The term 'I wish' in Spanish?

Question

How do Spanish people say 'I wish' in Spanish? Deseo? Gustaria? And how could you translate, 'Sometimes I wish I didn't love you'? Could it be, 'A veces deseo no te quiero'??

Please help, muchas gracias!

Answer 1

If your wishing, or rather "hoping", is for the present or future, you'd use:

Deseo que + present subjunctive... or Ojalá (que) + present subj. or Espero que + present subj.

I hope he arrives soon = Ojalá que llegue pronto

---

For "past-like" wishing (i.e. I wish I could, I wish I were, I wish I didn't, etc.), you'd use the imperfect subjunctive:

Ojalá (que) + imperfect subjunctive verb .....

I wish I didn't have so much money = Ojalá que no tuviera tanto dinero

You want to give it a try using my example.

So it doesn't matter if you use 'deseo que', 'ojalá' or 'espero que'? - mrsroboto, Feb 14, 2012

And you used 'ojalá' for both examples, does this mean 'ojalá' is used more often?? - mrsroboto, Feb 14, 2012

I just like Ojalá better. Seems easier to me. It can mean "I hope"/"I wish" depending on the tense of the following verb. I'm not native but I don't really see "deseo" used a lot, but it just means "I desire" or "I wish". "Espero" means "I hope/expect". - Goldie_Miel, Feb 14, 2012

I say use whichever fits what you're trying to say best. For your example, I'd use "Ojalá". Gringo's is good as well, but *I* would think of it as "Sometimes I don't want to love you"/ "..I desire not to love you". But to a native, it may be just the same - Goldie_Miel, Feb 14, 2012

Ahh ok, thank you ver much! I really appreciate it :) - mrsroboto, Feb 14, 2012

Also, when using Ojalá que + imp. sub, its important to note that it means.. you wish you didnt, but YOU DO. - salevene, Feb 14, 2012

Absolutely. - Goldie_Miel, Feb 14, 2012

Got it! Now know the difference between them, thank you all :) - mrsroboto, Feb 14, 2012

De nada - Goldie_Miel, Feb 14, 2012

Answer 2

Close. I would say: A veces deseo que no te quiero.

...deseo no quererte.* (same subject/person in the dependent and independent clause) - Goldie_Miel, Feb 14, 2012

You are right. Thanks. - gringojrf, Feb 14, 2012

No problem :) - Goldie_Miel, Feb 14, 2012

Gracias! So the correct sentence would be 'A veces deseo no quererte.' Would 'Ojalá no quererte' mean the exact same thing? - mrsroboto, Feb 14, 2012

Mrsroboto, you'd have to conjugate "quererte" in imperfect subjunctive. If you put it in present subj, it'd say "I hope I don't love you" lol - Goldie_Miel, Feb 14, 2012

vs. "I wish I didn't love you" - Goldie_Miel, Feb 14, 2012

Oh yes you're right! lol So would it be 'A veces ojalá que no te quisiera'? - mrsroboto, Feb 14, 2012

Yep :) - Goldie_Miel, Feb 14, 2012

Oh, and the "que" in "Ojalá que" is optional. Whatever your preference is. - Goldie_Miel, Feb 14, 2012

this answer is wrong;) - 00494d19, Feb 14, 2012

Answer 3

Close. I would say: A veces deseo que no te quiero.

Close to a mistake. I would say "a veces desearía no quererte".