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Vouloir Conjugation: How To Conjugate To Want In French

Vouloir Conjugation: How To Conjugate To Want In French

Vouloir is one of the essential verbs to master in the French language. The meaning of vouloir is “to want”. The conjugation of vouloir in the present tense is: Je veux (I want), tu veux (you want), il/elle veut (he/she wants), nous voulons (we want), vous voulez (you want) and ils/elles veulent (they want).

Vouloir (to want) conjugation in the present tense.

How to pronounce vouloir

The pronunciation of vouloir (to want) is: “voo-lwahr” or vulwaʀ. In the following video you can watch my good YouTube friend, Vincent, pronouncing vouloir. In addition, this page on Forvo offers some very good audio samples of vouloir.

Vouloir Conjugation Chart

Vouloir conjugation chart
Vouloir conjugation chart – Six major tenses

Vouloir present tense conjugation

The following table contains the conjugation of vouloir in the present tense (le présent de l’indicatif). You will see in the example sentences (for all the tenses on this page) that vouloir can be followed by an infinitive (“to” form of the verb) or a noun.

FrenchEnglishExamples
Je veuxI wantJe veux du fromage.
I want some cheese.
Tu veuxYou you (familar)Tu veux de la glace.
You want some ice cream.
Il, elle, on veutHe, she, one wantsElle veut apprendre le français.
She wants to learn French.
Nous voulonsWe wantNous voulons partir demain.
We want to leave tomorrow.
Vous voulezYou want (formal, plural)Vous voulez commander une pizza.
You want to order a pizza.
Ils, elles veulentThey wantIls veulent aller à Chamonix.
They want to go to Chamonix.

The following video from Français Facile does a great job teaching the present tense conjugation of vouloir.

Vouloir – present tense negation

The following table covers vouloir using short sentences in the negation. In the negation, the partitive article (some in English) becomes “de”. For example, the affirmative “Je veux du fromage” (I want some cheese) becomes “Je en veux pas de fromage” (I don’t want any cheese). This rule is covered in detail towards the bottom of this page.

English FrenchExamples
Je veux pasI don't wantJe ne veux pas de légumes.
I don't want any vegetables.
Tu ne veux pasYou don't want (informal)Tu ne veux pas partir.
You don't want to leave.
Il, elle, on ne veut pasHe, she, one doesn't wantElle ne veut pas travailler aujourd'hui.
She doesn't want to work today.
Nous ne voulons pasWe don't wantNous ne voulons pas apprendre ce mot.
We don't want to learn this word.
Vous ne voulez pasYou dont want (formal, plural)Vous ne voulez pas acheter la voiture.
You won't want to buy the car.
Ils, elles ne veulent pasThey don't wantIls ne veulent pas de viande.
They don't want any meat.
Je ne veux pas / I don't want

Vouloir passé composé conjugation

French has two main tenses for the past tense: The passé composé (used for past actions that occurred at a specific point in time) and the imperfect (used for past actions that occurred at undefined moments of time).

The following table covers vouloir in the passé composé (called both the compound past and past indefinite in English). This page offers a complete explanation of this tense. The verb vouloir uses avoir (to have) as its auxiliary (or helping) verb in the passé composé. The past participle of vouloir in the passé composé is “voulu”.

In the passé composé, all sentences vouloir have an underlying meaning or understanding of willingness. In the negation, the sentences have an underlying meaning of not wanting or unwillingness.

FrenchEnglishExamples
J'ai vouluI wanted toJe n'ai pas voulu vendre la voiture.
I didn't want to sell the car.
Tu as vouluYou wanted to (familiar)Tu n'as pas voulu m'aider.
You didn't want to help me.
Il, elle, on a vouluHe, she, one wanted toIl n'a pas voulu etudier entre les leçons.
He didn't want to study between the lessons.
Nous avons vouluWe wanted toNous avons voulu acheter les billets.
We wanted to buy the tickets.
Vous avez vouluYou wanted to (formal, plural)Vous avez voulu travailler dans le jardin.
You wanted to work in the yard.
Ils, elles ont vouluThey wanted toIls ont voulu apprendre l'italien.
They wanted to learn Italian.

Vouloir imperfect conjugation

In the imperfect tense (called l’imparfait in French), “Je voulais” translated to “I wanted”. You’d use this to describe things you wanted to or didn’t want to do in the past. This page on our site covers the imperfect tense in detail.

FrenchEnglishExample
Je voulaisI wanted toJe ne voulais pas partir.
I didn't wanted to.
Tu voulaisYou wanted to (familiar)Tu ne voulait pas commencer.
You didn't want to begin.
Il, elle, on voulaitHe, she, one wanted toIl voulait acheter la maison.
He wanted to buy the house.
Nous voulionsWe wanted toNous ne voulions pas louer la chambre.
We didn't want to rent the room.
Vous vouliezYou wanted to (formal, plural)Vous vouliez passer trois mois dans les Alpes.
You wanted to spend there months in the Alps.
Ils, elles voulaientThey wanted toIls voulaient louer l'appartement.
They wanted to rent the apartment.

Vouloir conjugation in the future tense

This next section will look at vouloir conjugated in the future tenses. French has two main future tenses: the futur simple (used for actions which aren’t 100% certain) and futur proche (used for much more certain future actions. The page covers the French future tense in great detail.

