Learn Hardcore Spanish (Spain): Todos queremos participar en la clase.

The verb queremos is 1st person plural (we want), so todos must be referring to “we”.
You could make it longer and more explicit: Todos nosotros queremos participar en la clase. = We all want to participate in the class.

So here todos is best understood as “we all / all of us”, not just a general “everyone” including people outside the group.

Why is it todos and not todas? When would I use todas?

Todos is the masculine plural form; todas is the feminine plural form.

Use todos if the group is:
- all male, or
- a mixed group (male + female), or
- gender not specified (the default is masculine).
Use todas only if every single person in the group is female:
- Todas queremos participar en la clase. (We all [females] want to participate in class.)

If you’re talking about a mixed or unknown group, todos is the normal choice.

Where is “we” in this sentence? Why isn’t nosotros written?

In Spanish, the subject pronoun (yo, tú, él, nosotros, etc.) is often dropped because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

queremos = we want
So the subject nosotros is understood:
- (Nosotros) queremos participar en la clase.

You can say nosotros if you want to emphasize we (as opposed to others), but it’s not required:

Todos nosotros queremos participar en la clase. (Strong emphasis on we all.)

Why isn’t there “to” in Spanish? In English it’s “want to participate”.

Spanish doesn’t use an extra word like “to” before the infinitive verb.

querer + infinitive = to want + to do something
participar is already the infinitive form (to participate).

So:

queremos participar = we want to participate
No extra word (like “to”) is needed; the infinitive itself covers that idea.

Why do we say queremos participar and not queremos a participar?

The verb querer when followed by another verb takes it directly in the infinitive, with no preposition:

quiero comer – I want to eat
queremos salir – we want to go out
quieres participar – you want to participate

So queremos participar is correct; queremos a participar is wrong.

The preposition a with querer appears with people (direct object):

Quiero a mi familia. – I love my family.

But not before an infinitive.

Why is it participar en and not participar a or participar de?

In Spain, the normal preposition with participar is en when you specify what you participate in:

participar en la clase – to participate in the class
participar en un proyecto – to take part in a project

Participar a is not used in this sense.
Participar de exists, but it’s more common in some Latin American varieties and often has a slightly different or more formal/abstract nuance (e.g. to share in something). In Spain for class participation, you would naturally say participar en la clase.

Could I drop en la clase and just say Todos queremos participar?

Yes, grammatically that’s fine:

Todos queremos participar. = We all want to participate.

But then it’s less specific. You’re not saying where or in what you want to participate.

Adding en la clase specifies the context:

Todos queremos participar en la clase. – We all want to participate in class.

Why is it en la clase and not en clase? Is there a difference?

Both are correct, but there is a nuance:

en clase (without article) often refers to the situation of being in class in general:
- En clase no usamos el móvil. – We don’t use our phones in class.
en la clase (with la) can refer more to a specific class/session/group:
- Todos queremos participar en la clase. – We all want to participate in the class (this particular class, as an activity).

In practice, many speakers would also say participar en clase, which is very natural and general:

Todos queremos participar en clase. – We all want to participate in class (as a general classroom behavior).

What tense is queremos? Could it also refer to the future?

Queremos is present tense, first person plural of querer:

queremos = we want

While it’s present tense, in context it often talks about a desire that’s current and includes the near future, just like in English:

Ahora todos queremos participar en la clase. – Right now we all want to participate in class.

So the tense is present, but the desire often concerns things you’ll do from now on.

Is querer here polite enough? In English “we want” can sound a bit strong.

In Spanish, querer + infinitive is very normal and not rude in a sentence like this.

Todos queremos participar en la clase. sounds neutral and natural.

For extra politeness or softness, you could use:

Nos gustaría participar en la clase. – We would like to participate in class.
Queremos participar más en la clase. – We want to participate more in class. (Still perfectly polite.)

But queremos by itself doesn’t sound demanding here; it’s just stating a wish.

Could I say Todos nosotros queremos participar en la clase? Does that change the meaning?

Yes, you can say:

Todos nosotros queremos participar en la clase.

The basic meaning is the same (“We all want to participate in class”), but adding nosotros gives a bit more emphasis on we:

It can contrast us with others, e.g., other groups or people who don’t want to participate.
It sounds a little more explicit and maybe slightly more formal or emphatic.

Can the word order change? For example, can I say Queremos todos participar en la clase?

Yes, Spanish word order is flexible, and these variations are possible:

Todos queremos participar en la clase. (Most natural, neutral emphasis on all.)
Queremos todos participar en la clase. (Also correct; slight emphasis on we want, all of us.)

However, Todos queremos participar en la clase is the most common and natural-sounding version. The others are used less frequently or for particular emphasis.

Does todos here include the person you’re talking to, like “all of us including you”?

It depends on the context, just like in English.

Grammatically, queremos = we (speaker + at least one other person). Whether it includes the person you’re talking to is up to the situation:

Teacher speaking to students, about the students:
- Todos queremos participar en la clase. – could mean the students (including or excluding the teacher, depending on context).

If you want to be crystal clear that it includes speaker and hearer, you can add context or pronouns, e.g.:

Todos nosotros, en esta clase, queremos participar. – All of us here in this class want to participate.

But grammatically, todos queremos always means that the speaker is included. Whether the listener is included is contextual.

How would this sentence change if the group was entirely female?

Only todos would change to its feminine form todas. The verb queremos doesn’t change:

Todas queremos participar en la clase. – We all (females) want to participate in class.

Everything else (queremos participar en la clase) stays exactly the same.