How to Talk About Wondering in Spanish

How to Talk About Wondering in Spanish Although you can translate the English verb to wonder, meaning to not know and to be curious about using the Spanish verb preguntarse, Spanish speakers often convey such a sense of uncertainty in their choice of verb tense. Using Preguntarse Use of preguntarse is straightforward if youre familiar with reflexive verbs. It can be literally translated as to ask oneself, and has basically that same meaning. Me pregunto si es amor lo que siento o es solo un capricho. I wonder if it is love I am feeling or if it is only a whim.Nos preguntamos si este invierno volver a nevar. We wonder if it will snow again this winter.Yo me preguntaba lo mismo. I wondered the same thing. ¿Quà © es la vida buena? se preguntaban los griegos. What is the good life? the Greeks wondered.Nunca se preguntaron como podà ­a ser posible. They never wondered how it could be possible. Using the Future Indicative Tense When speaking of wondering about something that is occurring in the present, it is common in Spanish to use the future indicative tense in the form of a question. For example, to say, I wonder where my keys are, you could say,  ¿Dà ³nde estarn las llaves? (The same sentence might also be translated as Where can my keys be?) It is important to understand that  ¿Dà ³nde estarn las llaves? does not (unless the context makes clear otherwise) mean Where will my keys be? There is a difference, however, between asking the direct question,  ¿Dà ³nde estn las llaves? (present tense, Where are my keys?) and using the future tense as in  ¿Dà ³nde estarn las llaves? In the latter case, the speaker isnt necessarily looking for an answer. Following are some other examples of what is sometimes called the suppositional future. In the examples below, two English translations are given. Either one (and possibly others) would be possible.  ¿Quià ©n ir a la fruterà ­a? I wonder whos going to the fruit stand. Who might be going to the fruit stand? ¿Quà © querr decir el autor en esta oracià ³n? I wonder what the author is saying in this sentence. What could the author be saying in this sentence? ¿Quà © pensarn de nosotros en Japà ³n? I wonder what the Japanese think about us. What could they be thinking about us in Japan? Using the Conditional Tense In the same way, the conditional tense can be used to express speculation about the past, although this is less common than the use of the future tense explained above:  ¿Quà © querrà ­a la policà ­a con à ©l? I wonder what the police wanted with him. What would the police have wanted with him? ¿Dà ³nde estarà ­an los secuestrados? I wonder where the hostages were. Where could the hostages have been? Both the future and conditional tenses have uses other than those explained in this lesson. As usual, context rules when seeking to understand what Spanish speakers are saying.