Breakdown of Quiero un aprobado en el examen de español.
Questions & Answers about Quiero un aprobado en el examen de español.
Both are possible, but they differ in tone:
Quiero un aprobado… = I want a pass…
- More direct and stronger.
- Very common and completely natural in everyday speech.
Me gustaría un aprobado… = I would like a pass…
- Softer, more polite or hypothetical.
- Sounds a bit more tentative or formal.
In Spanish, using quiero is not as “demanding” as I want can sound in English; it is very normal when talking about your wishes or goals (grades, jobs, food in a restaurant, etc.).
Here un aprobado is a noun, not an adjective.
- It means a pass / a passing grade.
- In Spain’s school/university context, grades are traditionally labelled:
- suspenso – fail
- aprobado – pass (usually 5/10)
- notable, sobresaliente, etc. – higher grades
So Quiero un aprobado en el examen de español literally means:
I want to get a passing grade in the Spanish exam.
You are asking for the result/mark (a pass), not describing the exam as “passed”.
Both are correct, but they focus slightly different things:
Quiero aprobar el examen de español.
- Focus on the action of passing the exam.
- Equivalent to I want to pass the Spanish exam.
Quiero un aprobado en el examen de español.
- Focus on the grade/result: a pass, at least a 5.
- Often implies “I’m not asking for a high grade, just a pass.”
In everyday conversation in Spain, you will hear both. The “un aprobado” version often sounds a bit more modest or ironic, especially if the speaker doesn’t expect to do very well.
Because aprobado here is a fixed masculine noun meaning “a pass / passing grade”.
- It originally comes from the past participle of aprobar (to pass, to approve), but in the grading system it has become a set noun:
- un aprobado – a pass
- un suspenso – a fail
- un notable, un sobresaliente – higher marks
Even if the person taking the exam is female, the grade is still un aprobado; the gender doesn’t change.
You would only see aprobada as a feminine adjective or participle agreeing with a feminine noun, e.g. la propuesta está aprobada (the proposal is approved). That’s a different use.
No, that sounds wrong to native speakers.
- aprobado in this sense is a countable noun (a type of grade), so you normally need the article:
- Quiero un aprobado. – I want a pass.
Without un, it would be like saying in English:
I want pass in the exam – which is ungrammatical.
So you should say Quiero un aprobado en el examen de español.
en is used because it’s about getting that result in a specific exam:
- un aprobado en el examen ≈ a pass in the exam
Other prepositions would mean something else:
de:
- el resultado del examen = the result of the exam
- But un aprobado del examen is not idiomatic.
para:
- Estudio para el examen = I study for the exam (purpose).
- Quiero un aprobado para el examen would sound odd; it suggests “a pass for the exam” as some kind of preparation, not your score.
So for talking about marks achieved in a test, Spanish normally uses en:
un 7 en matemáticas, un aprobado en el examen, etc.
Because español there works like the subject of the exam, not “the Spanish language” as a full noun phrase with an article.
- el examen de español = the Spanish exam / the exam in Spanish (as a subject)
- similar to examen de matemáticas, examen de historia.
If you said del español (de + el español), that would refer specifically to “the Spanish language” as a full noun, and it would sound like a more technical phrase (e.g. el estudio del español = the study of Spanish). For an exam name, Spanish normally omits the article and simply uses de + subject name.
So idiomatically you say examen de español, not examen del español.
This is a difference in spelling conventions:
In English, names of languages, nationalities, and adjectives derived from proper names are capitalized:
- English, Spanish, French, German…
In Spanish, names of languages, nationalities, and most adjectives derived from proper names are not capitalized:
- español, inglés, francés, alemán
So examen de español is correct in Spanish, even though its English translation is Spanish exam, with a capital S.
Yes, you can, and it is very common.
Quiero aprobar el examen de español.
- Emphasises the action: you want the event of “passing” to happen.
- Neutral about what mark you get, as long as it’s not a fail.
Quiero un aprobado en el examen de español.
- Emphasises the grade: you want at least the official minimum passing mark (in Spain, typically a 5/10).
- Often implies “I don’t need a top grade; I just want to scrape a pass.”
In most real-life contexts, both would be understood almost the same, but the un aprobado version subtly highlights the minimum acceptable result.
Yes, when querer is followed by a clause with a different subject, you normally use the subjunctive. For example:
- Quiero que me aprueben en el examen de español.
- Literally: I want them to pass me in the Spanish exam.
- yo = subject of quiero,
- ellos (los profesores, el tribunal, etc.) = implied subject of aprueben (subjunctive).
Structure:
Quiero + [noun phrase] → no subjunctive
- Quiero un aprobado.
Quiero + que + [clause with different subject] → subjunctive
- Quiero que me aprueben.
In the original sentence, quiero is followed by a noun phrase (un aprobado en el examen de español), so there is no subjunctive.