Preterite of Querer

The verb querer (to want) undergoes a complete stem change in the preterite, from quer- to quis-. It belongs to the "strong" preterite family alongside ter (tive), poder (pude), and saber (soube). But querer in the preterite does something that catches every learner off guard: it shifts meaning. Where the present quero simply means "I want," the preterite quis often means "I tried to" -- and the negative não quis means "I refused." Understanding this meaning shift is as important as memorizing the forms.

Conjugation

The entire paradigm is built on the stem quis- with the strong preterite endings: -e (reduced to zero here), -este, -e (zero), -emos, (-estes), -eram. Like dizer (disse) and trazer (trouxe), the eu and ele/você forms are identical -- both are simply quis. Only context or an explicit pronoun tells you who the sentence is about.

Wanting in the past

At its simplest, the preterite of querer reports what someone wanted on a specific occasion.

Trying and attempting -- the meaning shift

This is what makes querer in the preterite special. In many contexts, quis does not simply mean "wanted" -- it means "tried to" or "attempted to." The preterite frames the desire as a completed act of will, which in practice often implies an attempt.

This shift is not optional or rare -- it is the default reading in many sentences. When a Portuguese speaker hears quis fazer algo, the natural interpretation is that the person attempted the action, not merely that they had a passive desire.

Negative -- refused

In the negative, the meaning shifts even further. Não quis does not mean "didn't want" in a mild sense -- it means "refused" or "wouldn't."

This is one of the strongest ways to express refusal in Portuguese. Where English might say "he wouldn't" or "he refused to," European Portuguese uses não quis naturally and frequently.

The meaning contrast -- present vs preterite

This table captures the full picture of how querer shifts meaning across tense and polarity. Study it carefully -- it is the single most important thing to understand about this verb in the past.

Quis vs queria

The preterite quis and the imperfect queria both translate to "wanted" in English, but they describe fundamentally different kinds of wanting.

The preterite quis frames the desire as a single, completed act of will -- a decision, an attempt, or a refusal. The imperfect queria describes an ongoing background state of desire, or serves as a polite conditional ("I would like"). In a café, you would say Queria um café, por favor (polite request), never Quis um café -- that would mean you tried and failed to get one. For more on polite requests with the conditional, see Polite Requests with the Conditional.

The strong preterite family

Querer belongs to the same family of irregular strong preterites that share the ending pattern -e, -este, -e, -emos, (-estes), -eram. Only the stem changes from verb to verb. If you know one, the others follow the same skeleton.

Notice that querer and saber both have identical eu/ele forms (quis/quis, soube/soube), while ter and fazer distinguish them (tive/teve, fiz/fez). See Preterite of Ter and Preterite of Poder for the full conjugations of these siblings.

Common mistakes

1. Using a regular ending. Forms like quereu or quereram do not exist. The stem changes entirely to quis-, and the endings follow the strong preterite pattern. There is nothing regular about this verb in the past.

2. Missing the meaning shift. Translating quis as simply "wanted" misses what makes this verb interesting. In the affirmative, quis usually implies "tried to"; in the negative, não quis means "refused." If you write "I wanted" when the sentence means "I tried to," you lose the nuance that Portuguese speakers hear naturally.

3. Confusing quis with quiz. The word quis (wanted/tried) has no z. The word quiz (a quiz or test) is a different word entirely, borrowed from English. Writing quiz fazer instead of quis fazer is a spelling error that changes the meaning completely.

4. Using quis for polite requests. In a café or shop, never say Quis um café -- this implies you tried to get a coffee but failed. Use Queria um café, por favor (imperfect, polite) or simply Quero um café, por favor (present, direct). The preterite of querer is for narrating past events, not for making requests.

For the full preterite system, see Preterite Overview. For the present-tense forms of this verb, see Present Indicative of Querer. For other strong preterites with the same ending pattern, see Preterite of Poder and Preterite of Saber.