Willen (to want) in Dutch

In Brief

Dutch willen means “to want.” Its key present-tense forms are ik wil, jij wilt/wil, hij/zij wil, and wij/jullie/zij willen. It can take a thing directly—Ik wil koffie—or combine with an infinitive (the dictionary form of a verb), which normally comes later in the clause: Ik wil koffie drinken.

Overview

Willen is an essential A1 verb for expressing wishes, choices, and intentions. You use it when ordering something, making plans, asking whether somebody wants to join you, or saying what you hope to do: Wil je mee? (“Do you want to come along?”) and Wij willen graag betalen (“We would like to pay”).

It is commonly described as a modal verb: a verb that adds an idea such as desire, ability, permission, or necessity to another verb. In Zij wil arts worden, wil expresses the desire and worden names the action. Unlike English “want,” Dutch willen does not require a word corresponding to “to” before that second verb.

The singular forms are irregular, so you cannot simply apply the usual present-tense endings to the stem. Word order also deserves attention: English places “to become” directly after “wants,” but Dutch normally sends the infinitive to the end of a main clause. Master the short present-tense forms and this end-position pattern first; the later sections cover politeness and more advanced forms separately.

How It Works

Present-tense conjugation

Subject	Form	Meaning	Note
ik	wil	I want	never ik wilt
jij / je	wilt or wil	you want	both occur; wilt is a useful careful default
u	wilt or wil	you want	formal singular or plural “you”
hij / zij / ze / het	wil	he / she / it wants	no -t
wij / we	willen	we want	plural form
jullie	willen	you all want	plural form
zij / ze	willen	they want	plural form

The most economical beginner pattern is:

• ik wil
• jij wilt (also jij wil)
• hij, zij, het wil
• all plural subjects: willen

English uses the same form in “I want,” “you want,” and “we want,” changing only “he/she wants.” Dutch therefore asks you to pay more attention to the subject.

Wanting a thing

When the wish concerns a thing or person, willen can take a direct object (the person or thing wanted) without another verb.

Pattern	Example	Meaning
subject + willen + object	Ik wil koffie.	I want coffee.
subject + willen + object	De kinderen willen een hond.	The children want a dog.
willen + subject + object?	Wilt u een bon?	Would you like a receipt?

There is no Dutch equivalent of English “to have” in I’ll have a coffee here. In a café, Ik wil koffie is grammatical, but it may sound abrupt. Ik wil graag koffie is friendlier; Ik zou graag koffie willen is more explicitly polite.

Wanting to do something

When the wish concerns an action, add an infinitive. In a main clause, the conjugated willen takes the normal verb position and the infinitive generally comes at the end.

Structure	Dutch	English
subject + willen + infinitive	Ik wil slapen.	I want to sleep.
subject + willen + object + infinitive	Zij wil Nederlands leren.	She wants to learn Dutch.
subject + willen + time + infinitive	Wij willen morgen vertrekken.	We want to leave tomorrow.
subject + willen + place + infinitive	Hij wil in Amsterdam wonen.	He wants to live in Amsterdam.

Do not insert te before the infinitive. English says “want to go,” but Dutch says willen gaan, not willen te gaan.

Some short directional expressions allow the obvious second verb to remain unspoken:

• Ik wil naar huis. — I want to go home.
• Wil je mee? — Do you want to come along?
• Zij wil niet naar buiten. — She does not want to go outside.

The listener supplies an idea such as gaan (“go”) or komen (“come”) from context.

Statements, questions, and inversion

A yes/no question begins with the conjugated verb. The subject then follows it; this reversal is called inversion (verb before subject).

Statement	Question
Je wilt koffie.	Wil je koffie?
Jij wilt meegaan.	Wil jij meegaan?
U wilt betalen.	Wilt u betalen?
Jullie willen blijven.	Willen jullie blijven?

With jij/je, learn wil je? and wil jij? as the normal question forms. With formal u, wilt u? is a dependable choice, though wil u? also occurs.

