"desear" vs. "querer"

Question

It seems like "desear" and "querer" are both doing the same job. Is there an easy way to decide when to use one or the other?

Answer 1

Short answer would be: yes, they do the same job, more or less. If you want to dig a bit further, "desear" is probably a stronger word than "querer", its meaning is close to the English "to wish", "querer" is closer to "to want". I'd probably never say "Querría que me tocase la lotería" to say that I wish to win the lottery, I'd use "desearía". Conversely, I'd say "quiero una taza de café" instead of "deseo una taza de café". I might want to have a cup of coffee, but I don't wish for it, if you get my meaning. However this is subject to regional variations as well; in some latin american countries they use "desear" a lot more often than in Spain, so your mileage may vary.

Thanks, this helps me a lot. - bchristo, Sep 22, 2010

Great explanation. - --Mariana--, Sep 22, 2010

Here in Ecuador, people say quisiera rather than querría--even the grammar books say that the conditional form of querer should never be used. - lorenzo9, Sep 22, 2010

I know, I just wanted to replace the word "desear" with "querer" without touching anything else in the sentence. In Spain we also say "quisiera", of course - bill1111, Sep 22, 2010

Answer 2

Desear ( to wish - to desire)

Querer (to want - to love)