Querer conjugation chart
Querer present tense
presente · I speak
| yo | I want | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | you want | |
| vos | you want | |
| él, ella, usted | he/she wants | |
| nosotros | we want | |
| vosotros | you all want | |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | they want |
The highlighted forms change their stem. Notice that nosotros, vosotros and vos stay out: draw a line around the forms that change and you get a boot, which is why these are called “boot verbs.”
Querer preterite
pretérito · I spoke
| yo | I wanted | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | you wanted | |
| vos | you wanted | |
| él, ella, usted | he/she wanted | |
| nosotros | we wanted | |
| vosotros | you all wanted | |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | they wanted |
Irregular stem quis- + -e, -iste, -o, -imos, -isteis, -ieron, with no accent marks.
Querer imperfect
pretérito imperfecto · I used to speak
| yo | I wanted | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | you wanted | |
| vos | you wanted | |
| él, ella, usted | he/she wanted | |
| nosotros | we wanted | |
| vosotros | you all wanted | |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | they wanted |
Regular: same endings as comer.
Querer future
futuro · I will speak
| yo | I will want | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | you will want | |
| vos | you will want | |
| él, ella, usted | he/she will want | |
| nosotros | we will want | |
| vosotros | you all will want | |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | they will want |
Irregular stem querr- + -é, -ás, -á, -emos, -éis, -án.
Querer conditional
condicional · I would speak
| yo | I would want | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | you would want | |
| vos | you would want | |
| él, ella, usted | he/she would want | |
| nosotros | we would want | |
| vosotros | you all would want | |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | they would want |
Irregular stem querr- + -ía, -ías, -íamos, -íais, -ían.
Querer present subjunctive
presente de subjuntivo · that I speak
| yo | that I want | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | that you want | |
| vos | that you want | |
| él, ella, usted | that he/she want | |
| nosotros | that we want | |
| vosotros | that you all want | |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | that they want |
Irregular in yo, tú, él/ella/usted and ellos/ustedes (in red): quiera, quieras…; the other forms are regular.
Querer imperfect subjunctive
imperfecto de subjuntivo · if I spoke
| yo | if I wanted | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | if you wanted | |
| vos | if you wanted | |
| él, ella, usted | if he/she wanted | |
| nosotros | if we wanted | |
| vosotros | if you all wanted | |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | if they wanted |
Irregular stem quis- + -iera, -ieras, -iéramos, -ierais, -ieran.
In the subjunctive, vos takes the same form as tú in careful speech. The imperfect subjunctive also has an -se form (quisiese), more common in writing.
Querer affirmative commands
imperativo · speak!
| tú | ||
|---|---|---|
| vos | ||
| usted | ||
| nosotros | ||
| vosotros | ||
| ustedes |
The tú form is the él form of the present: quiere. Usted, nosotros and ustedes come from the present subjunctive (quiera, queramos, quieran).
Querer negative commands
imperativo negativo · don't speak!
| tú | ||
|---|---|---|
| vos | ||
| usted | ||
| nosotros | ||
| vosotros | ||
| ustedes |
Built from the present subjunctive: no + quieras, quiera…
Always the verb haber + the past participle querido, which never changes.
Querer present perfect
pretérito perfecto · I have spoken
| yo | he querido |
|---|---|
| tú | has querido |
| vos | has querido |
| él, ella, usted | ha querido |
| nosotros | hemos querido |
| vosotros | habéis querido |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | han querido |
Querer pluperfect
pluscuamperfecto · I had spoken
| yo | había querido |
|---|---|
| tú | habías querido |
| vos | habías querido |
| él, ella, usted | había querido |
| nosotros | habíamos querido |
| vosotros | habíais querido |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | habían querido |
Querer future perfect
futuro perfecto · I will have spoken
| yo | habré querido |
|---|---|
| tú | habrás querido |
| vos | habrás querido |
| él, ella, usted | habrá querido |
| nosotros | habremos querido |
| vosotros | habréis querido |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | habrán querido |
Querer conditional perfect
condicional perfecto · I would have spoken
| yo | habría querido |
|---|---|
| tú | habrías querido |
| vos | habrías querido |
| él, ella, usted | habría querido |
| nosotros | habríamos querido |
| vosotros | habríais querido |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | habrían querido |
Querer present perfect subjunctive
pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo · that I have spoken
| yo | haya querido |
|---|---|
| tú | hayas querido |
| vos | hayas querido |
| él, ella, usted | haya querido |
| nosotros | hayamos querido |
| vosotros | hayáis querido |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | hayan querido |
In Latin America, ustedes is the only “you all”; vosotros is used only in Spain. Vos is used in Argentina, Uruguay and much of Central America. Uncheck the boxes above to hide what you don’t need.
Watch out
Te quiero means “I love you” (to family, friends or a partner), not “I want you.” To ask politely, use quisiera: quisiera reservar una mesa.
Examples with querer
Quiero un café con leche.
I want a coffee with milk.
Te quiero, mamá.
I love you, Mom.
Quisiera reservar una mesa para dos.
I'd like to book a table for two.
Hear querer from native speakers
Practice querer
Type the right form and press Enter. A missing accent still counts, but I'll point it out.
Verbs like querer
Stem change e → ie (querer → quieres). Same pattern:
tener tienesvenir vienespensar piensasempezar empiezascomenzar comienzascerrar cierrasentender entiendesperder pierdes
Irregular preterite (querer → quise). Same pattern:
estar estuvehaber hubetener tuvehacer hicepoder pudedecir dijesaber supevenir vine