Desear

Desear is a Spanish verb meaning to want, to wish for, or to long for. It expresses a wish or aspiration for something concrete or abstract and is often more formal or nuanced than querer. In everyday speech it can convey both simple desire and polite requests, depending on the context and construction.

Grammatically, desear takes a direct object for the thing desired (desear algo) and can be followed by an infinitive (desear hacer algo). To express a wish about another person’s action, it can be followed by que and the subjunctive (desear que alguien haga algo). In polite requests, the conditional form desearía is commonly used.

Conjugation: as a regular -ar verb, its forms follow the standard endings. Present: deseo, deseas, desea, deseamos, deseáis, desean. Preterite: deseé, diste? Correcting: deseé, deseaste, deseó, deseamos, deseasteis, desearon. Imperfect: deseaba, deseabas, deseaba, deseábamos, deseabais, deseaban. Subjunctive: desee, desees, desee, deseemos, deseéis, deseen. Imperative: desea (tú), desee (usted), deseemos (nosotros), desead (vosotros), deseen (ustedes).

Etymology: desear comes from Latin desiderare, meaning to long for or desire. It shares cognates with other Romance languages, such as Portuguese desejar and French désirer.

Usage notes: desear can be more formal or literary than querer and is common in polite conversation and written language. It often conveys a wish rather than a definite intention, and register matters when choosing between desear and other synonyms. Examples: Yo deseo estudiar español. Ella desea un regalo para su cumpleaños. Desearía saber la hora.