"quiero" vs. "queria" vs. "gustaria"

Question

Judging by an answer provided for a question below, "me gustaria" is equivalent to the three "queria" forms. That's good news because I've been using "me gustaria" most often. Should that be added to the examples in this lesson?

Also, does this lesson imply that the above three forms are more polite than simply "quiero?" I've asked many here in Colombia about this and they all say that "quiero" is much more common than "me gustaria" and not considered impolite. But still, I have trouble making myself say "quiero" so i usually say "me gustaria." Maybe I should start using "queria."

I guess I have a lot of confusion around "quiero" vs. "queria" vs. "gustaria" and their proper grammar and appropriate usage.

Answer

Hola William, Yes you are quite correct to use gustar: it is the more common usage. The querrer options are all about being polite. It is nice to know this latter usage because there are times and places when we want to communicate that politeness, even if they don't come up very often.

See the link below. There is an additional link within the lesson about further use of gustar which is worth studying because it comes up a lot.

Saludos. John

Polite requests in Spanish: querría, quería and quisiera to politely say "I would like"