Vouloir Conjugation: Je Veux, Je Voudrais & Every Tense

Vouloir means to want, and it is the verb you use to order, to ask, to offer and to make plans. It is also the verb that makes English speakers sound rude without meaning to. Je veux un croissant is correct French, but in a Paris bakery or a Montréal café it lands like "Give me a croissant."

This page gives you the full vouloir conjugation in every tense you need, with simple pronunciation hints, the polite je voudrais, the formal veuillez, the expressions vouloir dire and en vouloir à, 10 example sentences and a short practice set.

Vouloir conjugation in the present tense

Learn these six forms first. Larousse classifies vouloir as an irregular verb of the third group.

The University of Texas French grammar calls vouloir a boot verb: the vowel changes only in the nous and vous forms. Circle je, tu, il and ils on the table and you get the shape of a boot. Every form inside the boot has veu-. The two forms outside it have vou-.

If you have already learned pouvoir, you know this pattern: je peux / je veux, nous pouvons / nous voulons, ils peuvent / ils veulent. Learn the two verbs together and you save yourself half the work.

Tip from class: say the l at the end of ils veulent. If you drop it, ils veulent (they want) sounds like il veut (he wants), and your listener can't tell how many people you mean.

Je voudrais: the polite way to ask

This is the most useful form of the verb, and the one I teach in the very first lesson. Je voudrais is the conditional, and it means I would like. The Académie française dictionary describes it as the form that expresses a wish modestly, and the University of Texas grammar notes that modal verbs are often put in the conditional to make requests more polite.

Compare:

• Je veux un café. I want a coffee. (to a waiter: too blunt)
• Je voudrais un café, s'il vous plaît. I'd like a coffee, please. (always right)
• Tu veux un café ? Do you want a coffee? (fine between friends)
• Voudriez-vous un café ? Would you like a coffee? (formal offer)

Keep je veux for decisions and for people you know well: Je veux apprendre le français cette année (I want to learn French this year) is perfect.

Mini-dialogue at the café

• Serveur : Bonjour, qu'est-ce que je vous sers ?
• Vous : Bonjour ! Je voudrais un grand crème et un croissant, s'il vous plaît.
• Serveur : Vous voulez autre chose ?
• Vous : Non merci, ça ira.

Waiter: Hello, what can I get you? You: Hello! I'd like a large coffee with milk and a croissant, please. Waiter: Do you want anything else? You: No thanks, that's all.

Notice that the waiter uses vous voulez: offering is fine in the present. Asking for yourself is where je voudrais matters.

Vouloir in the passé composé: j'ai voulu

Larousse conjugates vouloir with avoir. The past participle is voulu, and unlike pu, it has four written forms: voulu, voulue, voulus, voulues. You only see the extra letters in writing, when a direct object comes before the verb: les photos que j'ai voulues (the photos I wanted).

Vouloir in the imparfait: je voulais

Take nous voulons, drop -ons, and add the imparfait endings.

J'ai voulu or je voulais?

English says "wanted" for both, but French doesn't mean the same thing.

• Je voulais = a wish in the background, a state of mind. Je voulais devenir pilote. I wanted to become a pilot (that was my dream).
• J'ai voulu = a wish that turned into an attempt at one moment. J'ai voulu l'appeler, mais son téléphone était éteint. I tried to call him, but his phone was off.

In the negative, je n'ai pas voulu often means I refused: Il n'a pas voulu manger (He refused to eat). Our article on passé composé vs imparfait shows the same logic with other verbs.

Tip from class: French speakers also use je voulais to soften a request: Je voulais vous demander quelque chose (I wanted to ask you something). It sounds less direct than je veux, just like "I was wondering" in English.

Vouloir in the future: je voudrai

The future stem is irregular: voudr-, with a d that appears out of nowhere. Larousse gives:

You will mostly hear it in quand sentences: Viens quand tu voudras. (Come whenever you like.) French uses the future after quand when the action is in the future, where English uses the present.

Vouloir in the conditional: je voudrais

Same stem, voudr-, with the imparfait endings.

Tip from class: je voudrai (future) and je voudrais (conditional) sound almost the same: voo-DRAY and voo-DREH. In writing, ask yourself: "will" or "would"? "Will" gets no s. When you order, you always need the s.

