Level: A2 (upper beginner)
In French, “Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir ?” means “Do you want to sleep (make love) with me tonight?”. The meaning of “Voulez-vous” is “Do you want?”. These lines appear in the titles of the songs “Voulez-Vous” by Abba and “Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir?” by Lady Marmalade in the movie Moulin Rouge.
Audio pronunciation:
Voulez-vous coucher avec moi?
What Does “Voulez-vous coucher avec moi?” Mean in French?
“Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir?” meaning
Vous translates to either you formal or you plural. Voulez means want and is the second-person plural form of the verb vouloir (to want). Voulez-vous means do you want and is the inversion form of “Est-ce que vous voulez? (Do you want?) This lesson explains how to ask questions.
Coucher means to sleep or go to bed and avec moi means with me. This lesson on our site covers avec (with) and this lesson covers stressed pronouns (moi is a stressed pronoun).
Verb vouloir (to want)
What Does ‘Voulez-vous’ Literally Mean?
Voulez-vous doesn’t just appear in the titles and lyrics of songs, but is very commonly used in French. It can either be followed by an infinitive or a noun. Voulez-vous can also be written “Est-ce que vous voulez?” (mentioned above) or in the informal form “Veux-tu?” or “Est-ce que que tu veux?”.
Example sentences using “voulez-vous”
Would you like a coffee?
When not inverted you may see the following:
Qu’est-ce que vous voulez manger ?
What do you want to eat?
Now let’s listen to the song!
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Resources
Voulez-vous coucher avec moi? (French Wikipedia)
