Querer Conjugation in Spanish
querer means “want” in English, and it is one of the first verbs Spanish learners meet — it sits at number 12 in VerbFlow’s frequency list. You use it for wants and wishes, for asking for things politely, and for loving someone (querer a alguien). Because it comes up in everyday conversation so often, learning its forms properly pays off from the very first week. This page gives you the complete conjugation of querer — every tense, every person, the gerund and the past participle — with notes, examples, common mistakes and a quiz. Here is the verb in a natural sentence: “Yo quiero un café todos los días.” — “I want a coffee every day.”
Quick facts
- Infinitive: querer
- English: to want
- Verb type: Irregular — stem-changing (e → ie)
- Irregular in: preterite, future, conditional, imperfect-subjunctive
- Gerund: queriendo
- Past participle: querido
- Auxiliary: haber (all perfect tenses are formed with haber + the past participle)
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for querer. Learn the present tense first, then the preterite and the imperfect, and add the remaining tenses one at a time.
Present indicative
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | quiero |
| tú | quieres |
| él/ella/Ud. | quiere |
| nosotros/as | queremos |
| vosotros/as | queréis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | quieren |
Preterite
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | quise |
| tú | quisiste |
| él/ella/Ud. | quiso |
| nosotros/as | quisimos |
| vosotros/as | quisisteis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | quisieron |
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | quería |
| tú | querías |
| él/ella/Ud. | quería |
| nosotros/as | queríamos |
| vosotros/as | queríais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | querían |
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | querré |
| tú | querrás |
| él/ella/Ud. | querrá |
| nosotros/as | querremos |
| vosotros/as | querréis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | querrán |
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | querría |
| tú | querrías |
| él/ella/Ud. | querría |
| nosotros/as | querríamos |
| vosotros/as | querríais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | querrían |
Present perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | he querido |
| tú | has querido |
| él/ella/Ud. | ha querido |
| nosotros/as | hemos querido |
| vosotros/as | habéis querido |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | han querido |
Pluperfect (past perfect)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | había querido |
| tú | habías querido |
| él/ella/Ud. | había querido |
| nosotros/as | habíamos querido |
| vosotros/as | habíais querido |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habían querido |
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habré querido |
| tú | habrás querido |
| él/ella/Ud. | habrá querido |
| nosotros/as | habremos querido |
| vosotros/as | habréis querido |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrán querido |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habría querido |
| tú | habrías querido |
| él/ella/Ud. | habría querido |
| nosotros/as | habríamos querido |
| vosotros/as | habríais querido |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrían querido |
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | quiera |
| tú | quieras |
| él/ella/Ud. | quiera |
| nosotros/as | queramos |
| vosotros/as | queráis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | quieran |
Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | quisiera |
| tú | quisieras |
| él/ella/Ud. | quisiera |
| nosotros/as | quisiéramos |
| vosotros/as | quisierais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | quisieran |
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | quiere |
| él/ella/Ud. | quiera |
| nosotros/as | queramos |
| vosotros/as | quered |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | quieran |
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | quieras |
| él/ella/Ud. | quiera |
| nosotros/as | queramos |
| vosotros/as | queráis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | quieran |
Gerund and past participle
| Form | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Gerund | queriendo |
| Past participle | querido |
When to use each tense
Present indicative
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “Yo quiero un café todos los días.” — “I want a coffee every day.”
Preterite
The preterite is used for completed actions in the past. With querer this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Tú quisiste viajar a México ayer.” — “You wanted travel to Mexico yesterday.”
Imperfect
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and background description. For example: “Él quería aprender español antes.” — “He used to want learn Spanish before.”
Future
The future is used for what will happen, predictions and probability. With querer this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Yo querré un café mañana.” — “I will want a coffee tomorrow.”
Conditional
The conditional is used for what would happen, polite requests and hypothetical situations. With querer this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Tú querrías viajar a México algún día.” — “You would want travel to Mexico someday.”
Present perfect
The present perfect is used for recent past actions and life experience, formed with haber + the past participle. For example: “Él ha querido aprender español esta semana.” — “He has wanted learn Spanish this week.”
Pluperfect (past perfect)
The pluperfect (past perfect) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “Yo había querido un café antes de la fiesta.” — “I had wanted a coffee before the party.”
Future perfect
The future perfect is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Tú habrás querido viajar a México para mañana.” — “You will have wanted travel to Mexico by tomorrow.”
Conditional perfect
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Él habría querido aprender español ayer.” — “He would have wanted learn Spanish yesterday.”
Present subjunctive
The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after que. For example: “Es importante que yo quiera un café.” — “It is important that i want a coffee.”
Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)
The imperfect subjunctive (-ra) is used for the past subjunctive: wishes and hypotheticals about the past, and clauses after a past-tense trigger. With querer this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Ojalá tú quisieras viajar a México.” — “I wish you wanted travel to Mexico.”
Imperative (affirmative)
The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. The imperative of querer gives a direct order; the negative forms use the present subjunctive pattern. For example: “¡Quiere aprender español!” — “Want learn Spanish!”
Imperative (negative)
The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. The imperative of querer gives a direct order; the negative forms use the present subjunctive pattern. For example: “No quieras un café.” — “Do not want a coffee.”
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with querer, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the Spanish and try to produce it from the English.
- “Yo quiero un café todos los días.” — “I want a coffee every day.”
- “Tú quisiste viajar a México ayer.” — “You wanted travel to Mexico yesterday.”
- “Él quería aprender español antes.” — “He used to want learn Spanish before.”
- “Yo querré viajar a México mañana.” — “I will want travel to Mexico tomorrow.”
