Some doubts about Subjunctives

Question

Ok so I''m not sure on how to express: "I want YOU to buy a car for me"

The way I think it should be is: "Quiero que compres un coche para mi"

(compres because we switch from "a" to "e" & "e" to "a" in the subjunctive ) but when I checked the translator on Spand!ct.com it says :

"Quiero comprar un coche para mí."

Comprar is somehow still in the infinitive form & in my mind that looks like it would mean "I want TO BUY a car for me"

Could someone please shine some light on this dilemma?

Answer 1

"Quiero comprar un coche para mí."

This means "I want to buy a car for myself."

Your original use of the subjunctive was correct.

Quiero que compres un coche para mí. (Don't forget the accent on "mí".)

However, it is probably more common to say:

Quiero que me compres un coche.

Thanks for your answer to my question. Good to know the more common usage of that sentence as well. Thanks again! - Acelata, Jul 17, 2011

Answer 2

Could someone please shine some light on this dilemma? hmmm

Where is the dilemma? Infinitives are used when you can easily figure out who is responsible for the action. "Quiero comprar..." would imply that "comprar" refers to yourself, so it would be "I want" and "I buy", i.e. "I want to buy". When it is not so obvious, you use subjunctive.

I think you misunderstood my question - Acelata, Jul 17, 2011

What I wanted to say was "I want you to buy a car for me" NOT "I want to buy a car for myself. But gintar77 gave a good tip on it's more common usage which would be "I want you to buy me a car" - Acelata, Jul 17, 2011