To want in French 🇫🇷

vouloir info.

To remember the French verb “vouloir,” you can think of the English word “volunteer,” as when we volunteer for something, it’s typically because we want to do it. Additionally, the phrase “voilà, I want!” expresses a sudden decision or desire, similar to how “vouloir” expresses wanting or willing in French.

“Vouloir” is an infinitive verb in French, which means “to want” or “to wish.” Other words that convey a similar meaning include “désirer” (to desire) and “souhaiter” (to wish).

Here are the different conjugations of “vouloir” in the present, past composed (passé composé, a common past tense), imperfect (l’imparfait, another past tense illustrating ongoing past actions or states), future simple (le futur simple), and the conditional (le conditionnel). Note that vouloir is an irregular verb and does not follow a regular conjugation pattern:

Present:
– je veux (I want)
– tu veux (you want)
– il/elle/on veut (he/she/one wants)
– nous voulons (we want)
– vous voulez (you want)
– ils/elles veulent (they want)

Passé composé:
– j’ai voulu (I wanted/have wanted)
– tu as voulu (you wanted/have wanted)
– il/elle/on a voulu (he/she/one wanted/has wanted)
– nous avons voulu (we wanted/have wanted)
– vous avez voulu (you wanted/have wanted)
– ils/elles ont voulu (they wanted/have wanted)

Imperfect:
– je voulais (I wanted/was wanting)
– tu voulais (you wanted/were wanting)
– il/elle/on voulait (he/she/one wanted/was wanting)
– nous voulions (we wanted/were wanting)
– vous vouliez (you wanted/were wanting)
– ils/elles voulaient (they wanted/were wanting)

Future simple:
– je voudrai (I will want)
– tu voudras (you will want)
– il/elle/on voudra (he/she/one will want)
– nous voudrons (we will want)
– vous voudrez (you will want)
– ils/elles voudront (they will want)

Conditional:
– je voudrais (I would want)
– tu voudrais (you would want)
– il/elle/on voudrait (he/she/one would want)
– nous voudrions (we would want)
– vous voudriez (you would want)
– ils/elles voudraient (they would want)

Examples of sentences using “vouloir”:

– Je veux aller au cinéma. (I want to go to the cinema.)
– Veux-tu manger avec moi ce soir ? (Do you want to eat with me tonight?)
– Il a voulu acheter une nouvelle voiture, mais c’était trop cher. (He wanted to buy a new car, but it was too expensive.)
– Nous voulions vous inviter à notre mariage. (We wanted to invite you to our wedding.)
– Ils voudraient partir en vacances l’été prochain. (They would like to go on holiday next summer.)
– Voulez-vous du café ou du thé ? (Would you like some coffee or tea?)

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