Vouloir (to Want) in French

In Brief

Vouloir means “to want.” Its present-tense forms are je veux, tu veux, il/elle veut, nous voulons, vous voulez, ils/elles veulent, and it can be followed by a thing or another verb: Je veux un café; Je veux partir. When asking politely for something, use je voudrais (“I would like”) rather than the more direct je veux.

Overview

Vouloir is an essential irregular French verb. At A1, it lets you express a wish, choose food or drink, invite someone to do something, and ask what another person wants. It is often called a modal verb (a verb that combines with another verb to express ideas such as desire, ability, or necessity): Nous voulons voyager means “We want to travel.”

Unlike a regular -er verb, vouloir does not keep one stem throughout the present tense. Compare nous parlons and vous parlez with nous voulons and vous voulez. The changing forms must be learned, but they occur so often that they soon become familiar.

English-speaking learners also need to pay attention to tone. English “I want…” can be softened by context, voice, or “please.” French je veux expresses a real, fairly direct desire and may sound demanding when ordering from a stranger. Je voudrais… is the standard safer choice for “I would like…” in shops, restaurants, hotels, and other service encounters.

How It Works

Present-tense forms

The subject (the person or thing doing or experiencing the action) determines the form of vouloir.

Subject	Form	English
je	je veux	I want
tu	tu veux	you want (one person, informal)
il / elle / on	il / elle / on veut	he / she / one or we wants/want
nous	nous voulons	we want
vous	vous voulez	you want (formal singular or plural)
ils / elles	ils / elles veulent	they want

There are three written stems: veu- in the singular, voul- with nous and vous, and veul- with ils/elles. Do not try to build every form from the infinitive by applying regular -er endings.

Pronunciation makes the pattern a little easier than the spelling suggests. Veux and veut sound alike; their final x and t are silent. Veulent also has no pronounced final -ent, though its vowel sound differs from that of veux/veut. In nous voulons and vous voulez, both syllables are heard.

Vouloir + a noun

A noun is a word for a person, place, thing, or idea. Put the thing wanted directly after vouloir:

• Je veux un café. — I want a coffee.
• Elle veut une réponse. — She wants an answer.
• Nous voulons plus de temps. — We want more time.

French normally needs an article or another determiner before a countable noun, just as English usually does: un café, not simply café.

Vouloir + infinitive

An infinitive is the basic, unconjugated form of a verb, such as venir (“to come”) or réserver (“to book”). When the same person wants and performs the second action, use:

conjugated vouloir + infinitive

• Tu veux venir ? — Do you want to come?
• Ils veulent partir. — They want to leave.
• Je voudrais réserver. — I would like to book.

Only vouloir changes for the subject. The following verb stays in the infinitive: nous voulons manger, not nous voulons mangeons. Unlike English “want to leave,” French inserts no equivalent of “to”: say vouloir partir, not vouloir à partir or vouloir de partir.

Questions

In everyday speech, the simplest question keeps normal statement order and uses rising intonation:

• Tu veux venir ? — Do you want to come?
• Vous voulez autre chose ? — Would you like anything else?

Est-ce que makes the question explicit and works in both speech and ordinary writing:

• Est-ce que tu veux venir ? — Do you want to come?
• Qu’est-ce que vous voulez ? — What do you want?

Inversion is more formal: Voulez-vous entrer ? (“Would you like to come in?”). A hyphen joins the verb and pronoun.

Negatives

To say that someone does not want something, place ne before the conjugated verb and pas after it:

• Je ne veux pas attendre. — I do not want to wait.
• Nous ne voulons pas de dessert. — We do not want dessert.

Before a vowel sound, ne becomes n’: Elle ne veut pas partir does not contract because veut begins with a consonant sound. In informal conversation, speakers often omit ne: Je veux pas. The full ne… pas pattern remains the best default in careful speech and writing.

With an indefinite or partitive noun after a negative, un, une, du, de la, and des generally become de/d’: Je veux du sucre but Je ne veux pas de sucre. Definite articles remain: Je ne veux pas le café que tu as préparé (“I don’t want the coffee you made”).

The polite form: je voudrais

Je voudrais is the present conditional of vouloir. The conditional is a verb form often used for hypothetical ideas and polite requests. At beginner level, it is useful to learn je voudrais as a complete expression meaning “I would like.”

• Je voudrais un billet pour Lyon. — I would like a ticket to Lyon.
• Je voudrais parler à la responsable. — I would like to speak to the manager.

You can add s’il vous plaît with strangers or s’il te plaît with someone addressed as tu. The plural and other-person forms also exist—nous voudrions, vous voudriez—but je voudrais is by far the most immediately useful service phrase.

Examples in Context

French	English	Note
Je veux un café.	I want a coffee.	Direct statement of desire
Tu veux venir ?	Do you want to come?	Informal spoken question
Je voudrais réserver.	I would like to book.	Polite request
Ils veulent partir.	They want to leave.	Vouloir followed by an infinitive
Elle veut une chambre avec vue.	She wants a room with a view.	Vouloir followed by a noun phrase
On veut regarder un film ce soir.	We want to watch a film tonight.	Conversational on meaning “we”
Nous voulons apprendre le français.	We want to learn French.	More formal or emphatic “we”
Vous voulez autre chose ?	Would you like anything else?	Typical service question
Qu’est-ce que tu veux manger ?	What do you want to eat?	Question word plus est-ce que
Voulez-vous vous asseoir ?	Would you like to sit down?	Formal inversion
Je ne veux pas attendre dehors.	I don’t want to wait outside.	Negative around veux
Elle ne veut plus de café.	She doesn’t want any more coffee.	Ne… plus means “no longer / no more”
Nous voudrions deux billets, s’il vous plaît.	We would like two tickets, please.	Polite plural request
Tu veux que je t’aide ?	Do you want me to help you?	Different people perform the two actions

Common Mistakes

Treating vouloir like a regular -er verb

• Wrong: Nous vouleons partir.
• Right: Nous voulons partir.
• Why: Vouloir is irregular. Memorise nous voulons and vous voulez as complete forms.

