Querer Conjugation: Main Tenses, Explained Simply (with Examples)
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Querer is a common Spanish verb for expressing what you want and, in some contexts, love or affection. Its forms follow several patterns: quiero, quisiste, quería and querré all belong to the same verb.
This guide lays out the main tenses of querer in tables, with example sentences and context for te quiero and te amo. Start with the forms you are most likely to use.
Querer Conjugation: Learn These Forms First
You do not need to memorise every tense before you use querer in conversation. Begin with a small set and add other forms as you need them.
If you learn nothing else today, learn the present tense of querer by heart:
- quiero (“I want”), quieres (“you want”), quiere (“he/she/it wants”), queremos (“we want”), queréis (“you all want”), quieren (“they want”)
Those six forms help with ordering food, asking for what you need and saying te quiero to someone who matters. Add quisiera (“I would like”) for a polite request. The remaining forms will broaden what you can express over time.
Right, now let's build the full picture.
Querer at a Glance
| Infinitive | querer |
| Gerund (-ing) | queriendo |
| Past participle | querido |
| Verb type | irregular (e→ie stem change) |
| English meaning | “to want”, “to love” |
A quick note on the pronouns I'll use in every table:
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| yo | I |
| tú | you (informal singular) |
| él / ella / usted | he / she / you (formal singular) |
| nosotros / nosotras | we |
| vosotros / vosotras | you all (informal, Spain) |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | they / you all (formal) |
Querer Conjugation: Indicative Mood (Simple Tenses)
The indicative is the everyday, “stating facts” mood, and these five simple tenses are the backbone of querer. Here they all are in one place:
| Pronoun | 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/as | queremos | quisimos | queríamos | querremos | querríamos |
| vosotros/as | queréis | quisisteis | queríais | querréis | querríais |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | quieren | quisieron | querían | querrán | querrían |
And here's each one in action:
- Present – Quiero un café con leche. – “I want a coffee with milk.”
- Preterite (a bounded desire or attempt) – Quise llamarte, pero se me acabó la batería. – “I tried to call you, but my battery died.” In context, the preterite can suggest an attempt, while no quiso often means “he refused”.
- Imperfect (an ongoing or background desire) – De pequeña, quería ser bailarina. – “As a little girl, I wanted to be a dancer.”
- Future – Algún día querrás volver aquí. – “One day you'll want to come back here.”
- Conditional – Querría dos entradas, por favor. – “I would like two tickets, please.” Watch the spelling here: querría (conditional, “I would want”) has a double r and is easy to confuse with quería (imperfect, “I wanted/loved”) with a single r.
Querer Conjugation: Indicative Mood (Compound Tenses)
The compound tenses in this table use a conjugated form of haber plus the past participle querido. The same construction applies across Spanish verbs, with the appropriate past participle.
| Pronoun | Present Perfect | Pluperfect | Future Perfect | Conditional Perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| yo | he querido | había querido | habré querido | habría querido |
| tú | has querido | habías querido | habrás querido | habrías querido |
| él / ella / usted | ha querido | había querido | habrá querido | habría querido |
| nosotros/as | hemos querido | habíamos querido | habremos querido | habríamos querido |
| vosotros/as | habéis querido | habíais querido | habréis querido | habríais querido |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | han querido | habían querido | habrán querido | habrían querido |
- Present perfect – Siempre he querido visitar Japón. – “I've always wanted to visit Japan.”
- Pluperfect – Antes de conocerla, nunca había querido sentar cabeza. – “Before meeting her, I had never wanted to settle down.”
- Future perfect – Para entonces, ya habremos querido cambiar de planes mil veces. – “By then, we'll have already wanted to change plans a thousand times.”
- Conditional perfect – Habría querido quedarme más tiempo. – “I would have liked to stay longer.”
The pretérito anterior, as in hube querido, is now rare and is mostly found in formal or literary contexts. Beginners can prioritise the forms above.
Querer Conjugation: Subjunctive Mood
The subjunctive appears in several contexts, including wishes, emotions and reactions to uncertain or non-asserted situations. With querer, the present and imperfect subjunctive are useful forms to learn early.
| Pronoun | Present Subjunctive | Imperfect Subjunctive (-ra) | Imperfect Subjunctive (-se) |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo | quiera | quisiera | quisiese |
| tú | quieras | quisieras | quisieses |
| él / ella / usted | quiera | quisiera | quisiese |
| nosotros/as | queramos | quisiéramos | quisiésemos |
| vosotros/as | queráis | quisierais | quisieseis |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | quieran | quisieran | quisiesen |
The imperfect subjunctive has -ra and -se forms. They are often interchangeable, although usage and register can differ. The -ra form is more common in speech in many regions, so it is a practical form to learn first.
- Present subjunctive – Espero que quieras venir a la fiesta. – “I hope you want to come to the party.”
- Imperfect subjunctive – Quisiera un vaso de agua, por favor. – “I would like a glass of water, please.” This is the form worth memorising above all the others: quisiera is the softened, polite way to ask for something, gentler than quiero and every bit as useful as “I'd like” is in English.
