The preterite of querer is used to express when you wanted something at a specific moment in the past. For example, you might say “I wanted to go to the concert,” indicating a desire at a particular time.

This is an irregular verb in the preterite tense. It uses the stem ‘quis-‘ throughout all its conjugations.

Conjugations

Conjugations of Querer (to want) in the Preterite (Past) Tense tense (Latin American Spanish):

The preterite of querer expresses completed desires or attempts in the past.

Past Desire: Used for specific instances of wanting something, for example No quise ir a la fiesta (I didn’t want to go to the party). Quisimos ayudar pero no pudimos (We wanted to help but couldn’t).

Attempted Action: Often implies trying but failing, for example Quise llamarte (I tried to call you). In romantic contexts, can mean rejected love as in La quise mucho (I loved her a lot [but don’t anymore]).

Examples

Examples of Querer in the Preterite (Past) Tense

No quise ir a la fiesta. (I didn’t want to go to the party.)

¿Por qué no quisiste ayudarme? (Why didn’t you want to help me?)

Ella no quiso venir con nosotros. (She didn’t want to come with us.)

Quisimos comprar la casa. (We wanted to buy the house.)

Los niños no quisieron comer verduras. (The children didn’t want to eat vegetables.)

Quise llamarte ayer. (I wanted to call you yesterday.)

¿Quisiste decir algo más? (Did you want to say something else?)

Mi hermano quiso estudiar medicina. (My brother wanted to study medicine.)

No quisimos molestar. (We didn’t want to bother.)

Ellos quisieron cambiar de trabajo. (They wanted to change jobs.)

Quise disculparme contigo. (I wanted to apologize to you.)

¿Quisiste ver la película? (Did you want to watch the movie?)

Nadie quiso tomar la responsabilidad. (Nobody wanted to take responsibility.)

Quisimos hacer lo correcto. (We wanted to do the right thing.)

Mis padres quisieron lo mejor para mí. (My parents wanted the best for me.)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Querer (to want) in the Preterite (Past) Tense tense (Latin American Spanish) with English Translations:

This post covers Latin American Spanish. For Castilian Spanish, click here

Synonyms

The Preterite tense is also known as the Simple Past, Past Simple, Definite Past, Absolute Past, or Past Tense Indicative in English, and as Pretérito Perfecto Simple, Pretérito Indefinido, Pretérito Simple, Pasado Simple, or Pretérito de Indicativo in Spanish.