A question word comes first, followed by the conjugated verb:

• Wat wil je drinken? — What do you want to drink?
• Wanneer willen jullie vertrekken? — When do you want to leave?
• Waarom wil hij niet komen? — Why does he not want to come?

English uses “do” in questions and negatives: “Do you want...?” and “I do not want....” Dutch uses no equivalent helper doen here. Move willen for a question and add niet for negation.

Negation

Use niet (“not”) to reject an action, plan, or particular choice:

• Ik wil niet wachten. — I do not want to wait.
• Zij wil vandaag niet werken. — She does not want to work today.
• We willen die tafel niet. — We do not want that table.

Use geen (“no/not any”) before an indefinite noun:

• Ik wil geen suiker. — I do not want any sugar.
• Hij wil geen nieuwe telefoon. — He does not want a new phone.

The basic distinction is practical: geen + noun, but niet usually negates an action, adjective, definite item, or larger part of the sentence.

Subordinate clauses

A subordinate clause is a dependent part introduced by a word such as omdat (“because”) or dat (“that”). Its conjugated verb moves toward the end. With another infinitive, the two verbs form a final cluster:

• Ik ga naar huis omdat ik wil slapen. — I’m going home because I want to sleep.
• Ze zegt dat ze dokter wil worden. — She says that she wants to become a doctor.
• We blijven omdat we willen helpen. — We are staying because we want to help.

At A1, it is enough to produce ordinary main clauses confidently. These examples explain why you may later see wil immediately before an infinitive near the end.

Examples in Context

Dutch	English	Note
Ik wil koffie.	I want coffee.	willen with a direct object
Wil je mee?	Do you want to come along?	A common invitation; the movement verb is understood
Zij wil arts worden.	She wants to become a doctor.	worden stays at the end
Wij willen graag betalen.	We would like to pay.	graag makes the wish friendlier
Wat wilt u drinken?	What would you like to drink?	Formal u in a service situation
Mijn broer wil in België studeren.	My brother wants to study in Belgium.	Place before the final infinitive
Willen jullie vanavond blijven eten?	Do you all want to stay for dinner tonight?	More than one infinitive can occur at the end
Ik wil geen melk in mijn thee.	I don’t want any milk in my tea.	geen negates an indefinite noun
Ze wil vandaag niet werken.	She does not want to work today.	niet negates the action
De kinderen willen een kat.	The children want a cat.	Plural willen
Waarom wil je Nederlands leren?	Why do you want to learn Dutch?	Question word + verb + subject
Hij zegt dat hij later kok wil worden.	He says that he wants to become a chef later.	Final verb cluster in a dat clause

Common Mistakes

Adding a regular -t to every singular form

• Wrong: Ik wilt naar huis.
• Right: Ik wil naar huis.
• Why: Willen is irregular. Use wil with ik and with hij/zij/het.

Copying English “want to” with te

• Wrong: Wij willen te vertrekken.
• Right: Wij willen vertrekken.
• Why: A second verb after modal willen is a bare infinitive: it has no te.

Leaving the infinitive in English position

• Wrong: Ik wil kopen een fiets.
• Right: Ik wil een fiets kopen.
• Why: In a Dutch main clause, the infinitive normally comes after the object and other middle-field information.

Using English-style do in a question

• Wrong: Doe je willen koffie?
• Right: Wil je koffie?
• Why: Dutch forms the question by moving willen before the subject. It does not add doen.

Choosing niet where geen is needed

• Wrong: Ik wil niet suiker.
• Right: Ik wil geen suiker.
• Why: Use geen before an indefinite noun when you mean “no” or “not any.”

Sounding too forceful in a request

• Possible but blunt: Ik wil een tafel bij het raam.
• Friendlier: Ik wil graag een tafel bij het raam.
• More polite: Ik zou graag een tafel bij het raam willen.
• Why: Grammatically stating a desire is not automatically a polite request. Tone, graag, and conditional zou help soften it.