Vouloir in the subjunctive: que je veuille

The subjunctive has a new stem, veuill-, for je, tu, il and ils. For nous and vous, Larousse gives forms that look exactly like the imparfait.

The boot comes back here too. Say veuille like "vuhy", with a soft y sound at the end.

Vouloir is also one of the main verbs that triggers the subjunctive. When the person who wants and the person who acts are different, you need que + subjunctive: Je veux que tu viennes (I want you to come), never Je veux que tu viens. Read the French subjunctive explained simply for the full rule.

Veuillez: the polite imperative

Larousse lists two sets of imperative forms: veux, voulons, voulez and veuille, veuillons, veuillez. The Académie française dictionary explains that veux, voulez are rare and only used to urge someone to have willpower. The form you actually need is veuillez, which the Académie says is used out of civility to mean "have the kindness to."

You'll see it on every sign and in every formal letter:

• Veuillez patienter. Please wait.
• Veuillez fermer la porte. Please close the door.
• Veuillez trouver ci-joint mon CV. Please find my résumé attached.
• Veuillez agréer, Madame, Monsieur, mes salutations distinguées. Yours sincerely (the classic closing of a formal French letter).

If you write formal emails in French, for work or for an exam, veuillez belongs in your toolkit.

10 example sentences with vouloir

1. Je voudrais réserver une table pour deux. I'd like to book a table for two.
2. Tu veux venir avec moi ? Do you want to come with me?
3. Elle veut apprendre le piano. She wants to learn the piano.
4. Nous voulons visiter Québec cet hiver. We want to visit Québec City this winter.
5. Vous voulez du thé ou du café ? Would you like tea or coffee?
6. Mes enfants veulent un chien. My kids want a dog.
7. Je n'ai pas voulu le déranger. I didn't want to bother him.
8. Quand j'étais petit, je voulais être astronaute. When I was little, I wanted to be an astronaut.
9. Fais comme tu voudras. Do as you like.
10. Mes parents veulent que je les appelle tous les dimanches. My parents want me to call them every Sunday.

Everyday expressions with vouloir

Larousse and the Académie française list these fixed meanings. They are the ones my students need first.

Qu'est-ce que ça veut dire ? is the single most useful sentence for a learner. Use it every time you hear a word you don't know. You can review these expressions and the other core verbs in five minutes a day with the free French Keys flashcards.

Common mistakes English speakers make

• Mistake: Je veux un café to a waiter → Say instead: Je voudrais un café, s'il vous plaît.
• Mistake: Je veux que tu viens → Say instead: Je veux que tu viennes. Vouloir que needs the subjunctive.
• Mistake: Je veux à partir or je veux de partir → Say instead: Je veux partir. No preposition before the infinitive.
• Mistake: Je veux te venir (copying "I want you to come") → Say instead: Je veux que tu viennes.
• Mistake: Je voudrai un thé when ordering → Say instead: Je voudrais un thé. The future has no s.
• Mistake: Voulez patienter on a sign or in an email → Say instead: Veuillez patienter.

Practice

Fill in the correct form of vouloir.

1. Les enfants ___ jouer dehors. (present)
2. Bonjour, je ___ un billet pour Montréal, s'il vous plaît. (conditional)
3. Il ne ___ pas venir hier soir. (passé composé, negative: Il n'a pas ___ venir)
4. Ma mère veut que je ___ médecin. (devenir, subjunctive: trick question!)
5. ___ patienter, s'il vous plaît. (polite imperative)

Answers: 1. veulent · 2. voudrais · 3. voulu · 4. devienne (the subjunctive goes on the second verb, not on vouloir) · 5. Veuillez

In short

Vouloir is a boot verb: veu- for je, tu, il and ils, vou- for nous and vous, voudr- in the future and conditional, veuill- in the subjunctive. It takes avoir (j'ai voulu), becomes je voudrais when you ask for something, and veuillez when you write formally. Next, compare it with aller and être, then see where it ranks among the most common French verbs.

If you'd like to practice je voudrais and veuillez in a real conversation, book a free 30-minute assessment with Magali. You'll leave knowing exactly which verbs to work on next.