Learn Spanish (Spain): Quería preguntarle una cosa. - I wanted to ask you something. formal

Quería preguntarle una cosa.

I wanted to ask you something. (formal)

Breakdown of Quería preguntarle una cosa.

a, an, some

querer

to want; to love (a person)

to him / to her / to you (formal) / him (direct object, male person)

preguntar

to ask

Questions & Answers about Quería preguntarle una cosa.

Why is quería used here instead of the present tense quiero?

Using the imperfect tense quería is a common way to soften a request and sound polite in Spanish, much like saying "I wanted to" or "I was hoping to" in English. Using quiero (I want) would sound a bit too direct or demanding.

The translation says "ask you", but doesn't le usually mean "him" or "her"?

Yes, le is the indirect object pronoun for "him" and "her", but it is also used for usted (the formal "you"). Here, it attaches directly to the end of the infinitive verb to make preguntarle.

Could I put the pronoun before the verbs, like Le quería preguntar?

Yes, absolutely! When you have a conjugated verb followed by an infinitive, you can either attach the pronoun to the end of the infinitive (quería preguntarle) or place it right before the conjugated verb (le quería preguntar). Both mean the exact same thing.

Why does the sentence use una cosa (a thing) instead of algo (something)?

While you could perfectly well say preguntarle algo, native speakers in Spain very frequently use the phrase una cosa in everyday conversation to mean "something", especially when introducing a new topic or a question.

If I wanted to ask for a favor instead of a question, would I still use ?