spanish: difference between quiero, quiera, quisiera?
I want to know the differences between these three words. I know they mean something along the lines of i want or would like. My french teacher told us that when she was in spain, she forgot that quiero was more damanding. she said quiero papas fritas, she didn't meant it like i want fries go get them for me but the hostess took it the wrong way and started yelling and getting furious and saying that she could get it herself. I work with spanish people and i just started learning spanish on my own. I don't want to offend them please explain to me the exact meanings and what effect they have.
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I don't see what was the problem with that hostess, but perhaps is because she was Spanish, and I'm Mexican, so the culture differs (nevertheless, it would be strange as I have heard Spanish people are pretty direct when talking, while Mexicans are much more reserved). Or it had nothing to do with the language, and she was being paranoid, or overreacting.
"Quiero" simply means "I want/ I like to", so it's pretty straight-forward.
"Quisiera" means "I would like (to)", so it's more of a passive, suggestive way of asking, as a request.
"Quiera" is harder. I know how to use it, but I don't know how to explain it, except with an example: "no es que quiera papas fritas" would roughly translate to "it's not that I would like fries". It is used widely after a "que".
Sorry, I can't explain myself better, even considering I'm a native Spanish-speaker, but "quiero" and "quisiera" are just like what I mentioned.
Too late now, but a "por favor" might have helped smooth the waters.
Pretty much the same in English, "I would like" is better than "I want" and sounds a little less demanding. So "quisiera" is the more polite version.
"Quiera" is just a different conjugation of the present "quiero". You would say "el quiera" or "Usted quiera". Again, better to use "quisiera".
Something similar happened to us in Italy. My wife was trying to figure out how to ask if she could get an egg fried for breakfast and she said the word "frittata". The waitress launched into a tirade (mostly directed at me because I understood a little more) about how much work it would be to make a frittata and what was wrong with us to ask such a thing.
These things happen. It's part of travel. I got yelled at elsewhere in Italy for using the ticket window to just ask for train information, but it was kind of fun listening to this rapid Italian scolding and realize I could kind of get what she was yelling about.