The Verb Querer (to Want) in Spanish – Lesson 11

Querer: our first Spanish verb

In the introduction to verbs we saw that Spanish verbs change depending on who’s doing the action. Now it’s time for our first real verb: querer, which means “to want”.

It’s a super useful one: with querer you can already order food, ask people what they want, and say what you want. Grab your notebook!

Querer conjugation: present tense

Pronoun	Querer	English
yo	quiero	I want
tú	quieres	you want
él / ella / usted	quiere	he / she wants, you (formal) want
nosotros / nosotras	queremos	we want
vosotros / vosotras	queréis	you all want (Spain)
ustedes	quieren	you all want
ellos / ellas	quieren	they want

Now let’s go through them one by one, each with an example sentence. Say every sentence out loud!

Yo quiero: I want

The full verb querer changes into quiero when we talk about ourselves. Now we can make our first sentence! Pizza is la pizza, so:

Tú quieres: you want

Let’s make it a question. And remember lesson 6: more than one pizza, so la pizza becomes las pizzas.

See how the word order doesn’t change for a question? Just like we saw in lesson 8, only the question marks (and your tone of voice) make it a question.

Él / ella / usted quiere: he / she wants, you (formal) want

He, she and the formal you (usted) all use the same form: quiere. It’s just like quieres, without the -s.

Nosotros / nosotras queremos: we want

Did you notice? Here the i disappears: not quier-emos, but queremos.

Vosotros / vosotras queréis: you all want (Spain)

Again without the i, and with an accent on the é: queréis. Remember, vosotros is only used in Spain. Learning Latin American Spanish? Feel free to skip this one.

Ustedes quieren: you all want

Ustedes is the formal “you all” in Spain, and the normal “you all” everywhere in Latin America.

Ellos / ellas quieren: they want

Same form as ustedes: quieren.

Here’s a handy fact: ustedes and ellos / ellas always share the same form, with every verb you’ll learn. You could learn them together, but I find it easier to keep them separate in your table, to avoid confusion.

The pattern: quier- and quer-

Look at the beginning of each form. Most of them start with quier-, but nosotros and vosotros start with quer-:

Pronoun	Stem	Ending
yo	quier	-o
tú	quier	-es
él / ella / usted	quier	-e
nosotros / nosotras	quer	-emos
vosotros / vosotras	quer	-éis
ustedes / ellos / ellas	quier	-en

Verbs that change like this (e becomes ie) are called stem-changing verbs. You’ll meet more of them later in the course. And notice the endings: -o, -es, -e, -emos, -éis, -en. You’ll see these endings again and again with other verbs!

Recap: querer (to want)

Spanish	English
yo quiero	I want
tú quieres	you want
él / ella / usted quiere	he / she wants, you (formal) want
nosotros / nosotras queremos	we want
■■■■■■■■	■■■■■■■■
■■■■■■■■	■■■■■■■■
■■■■■■■■	■■■■■■■■

+ 3 more verb forms

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Practice: fill in querer

Which form of querer fits? Say the full sentence out loud, then click to check.

1. Yo ___ un café. (I want a coffee.)

Yo quiero un café.

2. ¿Tú ___ la pizza? (Do you want the pizza?)

¿Tú quieres la pizza?

3. Ella ___ el menú. (She wants the menu.)

Ella quiere el menú.

4. Nosotros ___ las pizzas. (We want the pizzas.)

Nosotros queremos las pizzas. No i!

5. ¿Usted ___ café? (Do you want coffee? formal)

¿Usted quiere café?

6. Ellos ___ el sándwich. (They want the sandwich.)

Ellos quieren el sándwich.

7. ¿Vosotras ___ los menús? (Do you all want the menus? Spain)

¿Vosotras queréis los menús?

8. ¿Ustedes ___ café? (Do you all want coffee?)

¿Ustedes quieren café?

Quiz: querer (to want)

10 questions. Can you conjugate querer without looking?

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to say “yo” in “yo quiero”?

No! The ending -o already shows it’s you, so most people just say quiero. Using yo quiero is also correct, it just adds a bit of emphasis.

Is “quiero” polite when ordering in a restaurant?

In many places, quiero un café, por favor is perfectly normal, especially with por favor. You’ll also hear softer ways to order, and we’ll learn those in later lessons.

Why does the i disappear in queremos?

Querer is a stem-changing verb: the e in the stem becomes ie, but only in the forms where that part of the word is stressed. In queremos and queréis, the stress moves to the ending, so the stem stays quer-.

Before you go to the next lesson

Congrats, your first Spanish verb! Look how much you can already say after just 11 lessons. Verbs are the backbone of every sentence, so give this one some extra practice before you move on: flashcards, writing your table again from memory, or making your own sentences with quiero. Grab the free reference sheet below. ¡Hasta la próxima!