Answers
Nov 03, 2009 - 08:16 AM
Very good question indeed. Quisiera is one of those terms which is very common, but hard to explain. Technically your book is correct because the verb conjugation that quisiera takes is the imperfect subjunctive.The thing is the way that is it used, it would best be translated as ’I would like’. You can actually literally translate "I’d like" as ’me gustaría ’ using the conditional. In my experiences they can both be used interchangeably:Me gustaría una taza de café./Yo quisiera una taza de café.But I think that quisiera sounds a little more elegant/polite.It’s one of those things which is more difficult to translate directly, but when you see it being used, it becomes more understandable.I hope this helps and I hope you enjoy Spanish 3. Any questions you have, send us them this way of course.