The subjunctive also has compound forms, built (again) from haber plus querido:
| Pronoun | Present Perfect Subj. | Pluperfect Subj. |
|---|---|---|
| yo | haya querido | hubiera / hubiese querido |
| tú | hayas querido | hubieras / hubieses querido |
| él / ella / usted | haya querido | hubiera / hubiese querido |
| nosotros/as | hayamos querido | hubiéramos / hubiésemos querido |
| vosotros/as | hayáis querido | hubierais / hubieseis querido |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | hayan querido | hubieran / hubiesen querido |
There is also a future subjunctive (quisiere, quisieres…). It is rare in present-day general speech but still appears in legal or administrative language, set expressions and some formal writing.
Querer Conjugation: Imperative Mood (Commands)
Telling someone what to want feels a bit strange, so querer is rarely commanded in real life. Still, the forms exist and turn up in romantic or motivational phrasing.
| Pronoun | Affirmative | Negative |
|---|---|---|
| tú | quiere | no quieras |
| usted | quiera | no quiera |
| nosotros/as | queramos | no queramos |
| vosotros/as | quered | no queráis |
| ustedes | quieran | no quieran |
- ¡Quiérete un poco más! – “Love yourself a bit more!”
- No quieras hacerlo todo a la vez. – “Don't try to do everything at once.”
When to Use Querer
Querer covers more ground than English “want” and “love” combined, so it's worth splitting out the four everyday jobs it does.
- Querer a alguien (to love a person) – the personal a is used with a specific person: Quiero a mis padres. – “I love my parents.” Without the a, context may suggest a different sense of querer, but the result is not a simple possession rule.
- Te quiero vs te amo – both can express love. In much of Spain, te quiero is common between partners, family and close friends, while te amo can sound more intense. Usage varies across Spanish-speaking regions and relationships, so notice what speakers around you say.
- Querer + infinitive (to want to do something) – Quiero aprender español. – “I want to learn Spanish.”
- The polite quisiera – Quisiera reservar una mesa para dos. – “I would like to book a table for two.” It is a useful polite request in restaurants and shops; local preferences may also favour other forms.
Why Is Querer Irregular?
Querer comes from the Latin verb quaerere, “to seek” or “to ask”. Its irregularities include two useful patterns.
- The e→ie stem change. Whenever the stress falls on the stem, the e breaks into ie: quiero, quieres, quiere, quieren in the present, the same shift in the present subjunctive, and in the tú/usted/ustedes commands. The nosotros and vosotros forms keep the stress on the ending, so the stem stays put: queremos, queréis.
- The strong preterite. Instead of a regular querí, the preterite stem swaps to quis-: quise, quisiste, quiso. This isn't random. It's the same pattern shared by poder (pude), poner (puse), and saber (supe), a family of verbs linguists call “strong preterites.” That quis- stem then carries straight through into the imperfect subjunctive (quisiera/quisiese) and the future subjunctive (quisiere), which is why they all echo each other.
Common Mistakes with Querer
Watch for these common points:
- Mixing up querría and quería. One extra r marks the difference between “I would want” (conditional) and “I wanted/loved” (imperfect). Read carefully, and give the double r its full sound.
- Treating preterite and imperfect as interchangeable. Quería commonly presents an ongoing want; quise can present a bounded desire or attempt, and no quiso often means “refused” in context. These are common readings, not automatic translations.
- Ignoring regional usage of te amo and te quiero. Both are correct, but their intensity and everyday frequency vary by region and relationship.
- Dropping the personal a. Use it with a specific person in the affection sense: Quiero a mi hermana.
Querer Conjugation FAQ
Is querer regular or irregular? Irregular. It has an e→ie stem change in most present-tense forms, plus a strong, irregular preterite stem (quis-) that also shapes the imperfect and future subjunctive.
What are the six present-tense forms of querer? Quiero, quieres, quiere, queremos, queréis, quieren, which is “I want, you want, he/she wants, we want, you all want, they want.”
How do you conjugate querer in the past? The preterite, often used for a bounded desire or attempt, is quise, quisiste, quiso, quisimos, quisisteis, quisieron. The imperfect, often used for an ongoing or background desire, is quería, querías, quería, queríamos, queríais, querían. The intended reading depends on context.
What's the difference between te quiero and te amo? Both can mean “I love you”. In much of Spain, te quiero is common between partners, family and friends, while te amo can sound more intense. The distinction varies across Spanish-speaking regions and relationships.
What does quisiera mean and when do you use it? Quisiera means “I would like”, it's the polite, softened way to ask for something. Use it in restaurants, shops, or any time quiero would sound a bit too blunt: Quisiera un café, por favor.
Time to Put Querer to Work
You now have the main tenses of querer, examples, regional context for te quiero and te amo, and the two irregular patterns highlighted in this guide.
Use the forms to make them easier to recall. Build a few into flashcards (see our Anki guide), then put querer into sentences about what you want for breakfast, what you would like to do this weekend and who you love. Pair this guide with our ser vs estar and Spanish numbers guides. Our SpanishPod101 review also explains what that listening resource offers.
The tables are a starting point. Use them to tell someone what you want or how you feel. The Fluent in 3 Months Bootcamp provides a structured way to begin speaking with other people early in your learning.
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