Querer (to want)

El verbo QUERER (to want)

Querer o No Querer

To want or not to want. What are your aspirations in life? What do you want to do? We are always discussing what we want and don't want to do, either in the short or the long term. In order to talk about these topics in Spanish, you need to learn the verb querer, which means ''to want'', but also ''to love'', depending on the context.

Querer Present Tense

Before using querer in context, you should learn how to conjugate it properly. In order to talk about your wishes or what you want now, you need the present tense. Querer is an irregular verb, which means its stem changes when conjugating it, so you will need the stem quier- in all of its forms except for nosotros/as and vosotros/as, where quer- is kept. It's important to note that in Spanish the u is always silent after q.

Querer Meanings

Let's take a look at the different meanings of querer depending on the context.

If you're watching this lesson, one thing is clear - you want to learn Spanish. So you could say, ''Quiero aprender español.'' (''I want to learn Spanish.'')

Translation: I want to learn Spanish.

You may ask your classmates, ''¿Por qué queréis aprender español?'' (''Why do you (all) want to learn Spanish?'')

There are various reasons:

• ''Quiero recorrer Sudamérica el próximo año.'' (''I want to travel around South America next year.'')
• ''Mi mujer es española y queremos mudarnos a las Islas Canarias.'' (''My wife is Spanish and we want to move to the Canary Islands.'')
• ''Ellos quieren aprender por diversión.'' (''They want to learn for fun.'')

Translation: I want to travel to Peru.

''¿Y tú por qué quieres aprender español?'' (''And why do you want to learn Spanish?'') For fun, for traveling, or maybe for your job? Think about how you'd say this in Spanish.

However, there is the phrase ''Te quiero.'' You might have heard this expression in movies or songs, but pay attention to the use of the verb querer here, because saying someone ''Te quiero'' means ''I love you'' without a doubt.

Translation: I love you

So querer means ''to love'' when referring to someone else. There are two possible structures:

1. Pronoun (me/te/lo/la/nos/os/los/las) + the conjugated form of querer

• ''Lo quiero con locura''. (''I love him madly.'')
• ''Nos queremos de verdad.'' (''We truly love each other.'')

Please note that the pronouns correspond to ''me/you/him/her/us/you (plural)/them (masculine)/them (feminine).''

2. Conjugated form of querer + a + person (or pet!)

• ''Quiero mucho a mis abuelos.'' (''I love my grandparents a lot.'')
• ''Queremos a nuestro perro.'' (''We love our dog.'')