Strong personal wishes with ¡quién!
To express a strong, impossible wish about yourself ("If only I..."), you can use the exclamation ¡quién!
Because the pronoun quién literally means "who," the verb that follows is always conjugated in the third-person singular.
To express a wish about the present, pair ¡quién! with the imperfect subjunctive.
| If only I had that inexhaustible energy of youth! | ¡Quién tuviera esa energía inagotable de la juventud! |
| If only I were that carefree right now! | ¡Quién fuera así de despreocupado ahora mismo! |
| If only I could recover my innocence! | ¡Quién pudiera recuperar la inocencia! |
Regretting the past
To express a regret about a past action ("If only I had..."), use ¡quién! followed by the past perfect subjunctive (using the third-person singular hubiera).
| If only I had taken advantage of my youth more! | ¡Quién hubiera aprovechado más la juventud! |
Nostalgia and longing
You will frequently hear ¡quién! when people feel nostalgic and reminisce about the prime of their lives.
| I am nostalgic; if only I had the vigor of youth! | Estoy nostálgico; ¡quién tuviera el vigor de la juventud! |
| I long for the fullness of those years; if only I were carefree! | Añoro la plenitud de esos años; ¡quién fuera despreocupado! |
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