How to Use the Major French Verb Vouloir

The French verb  vouloir means to want or to wish. It is one of the  10 most common French verbs  and you will use it just as much as  avoir  and à ªtre. It has several different meanings, depending on the tense and mood, and its the driving element in numerous idiomatic expressions. Vouloir  is also an irregular verb, which means that you will need to memorize the conjugation because it doesnt rely on a common pattern. Dont worry, though, well discuss everything you need to know about  vouloir. Vouloir  and Politeness The French verb vouloir is frequently used to politely ask for something in French. Je voudrais tà ©là ©phoner sil vous plaà ®t. -  I would like to make a phone call, please.Voulez-vous maider, sil vous plaà ®t? -  Will you help me, please?Veux-tu tasseoir, sil te plaà ®t  ? -  Please sit down.Voulez-vous venir avec moi?  - Do you want to come with me? Vouloir is also frequently used to politely extend an offer or invitation. Note that in French, it is used in the present indicative whereas English would use the present conditional. Est-ce que tu veux dà ®ner avec moi ? -  Would you like to have dinner with me?Voulez-vous un peu plus de pain ? -  Would you like a little more bread? When someone invites you to do something saying, Would you like to..., your response should be just as subtle. Answering Non, je ne veux pas (No, I dont want to.) is quite strong and considered too blunt. To accept, we usually say, Oui, je veux bien. (Yes, Id love to.) Here again, we use the present indicative, not the conditional. Or you can just say, Volontiers. (With pleasure.) To refuse, its common to apologize and then explain why you cannot accept, using the irregular verb devoir in the response. For example, Ah, je voudrais bien, mais je ne peux pas. Je dois travailler...  (Ah, Id love to, but I cant. I have to work...). Memorizing Conjugations of  Vouloir We will examine more meanings of  vouloir  in French expressions later in this lesson. First,  lets learn how to conjugate  vouloir. Remember that this is an irregular verb, so you will need to commit each form to memory. This lesson can seem intense and it is a lot to memorize, thats why its best to take it one step at a time. As you begin, concentrate on the most useful tenses, including  the prà ©sent, imparfait, and passà © composà © and practice  using them in context. Once youve mastered those, go ahead and move on to the rest. Its also strongly recommended to train with an audio source.  There are many liaisons, elisions. and modern glidings used  with French verbs, and the written form may mislead you into assuming an incorrect pronunciation.   Vouloir  in the  Infinitive Mood To serve as a foundation for the conjugations of  vouloir, it is important to understand the infinitive forms of the verb. Theyre rather easy and you already know the present infinitive. Present Infinitive (Infinitif Prà ©sent):  vouloir Past Infinitive (Infinitif Passà ©):  avoir voulu Vouloir  Conjugated in the  Indicative Mood The most important conjugations of any French verb are those in the indicative mood. These state the action as a fact and include the present, past, and future tenses. Make these a priority while studying  vouloir . Present (Prsent)je veuxtu veuxil veutnous voulonsvous voulezils veulent Present Perfect (Pass compos)jai voulutu as vouluil a voulunous avons vouluvous avez vouluils ont voulu Imperfect (Imparfait)je voulaistu voulaisil voulaitnous voulionsvous vouliezils voulaient Pluperfect (Plus-que-parfait)javais voulutu avais vouluil avait voulunous avions vouluvous aviez vouluils avaient voulu Future (Futur)je voudraitu voudrasil voudranous voudronsvous voudrezils voudront Future Perfect (Futur antrieur)jaurai voulutu auras vouluil aura voulunous aurons vouluvous aurez vouluils auront voulu Simple Past (Pass simple)je voulustu voulusil voulutnous voulmesvous voultesils voulurent Past Anterior (Pass antrieur)jeus voulutu eus vouluil eut voulunous emes vouluvous etes vouluils eurent voulu Vouloir  Conjugated in the  Conditional Mood The conditional mood is used when the verbs action is uncertain. It implies that the wanting will only happen if certain conditions are met. The politeness associated with  vouloir  appears again when using it in the conditional mood.   For example: Je voudrais du thà ©. -  I would like some tea.Voudriez-vous venir avec nous  ? -  Would you like to come with us?  