A little more to say
Making a gentle request
Imperfect subjunctive for polite requests
Make a polite request with a conventional softened expression.
Endings refresher
Imperfect subjunctive
Start with the ellos preterite form, remove -ron, and choose the -ra or -se endings.
| Person | -ra option | -se option |
|---|---|---|
| yo | -ra | -se |
| tú | -ras | -ses |
| él / ella / usted | -ra | -se |
| nosotros / nosotras | -ramos | -semos |
| vosotros / vosotras | -rais | -seis |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | -ran | -sen |
hacer → hicieron → hicie- + -ra → yo hiciera
- Both series are valid: hiciera or hiciese. Nosotros adds an accent to the stem: hiciéramos or hiciésemos.
- Quisiera is a form of querer used in a common polite request; it is not a conditional ending.
- These charts use tú. Vosotros / vosotras is mainly used in Spain; ustedes uses the final row. Vos forms vary by region.
The pattern
- Quisiera + noun or infinitive is a common polite formula.
- Quisiera is an imperfect-subjunctive form of querer. Querría is conditional.
Quisiera reservar una mesa.
I would like to reserve a table.
Why it works: Quisiera softens the request. Reservar stays an infinitive and names what I would like to do.
Notice the difference
¿Podría reservar una mesa?
Could I reserve a table?
Why it works: Podría is conditional. It offers another polite request, but it does not make quisiera a conditional form.
One thing to watch for
This does not mean every imperfect-subjunctive verb automatically makes a polite request.