the ellos/ellas form and is the usual plural you in Latin America.
With people, querer is to love: te quiero, I love you.
Querer in the preterite tense
Use the preterite for a completed event in the past, viewed as a whole.
Querer in the imperfect tense
Use the imperfect for past habits, ongoing situations and background descriptions, without marking their endpoint.
Querer in the future tense
Use the simple future for what will happen. Spanish also uses this tense for a guess about the present.
Querer in the conditional tense
Use the conditional for what would happen, a polite request or a hypothetical situation.
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All six persons. Blue, bold forms differ from regular endings, including spelling changes that preserve pronunciation.
| Person | Present | Preterite | Imperfect | Future | Conditional |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| yo | quiero | quise | quería | querré | querría |
| tú | quieres | quisiste | querías | querrás | querrías |
| él / ella / usted | quiere | quiso | quería | querrá | querría |
| nosotros / nosotras | queremos | quisimos | queríamos | querremos | querríamos |
| vosotros / vosotras | queréis | quisisteis | queríais | querréis | querríais |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | quieren | quisieron | querían | querrán | querrían |
| Person | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| yo | quiero | I want |
| tú | quieres | you want |
| él / ella / usted | quiere | he/she wants |
| nosotros / nosotras | queremos | we want |
| vosotros / vosotras | queréis | you all (vosotros) want |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | quieren | they want |
| Person | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| yo | quise | I wanted |
| tú | quisiste | you wanted |
| él / ella / usted | quiso | he/she wanted |
| nosotros / nosotras | quisimos | we wanted |
| vosotros / vosotras | quisisteis | you all (vosotros) wanted |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | quisieron | they wanted |
| Person | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| yo | quería | I used to want |
| tú | querías | you used to want |
| él / ella / usted | quería | he/she used to want |
| nosotros / nosotras | queríamos | we used to want |
| vosotros / vosotras | queríais | you all (vosotros) used to want |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | querían | they used to want |
| Person | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| yo | querré | I will want |
| tú | querrás | you will want |
| él / ella / usted | querrá | he/she will want |
| nosotros / nosotras | querremos | we will want |
| vosotros / vosotras | querréis | you all (vosotros) will want |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | querrán | they will want |
| Person | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| yo | querría | I would want |
| tú | querrías | you would want |
| él / ella / usted | querría | he/she would want |
| nosotros / nosotras | querríamos | we would want |
| vosotros / vosotras | querríais | you all (vosotros) would want |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | querrían | they would want |
Querer differs from the regular endings in the present, preterite, future, conditional. Changed forms include present: quiero, quieres, quiere; preterite: quise, quisiste, quiso; future: querré, querrás, querrá; conditional: querría, querrías, querría. Highlighted forms include spelling changes that preserve pronunciation as well as irregular stems and endings.
The present forms are quiero, quieres, quiere, queremos, queréis, quieren, in the order yo, tú, él/ella/usted, nosotros, vosotros and ellos/ellas/ustedes.
quise, quisiste, quiso, quisimos, quisisteis, quisieron. For example, quise means “I wanted”.
Querer differs from the regular endings in the present, preterite, future, conditional. Changed forms include present: quiero, quieres, quiere; preterite: quise, quisiste, quiso; future: querré, querrás, querrá; conditional: querría, querrías, querría. Highlighted forms include spelling changes that preserve pronunciation as well as irregular stems and endings.
The preterite (quise) presents a completed event; the imperfect (quería) gives a past habit or background situation. The English glosses are “I wanted” and “I used to want”, but context determines the best translation.
The yo forms are querré (“I will want”) and querría (“I would want”). The full charts above include every person.
Querer means to want, to love. With people, querer is to love: te quiero, I love you.
Updated · English prompts, Spanish answers.