Je voudrais ceci. -  I would like this one.Je voudrais faire un enfant. -  Id like to have a child. Present Cond. (Cond. Prsent) Past Cond. (Cond. Pass) je voudraistu voudraisil voudraitnous voudrionsvous voudriezils voudraient jaurais voulutu aurais vouluil aurait voulunous aurions vouluvous auriez vouluils auraient voulu Vouloir  Conjugated in the  Subjunctive Mood Similar to the conditional, the subjunctive mood is used when the action is questionable in some way. Present Subjunctive (Subjonctif Prsent)que je veuilleque tu veuillesquil veuilleque nous voulionsque vous vouliezquils veuillent Past Subjunctive (Subjonctif Pass)que jaie vouluque tu aies vouluquil ait vouluque nous ayons vouluque vous ayez vouluquils aient voulu Subj. Imperfect (Subj. Imparfait)que je voulusseque tu voulussesquil voultque nous voulussionsque vous voulussiezquils voulussent Subj. Pluperfect (Subj. Plus-que-parfait)que jeusse vouluque tu eusses vouluquil et vouluque nous eussions vouluque vous eussiez vouluquils eussent voulu Vouloir  Conjugated in the  Imperative Mood The present imperative of  vouloir  is also used to politely say something like, Could you please. This is little weird since in French we dont use can but instead use want. Veuillez  mexcusez. -  Would you please excuse me?  / Could you excuse me?Veuillez  mexcuser. -  Please (be so kind as to) excuse me.Veuillez vous asseoir. -  Please sit down.Veuillez  patienter. -  Please wait. Note that even though it is listed in grammar books, rarely will you hear anyone use the  tu  form in the imperative, as in: Veuille  mexcuser. We would say instead,  Est-ce  que  tu  veux  bien  mexcuser  ? Present Imperative (Impratif Prsent) Past Imperative (Impratif Pass) veux/veuillevoulonsvoulez/veuillez aie vouluayons vouluayez voulu Vouloir in the  Participle Mood As you become more fluent in French, its a good idea to study and understand how to use the particle moods for verbs. Since  vouloir  is such a common verb, youll certainly want to study its usage in these forms. Present Participle (Participe Prà ©sent):  voulant Past Participle (Participe Passà ©):  voulu / ayant voulu Perfect Participle (Participe P.C.): ayant voulu​ Vouloir-isms There are a couple of peculiarities about using  vouloir  that you should be familiar with. When  vouloir  is followed directly by an infinitive, there is no need to add a preposition.  For example: Je veux le faire. -  I want to do it.Nous voulons savoir. -  We want to know. When  vouloir  is used  in  a  main clause  and there is  another verb in a  subordinate clause, that verb should be in the  subjunctive. These are mainly  vouloir que  constructions. For example: Je veux quil le fasse. -  I want him to do it.Nous voulons que tu le saches.   We want you to know (it). The Many Meanings of  Vouloir Vouloir is used to mean many things in many constructions and it is commonly found in French phrases. Some of this derives from its propensity to play a part in versatile  idiomatic expressions. Vouloir, cest pouvoir.  (proverb) - Where theres a will, theres a way.ne pas vouloir blesser quelquun -  to not mean to hurt someonene pas vouloir quon se croie obligà © -  to not want someone to feel obliged Vouloir  may be used as a strong will or command in various contexts. Je veux danser avec toi. -   I want to dance with you.Voulez-vous parler  ? -   Do you wish to speak?Je ne veux pas le faire  ! -   I dont want to / I wont do it!Je ne veux pas de dessert. -   I dont want any dessert.Il ne veut pas venir.  -  He doesnt want to come.vouloir faire  -  to want to dovouloir que quelquun fasse quelque chose  -  to want someone to do somethingQue veux-tu que je te dise?  -  What do you want me to say to you?sans le vouloir -   without meaning to,  unintentionallyJe lai vexà © sans le vouloir. -   I upset him without meaning to. Vouloir bien  means to be willing to, to be glad to, to be good / kind enough to. Tu veux faire la vaisselle ?  -  Do you want to do the dishes?Je veux bien - Thats fine.  Je veux bien le faire.  -   Ill be happy to do it.Elle veut bien lacheter, mais il ne le vend pas.  -   Shes willing to buy it, but hes not selling it.Aidez-moi, si vous voulez bien. -   Help me, if you would be so kind. Vouloir dire  translates as to mean.   Quest-ce que à §a veut dire?  -  What does that mean?Mais enfin, quest-ce que à §a veut dire? -  Whats all this about then?Que veut dire volontiers ? -   What does  volontiers  mean?Volontiers veut dire gladly. -   Volontiers means gladly. En vouloir à   quelquun  means to be angry at someone, to bear someone  a grudge, to hold it against someone. Il men veut de lavoir fait. -   He holds it against me for doing that.Ne men veux pas  ! -   Dont be angry with me! Careful! When  en vouloir  is by itself with no object of scorn mentioned,  it can simply mean  to want some:   Elle en veux trois.  -  She wants three of them. Depending on the context and, again, without an indirect object pronoun,  en vouloir  can also mean to be ambitious or to want to make something of life.