wanted and wanted ?

Question

hello,

I am struggling with that one, my native language is French and although my English is pretty good (I am an English teacher after all), the difference between "wanted" and "wanted" is pretty slim indeed....

isn't there a more grammatical approach to this ? I am afraid the semantics approach does not cut it for me ...

thanks in adavance

Answer

Isn't it just the same as the difference between passé composé and imparfait in French? When translating to English, you sometimes have to use a different verb ("tried" or "refused") to capture the different nuances, but in other cases they are both translated as the simple past, "wanted".

If there were a version of Kwiziq for French speakers learning Spanish, I wonder if this lesson would even be considered necessary.

Answer

Hola Matthieu
As Alan was rightly pointing out, it is all about adding a different nuance to the verb. This very often happens when we use certain verbs in the simple past tense or the imperfect. As well as querer, we have other verbs with slightly different nuances. Here is another lesson that may help you understand this topic, this time about "poder":
Poder in El Pretérito Indefinido vs El Pretérito Imperfecto
Saludos
Inma