Vouloir – futur proche

The futur proche combines a aller (to go) conjugated in the present tense with the infinitive. For example “Je vais vouloir” means I’m going to want. The page covers the conjugation of aller in detail.

FrenchEnglishExamples
Je vais vouloirI'm going to want toJe vais vouloir partir de bonne heure.
I'm going to want to leave early.
Tu vas vouloirYou're going to want to (familiar)Tu vas vouloir te coucher tôt.
You're going to want to go to bed early.
Il, elle, on va vouloirHe, she, one is going to want toElle va vouloir vendre la maison.
She's going to want to sell the house.
Nous allons vouloirWe are going to want toNous allons vouloir partir demain.
We're going to want to leave tomorrow.
Vous allez vouloir You are going to want to (formal, plural)Vous allez vouloir apprendre tous les verbes.
You're going to want to learn all the verbs.
Ils, elles vont vouloirThey are going to want toIls vont vouloir voyager en France.
They're going to want to travel to France.

Vouloir – futur simple

The following table contains vouloir conjugated in the futur simple tense. This is also simply called the future tense.

FrenchEnglishExamples
Je voudraiI will wantJe voudrai partir demain.
I will want to leave tomorrow.
Tu voudrasYou will want (familiar)Tu voudras passer la journée à Paris.
You're going to want to spend the day in Paris.
Il, elle, on voudraHe, she, one will wantElle voudra louer un vélo.
She will want to rent a bike.
Nous voudronsWe will wantNous voudrons assister au spectacle.
We will want to attend a show.
Vous voudrezYou will want (formal, plural)Vous voudrez acheter tous les livres.
You are going to want to buy all the books.
Ils, elles voudrontThey will wantIls voudront partiquer le français.
They will want to practice French.

Vouloir conjugation in the conditional

The French conditional (called le conditionnel in French) is the “would” tense. The page covers the conditional in detail. When conjugated in the conditional tense, “je voudrais”, for example, translates to “I would like”. Actually, we have an entire lesson covering “je voudrais”.

EnglishFrenchExamples
Je voudraisI would like toJe voudrais parler couramment.
I would like to speak fluently.
Tu voudraisYou would like to (familiar)Tu voudrais maîtriser le verbe vouloir.
You'd like to master the verb vouloir.
Il, elle, on voudrait He, she, one would like toIl voudrait acheter une grande maison.
He'd like to buy a big house.
Nous voudrionsWe would like toNous voudrions faire du ski en France.
We'd like to ski in France.
Vous voudriezYou would like to (formal, plural)Vous voudriez manger une pizza.
You'd like to eat a pizza.
Ils, elles voudraientThey would like toElles voudraient regarder un film.
They'd like to watch a movie.
Je voudrais / I would like

Vouloir past conditional conjugation

The past conditional (le passé du conditionnel) is considered an advanced tense. However, vouloir in the past conditional is very useful for expressing regrets.

“J’aurais voulu” translates to “I would have wanted”. The past conditional for vouloir is formed by combining avoir as auxiliary verb in the present conditional with the past participle voulu.

EnglishFrenchExamples
J'aurais vouluI would have wanted toJ'aurais voulu partir un peu plus tôt.
I would have wanted to leave a bit earlier.
Tu aurais vouluYou would have wanted to (familiar)Tu aurais voulu apprendre l'espagnol avant le français.
You would have wanted to learn Spanish before French.
Il, elle, on aurait vouluHe, she, one would have wanted toIl aurait voulu acheter la maison il y a 5 ans.
He would have wanted to buy the house five years ago.
Nous aurions vouluWe would have wanted toNous aurions voulu acheter les billets en avance.
We would have wanted to buy the tickets in advance.
Vous auriez vouluYou would have wanted to (formal, plural)Vous auriez voulu vendre la masion.
You would have wanted to sell the house.
Ils, elles auraient vouluThey would have wanted toIls auraient voulu commencer à 8h00.
They would have wanted to start at 8am.

Vouloir conjugation in the subjunctive mood

The following table contains the verb vouloir conjugated in the subjunctive mood. The French subjunctive is used for expressing wishes, emotions and doubts. This page on our site covers the subjunctive in detail.

While vouloir isn’t very commonly used in the subjunctive, it’s still good to know the conjugation. Note that the nous and vous forms have two spellings.

FrenchEnglish
que je veuille
that I want
que tu veuillesthat you want (familiar)
qu'il, elle, on veuillethat he, she, one wants
que nous voulions / euillionsthat we want
que vous vouliez / euilliezthat you want (formal, plural)
qu'ils, elles veuillentthat they want

Vouloir conjugation in the imperative mood

The French imperative mood is used for giving commands. Similar to the above subjunctive, vouloir isn’t very useful in the imperative.

However, it is still good to know the verb endings. This page covers the French imperative in detail. Note that there are dual spellings for vouloir in the imperative.

FrenchEnglish
Veux! / Veuille! (tu form)
Want!
Voulons! / Veuillons! (nous form)Let's want!
Voulez! / Veuillez! (vous form)Want!

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David Issokson

David Issokson is a lifelong language enthusiast. His head is swimming with words and sounds as he speaks over six languages. Of all the languages he speaks, he's the most passionate about French! David has helped hundreds of students to improve their French in his private online lessons. When procrastinating working on his site, FrenchLearner.com, David enjoys his time skiing and hiking in Teton Valley, Idaho.

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