Expressing Past Wishes/Wants: How does one say, "I wanted you to do something"?

Question

Essentially, my question is this: How can I express a past desire for someone to do something. For example, does (Yo) Quería que cocinaras translate as "I wanted you to cook"? Or is it Quería que cocines? Or is it a completely different sentence?

G'day mate , how are you going? Thank you for filling out your profile , a vote from me for that . - ray76, Dec 29, 2015

Answer 1

Hello MellamoChris,

Welcome to the SpanishDict forum

You asked:

Expressing Past Wishes/Wants: How does one say, "I wanted you to do something ?Essentially, my question is this: How can I express a past desire for someone to do something. For example, does (Yo) Quería que cocinaras translate as "I wanted you to cook"? Or is it Quería que cocines? Or is it a completely different sentence?

Let me start by saying Congratulations on such a good attempt! The first sentence is absolutely correct!

I will also give you some examples to hopefully illustrate the difference between sentences using the present and past subjunctive:

I want you to do something = Quiero que hagas algo (presente de subjunctivo)

I wanted you to do something = Quería que hicieras algo (imperfecto de subjunctivo)

I want you to cook the dinner = Quiero que cocines la cena (presente de subj)

I wanted you to cook the dinner = (Yo) Quería que cocinaras la cena (imp de subj)

Structure of a sentence in the present subjunctive:

1st clause: Quiero (1st verb, querer + 1st subj: I) + que (relative pronoun) + me compres (second subject: me + second verb: comprar) un flamante coche.

= I want you to buy me a brand new car

Querías (1st verb querer + 1st subj: you) que (relative pronoun) te lo comprara un anillo diamante.

= You wanted him to buy you a diamond ring.

You must be careful not to mix the present and imperfect subjunctive ...if the verb in the first clause is in the present indicative, and the sentence requieres the subjunctive, then the second verb will usually be in the present subjuctive...as in the examples above! Likewise (ie: in the same way) if the first part is in the past indicative then it will be followed by the imperfect subjuctive, as in the examples above!

However, there are situations where the conditional indicative is followed by the imperfect subjunctive, as in the following example/s:

ex 1. Viajaría (cond indicat) por todo el mundo si tuviera (imp subj) suficiente dinero = I would travel around the world, if had enough money.

ex 2. Si fuera (imp subj) en Madrid, comería (cond indicat) comida madrileña. = If I were in Madrid, I would eat Madrid food.

Do not worry if you do not understand everything I have explained about the subjunctive from my simple explanations. It is one of the tricky subjects, like ser vs estar and por vs para that frequently trip up many students learning Spanish.

I hope this helps

Corrijan mi español, si es necesario, por favor

Apart from answering your question with examples, I hope that I have not made it too complicated for you! Sorry in advance, if that is the case! - FELIZ77, Dec 29, 2015

This is a great explanation of these usages and some fine examples. - Jubilado, Dec 29, 2015

Thank you for the considerable time you put into this comprehensive response. ;) - jrschenk, Dec 29, 2015

Thank you very much, Jubilado :) - FELIZ77, Dec 29, 2015

Thank you very much Jr :) - FELIZ77, Dec 29, 2015

Answer 2

mellamoChrisL

Both are correct, but they place differently in time as to when you wanted the action of cooking to occur.

Answer 3

Past wish takes the subjunctive just like the present, but obviously, in the past: Quería que cocinaras. Fine as far as I can see, and if Chileno agrees, this is a miracle! You've done well!

Good answer, Annie and much more concise than mine! ;) lol - FELIZ77, Dec 29, 2015

Everyone has theri own method, theirown way of thinking and learning, Feliz and we just have to find what works for us. - annierats, Dec 29, 2015

Very true, Annie! I hope you had an enjoyable Christmas and Happy New Year! :) - FELIZ77, Dec 29, 2015

Answer 4

I am not sufficiently knowledgable but how about ,-" Yo quería que te cocinar.

But please wait until one of our excellent kind and erudite Spanish natives

wanders by and with great aplomb and pizazz gives us their "traducción"".

And they may even give me a vote ;). - ray76, Dec 29, 2015

cocinarte, in which case you wanted to cook her/him. ;) - chileno, Dec 29, 2015

Ray, you're now going to eat this poor man. - annierats, Dec 29, 2015