"501 Spanish Verbs"/ Barron's has a mistake?

Question

On page 24 of this "classic" best seller (& it IS good), it states"quisiera can be used to express a wish or desire, as in I should like". But quisiera means I would like, correct? Wouldn't "(Yo) deberia gustar..." be more appropriate for "I should like..."? I'm confused (again)! Where's Lazarus??

We're all missing Lazarus something awful! - territurtle, Jan 20, 2012

Yeah... i asked a question about Lazarus' whereabouts a month ago & got an outpouring of responses! - t8805jg, Jan 21, 2012

Answer 1

If you want to be technical, quisiera literally translates to 'I liked' used in the subjunctive. I've also seen quisiera used as 'I wish' For example I've seen 'I wish I were rich' translated as 'Quisiera ser rico.' So I believe its translation can be a little more flexible than just 'I would like.'

Answer 2

To add to the confusion, here in Ecuador the conditional form of querrer is never used and the imperfect subjunctive is used instead.

Good to know!! Thanks, Lorenzo! - territurtle, Jan 20, 2012

Answer 3

It sounds like "should" is being used as an auxiliary verb in the subjunctive mood in your example, rather than meaning "ought to". It's sort of a Britishism to us Americans, whereas the British consider it proper English. In this case quisiera fits.