Quote:
Originally Posted by Rusty
Was I, and many others, taught wrong about querer taking on a different meaning in the preterite, and yet another in the negated form in the same tense? I learned that I couldn't use quise if I wanted to say I wanted. I was told that quería was the only way to say that.  |
By and large that is correct (quise=tried; no quise=refused), but it's not always the case.
No quería ir = I didn't want to go.
No quise ir = I made it clear I didn't want to go. (I refused to go, etc)
Quería ir = I wanted to go.
Quise ir = I wanted to go, but I wasn't able to = I tried to go.