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fluentbyear

SPANISH VERB

desear

to wish

  • #147 most used
  • Regular -ar verb
  • Gerund: deseando
  • Past participle: deseado

Conjugation

Tap any form to hear it. The part that changes is in colour.

Present

Presente · now, habits and facts

  1. yo I wish
  2. tú you wish
  3. usted, él, ella he/she wishes
  4. nosotros we wish
  5. vosotros Spain you all wish
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they wish

Past

Pretérito indefinido · finished actions

  1. yo I wished
  2. tú you wished
  3. usted, él, ella he/she wished
  4. nosotros we wished
  5. vosotros Spain you all wished
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they wished

Imperfect

Pretérito imperfecto · “used to” and “was …ing”

  1. yo I used to wish
  2. tú you used to wish
  3. usted, él, ella he/she used to wish
  4. nosotros we used to wish
  5. vosotros Spain you all used to wish
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they used to wish

Future

Futuro · plans and promises; in speech, “voy a hablar” is just as common

  1. yo I will wish
  2. tú you will wish
  3. usted, él, ella he/she will wish
  4. nosotros we will wish
  5. vosotros Spain you all will wish
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they will wish

Conditional

Condicional · “would”

  1. yo I would wish
  2. tú you would wish
  3. usted, él, ella he/she would wish
  4. nosotros we would wish
  5. vosotros Spain you all would wish
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they would wish

Present subjunctive

Presente de subjuntivo · wishes, doubts, “que …”

  1. yo (that) I wish
  2. tú (that) you wish
  3. usted, él, ella (that) he/she wish
  4. nosotros (that) we wish
  5. vosotros Spain (that) you all wish
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas (that) they wish

Past subjunctive

Imperfecto de subjuntivo · “if I were”, “si …”

  1. yo (if) I wished
  2. tú (if) you wished
  3. usted, él, ella (if) he/she wished
  4. nosotros (if) we wished
  5. vosotros Spain (if) you all wished
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas (if) they wished

Imperative

Imperativo · requests and orders; a negative one uses the subjunctive (no hables)

  1. tú wish!
  2. usted wish! (formal)
  3. nosotros wish! (let’s)
  4. vosotros Spain wish! (all of you)
  5. ustedes wish! (all of you)

How to use desear

One sentence for each tense, the way people say it.

  1. Present

    Te deseo mucha suerte en tu examen de mañana.

    I wish you lots of luck on your exam tomorrow.

  2. Past

    Le deseamos feliz cumpleaños a la abuela por videollamada.

    We wished Grandma a happy birthday by video call.

  3. Imperfect

    De niña deseaba tener un caballo blanco.

    As a girl I wished I had a white horse.

  4. Future

    Todos te desearán lo mejor en tu nueva etapa.

    Everyone will wish you the best in your new chapter.

  5. Conditional

    Desearía poder quedarme una semana más.

    I wish I could stay one more week.

  6. Present subjunctive

    Ojalá que me desees suerte antes del partido.

    I hope you wish me luck before the game.

  7. Past subjunctive

    Si deseara algo, pediría salud para mi familia.

    If I wished for something, I'd ask for health for my family.

  8. Imperative

    ¡Deséame suerte, voy a pedirle matrimonio!

    Wish me luck, I'm going to propose!

Good to know

  • "¿Qué desea?" is what a waiter or clerk asks: "What would you like?"

Where you hear desear

The lessons that teach a form of it, and how they say it.

Spanish · Beginner Level 3

  • Les deseo una feliz Navidad. I wish you a merry Christmas.
  • Deseé muchas cosas con las uvas. I wished for lots of things with the grapes.
  • Les voy a desear mucha salud. I'm going to wish you lots of health.

Spanish · Intermediate Level 3

  • Te deseo un feliz año, hija. I wish you a happy new year, sweetheart.
  • ¿Qué deseaste? What did you wish for?
  • El año que viene voy a desear lo mismo. Next year I'm going to wish for the same thing.

Verbs like this one

The same pattern, on other verbs: regular -ar verb.