Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): Quiero probar ese postre en la heladería. - I want to try that dessert at the ice-cream shop.

1. In Spanish there are two common verbs for “to try”, probar and tratar. Why is it “Quiero probar ese postre” and not “Quiero tratar ese postre”?

In Spanish, probar means “to try by tasting or testing”. You use it for food, drinks, clothes, or anything you physically test:

Quiero probar ese postre. – I want to taste that dessert.
Pruébate esta chaqueta. – Try this jacket on.

Tratar (or tratar de + infinitive) means “to try (to do something)”, as in making an effort:

Quiero tratar de hacerlo. – I want to try to do it.
Estoy tratando de aprender español. – I’m trying to learn Spanish.

So for food, probar is the natural choice. “Quiero tratar ese postre” sounds wrong; it’d be like saying “I want to attempt that dessert.”

2. How does “querer + infinitive” work in “Quiero probar ese postre”?

The structure querer + infinitive means “to want to do something.”

Quiero probar = I want to try (to taste).
- quiero = I want
- probar = to try

Other examples:

Quiero comer. – I want to eat.
¿Quieres salir? – Do you want to go out?
No quiero estudiar. – I don’t want to study.

The infinitive (probar) doesn’t change; only querer is conjugated to match the subject:

Subject	Conjugation	Example
yo	quiero	Yo quiero probar ese postre.
tú	quieres	¿Tú quieres probar ese postre?
él/ella/usted	quiere	Ella quiere probar ese postre.
nosotros	queremos	Queremos probar ese postre.

3. Why is it “ese postre” and not “este postre” or “aquel postre”?

Spanish has three main demonstratives for “this/that”:

este = this (near the speaker)
ese = that (near the listener or relatively close)
aquel = that (far from both speaker and listener, or more distant in some way)

In Latin American everyday usage, ese often just means “that (one over there)”, not right next to the speaker but not super far either.

Quiero probar este postre. – I want to try this dessert (right here, close to me).
Quiero probar ese postre. – I want to try that dessert (closer to you, or a little farther away).
Quiero probar aquel postre. – I want to try that dessert over there (clearly farther away, often pointing).

All of them must agree in gender and number with postre (which is masculine singular):

ese postre (that dessert)
esa sopa (that soup)
esos postres (those desserts)
esas sopas (those soups)

4. Why is it “ese postre” instead of just “un postre”? Does “ese” change the meaning?

Yes. It’s the difference between “a dessert” and “that dessert.”

Quiero probar un postre. – I want to try a dessert (any dessert, not specific).
Quiero probar ese postre. – I want to try that dessert (a specific one you can see or have in mind).

Ese points to a particular dessert (for example, one on the menu or in the display case).
If the learner already knows the meaning of the full sentence, they’re seeing a specific dessert, not just a random one.

5. Why is it “en la heladería” and not “a la heladería” or “de la heladería”?

The preposition en usually means “in / at / on” depending on context. Here it’s “at the ice cream shop.”

Quiero probar ese postre en la heladería.
= I want to try that dessert at the ice cream shop (location where the action happens).

Compare:

Voy a la heladería. – I’m going to the ice cream shop. (movement → a)
El postre es de la heladería. – The dessert is from the ice cream shop. (origin/possession → de)
Estoy en la heladería. – I’m at/in the ice cream shop. (location → en)

In your sentence, the action (probar) happens there, so en is the correct preposition.

6. Why is it “la heladería” (with “la”) instead of just “heladería”?

In Spanish, nouns almost always need an article (el, la, los, las, un, una, etc.) unless there’s some other determiner (like este, ese, su).

So you usually say:

en la heladería – in/at the ice cream shop
en una heladería – in/at an ice cream shop

Leaving out the article as in “en heladería” is normally incorrect in this context.

Using la instead of una suggests you’re talking about a specific ice cream shop (maybe the one you both know or just mentioned):

Quiero probar ese postre en la heladería. – at the ice cream shop (a particular one).
Quiero probar ese postre en una heladería. – at an ice cream shop (any ice cream shop, more general).

7. Is the word order fixed? Can I say “En la heladería quiero probar ese postre”?

Yes, Spanish word order is flexible as long as it stays clear.

All of these are correct and natural:

Quiero probar ese postre en la heladería.
En la heladería quiero probar ese postre. (emphasizes the place)
Ese postre lo quiero probar en la heladería. (emphasizes the dessert)

But you can’t freely move the verb and its infinitive in the middle:

❌ Quiero ese postre probar en la heladería. – sounds unnatural/wrong.

Common pattern to stick with:

[Subject] + [conjugated verb] + [infinitive] + [object] + [place/time]
(Yo) quiero probar ese postre en la heladería.

8. What is the subject of the sentence? Why is “yo” not written?

The implied subject is yo (“I”).

In Spanish, the verb ending -o in quiero already tells you the subject is yo. That’s why Spanish often drops the subject pronoun:

(Yo) quiero probar ese postre en la heladería.
Usually said simply as: Quiero probar ese postre en la heladería.

You only add yo when you want to emphasize I:

Yo quiero probar ese postre, no tú. – I want to try that dessert, not you.

9. What is the direct object in “Quiero probar ese postre en la heladería”, and can I replace it with a pronoun?

The direct object (what is being tried) is:

ese postre – that dessert

You can replace ese postre with the masculine singular direct object pronoun lo:

Quiero probar ese postre.
Lo quiero probar. – I want to try it.
Quiero probarlo. – I want to try it.

In Latin America, both Lo quiero probar and Quiero probarlo are very common and correct.

Structure:

lo = it (masculine singular, replacing ese postre)
Spanish allows object pronouns:
- before the conjugated verb: lo quiero probar
- or attached to the infinitive: quiero probarlo

10. How do you pronounce “quiero” and “heladería”?

Quiero

Sounds roughly like “KYER-oh” (2 syllables: quie-ro).
quie is one syllable: /kje/ (like “kyeh”).
Stress is on the first syllable: QUIE-ro.

Heladería

Syllables: e-la-de-rí-a (5 syllables).
The h is silent.
The accent on í means the stress goes there: e-la-de-RÍ-a.
Rough approximation in English: eh-lah-deh-REE-ah.

So the full sentence flows as:

Quie-ro pro-bar e-se pos-tre en la e-la-de-RÍ-a.

11. Are there other words for “heladería” in Latin America?

Yes, depending on the country, you might hear:

heladería – the standard and widely understood term for “ice cream shop.”
nevería – used in parts of Mexico (from nieve, “snow / ice cream”).
paletería – in Mexico and some Central American countries, more for places that sell paletas (popsicles/ice pops).

In most of Latin America, heladería is safe and easily understood:

Vamos a la heladería. – Let’s go to the ice cream shop.

12. How does “ese postre en la heladería” differ from “ese postre de la heladería”?

ese postre en la heladería
– location of the action: the dessert is being tried at the ice cream shop.
- Quiero probar ese postre en la heladería.
  = I want to taste that dessert at the ice cream shop.
ese postre de la heladería
– origin or belonging: the dessert comes from / belongs to the ice cream shop.
- Quiero probar ese postre de la heladería.
  = I want to try that dessert from the ice cream shop.

So en = where you’ll eat it; de = where it’s from. You could, for example, try ese postre de la heladería en tu casa (at home).