Usage Notes

Jij wilt and jij wil

Both forms are used. Jij wilt is a safe form in careful general writing, while jij wil is widespread in everyday Dutch. In inversion, the normal learner pattern is wil jij? or unstressed wil je?, not wilt jij?. Do not let this variation distract you from the more important contrast between singular wil/wilt and plural willen.

Formal u

Both u wilt and u wil can be encountered. U wilt and wilt u? are useful neutral choices for formal communication. However, merely using u does not always make a demand gentle. Compare Wilt u even wachten? (“Would you wait a moment?”), a request, with U wilt een paspoort aanvragen (“You want to apply for a passport”), a statement.

Graag does more than translate “please”

Graag literally contributes the idea of doing something gladly, but with willen it often produces natural English “would like”:

• Ik wil graag reserveren. — I would like to make a reservation.
• Wil je graag mee? — Would you like to come along?

Do not attach graag mechanically to every wish. Ik wil graag winnen is natural (“I’d really like to win”), but a firm personal intention may simply use wil: Ik wil stoppen met roken (“I want to quit smoking”).

Willen versus English “will”

The similar spelling is misleading. Dutch willen means “want,” not the ordinary English future auxiliary “will.” Ik wil komen means “I want to come,” not “I will come.” Depending on context, “I will come” may be Ik kom, Ik zal komen, or Ik kom wel; those belong to other grammar topics.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need these forms to use willen at A1, but they make the reference complete and will appear in ordinary speech and writing.

Past forms: wilde and wou

The regular past form is wilde in the singular and wilden in the plural. Wou/wouden is also common, especially in speech; wou often sounds conversational.

Present	Past	English
Ik wil naar huis.	Ik wilde naar huis.	I wanted to go home.
Hij wil bellen.	Hij wou bellen.	He wanted to call.
Wij willen helpen.	Wij wilden helpen.	We wanted to help.

A past form can also soften a present request: Ik wilde iets vragen literally looks past (“I wanted to ask something”) but often introduces a request being made now, much like English.

Polite conditional: zou(den) willen

Dutch frequently uses zou willen (“would like”) for a tentative wish or polite request:

• Ik zou graag willen betalen. — I would like to pay.
• Zou u mij willen helpen? — Would you be willing to help me?
• We zouden langer willen blijven. — We would like to stay longer.

This construction has two verbs carrying grammatical work, zou(den) and willen, plus a possible action infinitive. In Ik zou Nederlands willen leren, both willen and leren occur toward the end.

Perfect constructions

Used alone with an object, willen has the past participle gewild (a verb form used in the perfect tense):

• Dat heb ik nooit gewild. — I never wanted that.
• Ze heeft altijd een eigen winkel gewild. — She has always wanted her own shop.

When willen governs another infinitive in the perfect, Dutch normally uses an infinitive in place of the participle, often called the substitute infinitive:

• Ik heb hem willen helpen. — I wanted to help him.
• We hebben vroeg willen vertrekken. — We wanted to leave early.

Therefore ik heb hem gewild helpen is not the normal pattern. This is a later-level verb-cluster rule; recognise it now and study it with the Dutch perfect tense.

Willingness rather than desire

Depending on context, willen can express willingness: Als je wilt, kan ik helpen means “If you want, I can help,” while Hij wil niet luisteren can mean not merely “He does not want to listen” but “He refuses to listen.” Context and tone determine whether the emphasis is on desire, intention, or refusal.

Practice Tips

1. Build two sentence sets. Make five “want a thing” sentences (Ik wil water) and five “want to act” sentences (Ik wil water drinken). This fixes both core patterns without mixing them up.
2. Turn statements into questions. Change Je wilt morgen komen into Wil je morgen komen?, then replace je with u, hij, and jullie. Say the forms aloud so inversion becomes automatic.
3. Practise three levels of directness. For one café request, compare Ik wil koffie, Ik wil graag koffie, and Ik zou graag koffie willen. Notice that all are grammatical but suit different tones.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Regular Verbs Present — provides the basic Dutch present-tense and main-clause patterns that willen partly departs from.