- “Tú querrías un café algún día.” — “You would want a coffee someday.”
- “Él ha querido aprender español esta semana.” — “He has wanted learn Spanish this week.”
- “Yo había querido un café antes de la fiesta.” — “I had wanted a coffee before the party.”
- “Tú habrás querido viajar a México para mañana.” — “You will have wanted travel to Mexico by tomorrow.”
- “Es importante que él quiera aprender español.” — “It is important that he want learn Spanish.”
- “¡Quiere un café!” — “Want a coffee!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Yo querer un café.”
✓ Right: “Yo quiero un café.”
The infinitive querer never takes a subject. After yo you need the conjugated present form quiero.
2. Confusing querer with poder
✗ Wrong: “Yo puedo un café.”
✓ Right: “Yo quiero un café.”
Querer is to want; poder is can — use poder for polite requests about ability.
3. Using the wrong auxiliary in perfect tenses
✗ Wrong: “Yo soy querido un café.”
✓ Right: “Yo he querido un café.”
Spanish perfect tenses are always built with haber, never with ser. The correct form is he + the participle querido.
4. Dropping the written accent
✗ Wrong: “querre”
✓ Right: “querré”
The accent on querré is part of the spelling in the future. Without it the form looks like a different word, so always write the accent.
5. Forgetting the e → ie stem change
✗ Wrong: “Yo quero un café.”
✓ Right: “Yo quiero un café.”
querer changes its stem vowel in the present tense (e → ie), so the yo form is quiero, not the unchanged stem.
6. Using the preterite for a habitual past action
✗ Wrong: “Yo quise un café antes.” (said of a repeated habit)
✓ Right: “Yo quería un café antes.”
The preterite quise describes one finished action. For something you did regularly in the past, use the imperfect quería.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on querer. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
What is the yo form of querer in the Present indicative?
- A) quieres
- B) quiere
- C) queremos
- D) quiero
What is the él/ella/Ud. form of querer in the Preterite?
- A) quisiste
- B) quisimos
- C) quiso
- D) quise
What is the nosotros/as form of querer in the Imperfect?
- A) queríais
- B) queríamos
- C) quería
- D) querías
What is the tú form of querer in the Future?
- A) querrás
- B) querré
- C) querrá
- D) querremos
What is the yo form of querer in the Conditional?
- A) querrías
- B) querríamos
- C) querríais
- D) querría
What is the él/ella/Ud. form of querer in the Present subjunctive?
- A) queramos
- B) queráis
- C) quiera
- D) quieras
What is the yo form of querer in the Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)?
- A) quisierais
- B) quisiera
- C) quisieras
- D) quisiéramos
What is the gerund of querer?
- A) queriendo
- B) sabiendo
- C) llegando
- D) pasando
What is the past participle of querer?
- A) sabido
- B) llegado
- C) pasado
- D) querido
What does querer mean in English?
- A) to arrive
- B) to pass
- C) to want
- D) to know
Answer key
- D) quiero — the yo form of querer in the present indicative is quiero. The other options (quieres, quiere, queremos) are the same tense for different persons.
- C) quiso — the él/ella/Ud. form of querer in the preterite is quiso. The other options (quise, quisiste, quisimos) are the same tense for different persons.
- B) queríamos — the nosotros/as form of querer in the imperfect is queríamos. The other options (quería, querías, quería) are the same tense for different persons.
- A) querrás — the tú form of querer in the future is querrás. The other options (querré, querrá, querremos) are the same tense for different persons.
- D) querría — the yo form of querer in the conditional is querría. The other options (querrías, querría, querríamos) are the same tense for different persons.
- C) quiera — the él/ella/Ud. form of querer in the present subjunctive is quiera. The other options (quiera, quieras, queramos) are the same tense for different persons.
- B) quisiera — the yo form of querer in the imperfect subjunctive (-ra) is quisiera. The other options (quisieras, quisiera, quisiéramos) are the same tense for different persons.
- A) queriendo — the gerund of querer is queriendo; it is used with estar for the progressive. The other options are the gerunds of neighbouring verbs.
- D) querido — the past participle of querer is querido; perfect tenses use haber + querido. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
- C) to want — querer means “to want” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does querer mean in English?
querer means “to want”. You use it for wants and wishes, for asking for things politely, and for loving someone (querer a alguien). It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is querer regular or irregular?
querer is irregular — stem-changing (e → ie), and it is irregular in these tenses: preterite, future, conditional, imperfect-subjunctive. The gerund is queriendo and the past participle is querido.
What are the gerund and past participle of querer?
The gerund is queriendo — use it with estar for actions in progress. The past participle is querido — use it with haber for the perfect tenses, as in he querido (I have wanted).
What is the difference between querer and poder?
Querer is to want; poder is can — use poder for polite requests about ability. If you are unsure, check the full table for poder and compare the meanings in context.
How do I say “I want” in Spanish?
Say “Yo quiero un café.” — “I want a coffee every day.” The yo form of the present is quiero, and it is the form you will use most often.
Related pages
- querer in the preterite tense — the full table and uses for this verb in its most practised tense.
- querer examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- Spanish irregular verbs — every common irregular Spanish verb, grouped by pattern.
- Saber conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Llegar conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Pasar conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Present tense guide — how the present tense works for regular verbs.
- Preterite tense guide — how the preterite works, and when to choose it over the imperfect.
- Verb Conjugator — practise querer with the interactive tool.
- Verb Quiz — practise querer with the interactive tool.
- Preterite Vs Imperfect — practise querer with the interactive tool.