Conjugating both verbs

• Wrong: Ils veulent partent.
• Right: Ils veulent partir.
• Why: After conjugated vouloir, the second verb stays in the infinitive (its basic form).

Adding a preposition before the infinitive

• Wrong: Je veux à réserver une table.
• Right: Je veux réserver une table.
• Why: English has “want to book,” but French uses vouloir directly followed by the infinitive, with no à or de.

Using je veux as a neutral order

• Awkward: Je veux un croissant, s’il vous plaît.
• Better: Je voudrais un croissant, s’il vous plaît.
• Why: Je veux is grammatically correct, but it can sound forceful when speaking to service staff. Je voudrais frames the words as a polite request.

Confusing veux, veut, and veulent in writing

• Wrong: Elle veux venir.
• Right: Elle veut venir.
• Why: Use veux with je and tu, veut with il, elle, or on, and veulent with ils or elles. Similar sounds do not mean identical spelling.

Keeping an indefinite article after a negative

• Wrong: Je ne veux pas un dessert when you mean no dessert at all.
• Right: Je ne veux pas de dessert.
• Why: After a simple negative, French usually changes an indefinite or partitive article to de. Pas un is possible when stressing “not one,” but that is a different emphasis.

Usage Notes

Tu veux… ? is often an offer or invitation, not merely a question about desire: Tu veux un café ? can mean “Would you like a coffee?” Between friends, it is natural and need not sound rude. Tone, relationship, and situation matter.

With strangers, vous voulez… ? is grammatically polite because it uses vous, but vous voudriez… ? or a phrase such as Vous désirez… ? can sound more courteous in service settings. Conversely, Qu’est-ce que vous voulez ? may sound impatient if said sharply, much like English “What do you want?”

French often uses on veut for conversational “we want.” Nous voulons is fully correct, but may sound more deliberate, formal, or emphatic in ordinary speech. In either case, the verb must match the chosen subject: on veut but nous voulons.

In casual spoken French, tu veux may be reduced in pronunciation, and ne is frequently dropped in negatives. Learners should recognise je veux pas, but use je ne veux pas in formal writing and when unsure of the appropriate register.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master the following patterns at A1, but they explain uses of vouloir that you will meet later.

When different people perform the actions

Use vouloir + infinitive when the subject of both verbs is the same: Je veux partir (“I want to leave”). If one person wants another person to act, French normally uses vouloir que followed by the subjunctive (a verb form used after certain wishes, emotions, doubts, and necessities):

• Je veux que tu partes. — I want you to leave.
• Nous voulons qu’il vienne. — We want him to come.

English can use “want + person + to,” but French does not normally copy that structure. This subjunctive pattern belongs to a later level; for now, simply recognise vouloir que as the “want someone else to…” construction.

Conditional forms and shades of politeness

The full present conditional is:

Subject	Conditional form	English core meaning
je	je voudrais	I would like
tu	tu voudrais	you would like
il / elle / on	il / elle / on voudrait	he / she / one would like
nous	nous voudrions	we would like
vous	vous voudriez	you would like
ils / elles	ils / elles voudraient	they would like

Besides requests, these forms can describe a hypothetical wish: Je voudrais vivre près de la mer (“I would like to live near the sea”). In a polite question, Voudriez-vous patienter un instant ? is more formal and tactful than Voulez-vous patienter ?

Vouloir dire

The fixed combination vouloir dire means “to mean”:

• Que veut dire ce mot ? — What does this word mean?
• Je veux dire que ce n’est pas urgent. — I mean that it isn’t urgent.

Its meaning is not literally about wanting to say something in every context. Je veux dire… is also a common conversational self-correction, similar to English “I mean…”.

En vouloir à someone

The idiom en vouloir à quelqu’un means “to be angry with someone” or “to hold something against someone”:

• Tu m’en veux ? — Are you angry with me?
• Je ne t’en veux pas. — I don’t hold it against you.

Here, en is an object pronoun (a small word standing in for part of an idea), and the person follows à. This expression should be learned as a unit; it does not mean “to want some from someone.”

In formal or literary language, vouloir bien can express willingness: Veuillez patienter is an imperative (command or request form) conventionally used for “Please wait.” You will often see veuillez in notices and professional correspondence, even though it may not feel like a literal use of “want.”

Practice Tips

1. Learn the forms in sound groups. Recite je veux, tu veux, il veut together, then nous voulons, vous voulez, then ils veulent. Add one short phrase to each form instead of memorising isolated words.
2. Build two sets of mini-dialogues. Use Tu veux… ? with a friend and Je voudrais…, s’il vous plaît in a café, station, or hotel. This connects grammar with the social situation that chooses the form.
3. Swap nouns and infinitives. Start with Je veux un café and Je veux partir, then replace only the final element: une chambre, de l’eau, dormir, comprendre. Finally make each sentence negative to practise ne… pas and de.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Regular -ER Verbs — provides the basic subject-and-verb framework that helps you see why vouloir is irregular.