👉 See also: Espérer (to hope) »
Level: A1 (Beginner)
🎧 Audio by Marie Assel Cambier, a native speaker & professional voice artist from France
The French Word of the Day is vouloir, a highly useful irregular verb meaning “to want.” Be careful with this one — using it correctly can make the difference between sounding polite or unintentionally rude. I’ll explain below.
✅ Meaning
✅ Pronunciation
✅ Example sentences
✅ Related Words & Expressions
✅ Related lessons
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📘 Vouloir meaning
Vouloir is a common French irregular verb meaning “to want” or “to wish.”
🎧 Vouloir pronunciation
The pronunciation of vouloir is /vu.lwaʁ/, roughly “voo-lwar”.
📝 French and English examples
Vouloir – to want
Je veux apprendre le français cette année.
I want to learn French this year.
Nous voudrions réserver une table pour deux.
We would like to reserve a table for two.
Tu veux venir au cinéma avec nous?
Do you want to come to the cinema with us?
Je veux que tu fasses tes devoirs.
I want you to do your homework.
Il veut bien m’aider, mais il est occupé.
He’s willing to help me, but he’s busy.
Que veut dire ce mot ?
What does this word mean?
👉 The verb pouvoir (to be able/can) is another essential verb, and its conjugation follows a similar pattern to vouloir.
⚠️ Je veux vs. je voudrais
It’s important to understand the difference between je veux (I want) and je voudrais (I’d like). While saying “I want” is sometimes acceptable in English, it can sound too direct in French — especially when speaking to strangers or ordering in a restaurant. The French much prefer je voudrais (conditional form), which is softer and more polite.
❌ Je veux un café — “I want a coffee” → considered impolite
✅ Je voudrais un café — “I’d like a coffee” → more polite
👉 This lesson covers je voudrais and this lesson covers je veux.
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📊 Vouloir conjugation
Here’s the basic vouloir conjugation in the present tense. See my pronunciation notes below.
- Je veux — I want
- Tu veux — You want (informal)
- Il / Elle veut — He / She wants
- Nous voulons — We want
- Vous voulez — You want (formal/plural)
- Ils / Elles veulent — They want
The past participle of vouloir is voulu. Hence, j’ai voulu translates to “I wanted”.
👉 See also: vouloir conjugation in French (updated with audio)
🔗 Related words and expressions
- Vouloir bien — to be willing to
- En vouloir à quelqu’un — to be mad at someone / hold a grudge
- Il vaut mieux — it’s better to / it would be wiser to
- Un vœu — a wish
- La volonté — willpower / determination
- Capricieux / capricieuse — demanding / hard to please
🔍 Explore “Que veux dire”
This lesson also touched on the expression que veux dire, which is used to ask what a word means. For example: Que veux dire “livre” en français ? (What does “book” mean in French?)
👉 Learn que veux dire here »
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