How do you conjugate vouloir in the present tense?

Je veux, tu veux, il veut, nous voulons, vous voulez, ils veulent. The singular and the third person plural use the stem veu-, while nous and vous keep voul-. The past participle is voulu.

What is the difference between je veux and je voudrais?

Je veux states a want plainly and can sound demanding to a stranger. Je voudrais is the conditional and turns the same want into a request. In shops, restaurants and offices, the conditional is the normal choice.

Why does vouloir que take the subjunctive?

Because the clause after it describes something the speaker wants rather than something that is happening. Je veux qu'il parte says nothing about whether he will, and the subjunctive parte is what marks that gap between wish and fact.

How do you say I want you to do something in French?

With que and a subjunctive: je veux que tu fasses la vaisselle. There is no way to keep the infinitive, so je veux toi faire and je veux te faire are both impossible.

What does vouloir dire mean?

To mean. Qu'est-ce que ça veut dire ? is the everyday way to ask what something means, and ça veut dire is how you explain it. The two words work as a single verb and cannot be separated.

French grammar · Beginner

Vouloir in French: How to Say Want Without Sounding Rude

Written by Camille Laurent, Lead French Curriculum Editor · Reviewed May 2026

Vouloir means to want and conjugates je veux, tu veux, il veut, nous voulons, vous voulez, ils veulent. Its conditional je voudrais is the polite form French uses for requests, and vouloir que is followed by the subjunctive because wanting something does not make it true.

Je voudrais un café, s'il vous plaît.

I'd like a coffee, please.

What it is

Vouloir names an act of will, which is why French keeps it at arm's length in polite situations. Je veux un café is grammatically perfect and socially blunt, close to I demand a coffee. The conditional je voudrais softens it into a request, and that single form is one of the most useful things a beginner can learn.

Je veux partir, mais je voudrais d'abord finir mon travail. — I want to leave, but I'd like to finish my work first.

How to spot it

Vouloir takes three kinds of complement: a noun, an infinitive, or que plus a subjunctive clause. Which one you use depends on whether the wanting is about a thing, about your own action, or about someone else's.

Je veux ce livre. — I want that book. (noun)
Je veux partir tôt. — I want to leave early. (infinitive)
Je veux qu'il parte tôt. — I want him to leave early. (que + subjunctive)
Voudriez-vous nous accompagner ? — Would you like to come with us ?

There is no French equivalent of I want him to go with an infinitive. As soon as the second verb has a different subject, you need que and the subjunctive.

Vouloir Quick Reference

Vouloir in the present and the polite conditional

Subject	Present	Conditional
je	veux	voudrais
tu	veux	voudrais
il / elle / on	veut	voudrait
nous	voulons	voudrions
vous	voulez	voudriez
ils / elles	veulent	voudraient
past participle	voulu	j'ai voulu — I wanted / I decided
formal imperative	veuillez	veuillez patienter — please hold

Common Vouloir Examples in French

Vouloir in the situations that come up daily:

Ordering and Asking

Je voudrais réserver une table pour deux.: I'd like to book a table for two.
Voudriez-vous laisser un message ?: Would you like to leave a message ?
Nous voudrions changer de chambre.: We'd like to change rooms.
Tu veux boire quelque chose ?: Do you want something to drink ?

Between friends the present is perfectly friendly. With strangers and in shops, use the conditional.

Wanting Someone Else to Act

Je veux que tu me dises la vérité.: I want you to tell me the truth.
Elle veut que nous soyons à l'heure.: She wants us to be on time.
Ils ne veulent pas qu'on parte.: They don't want us to leave.
Que voulez-vous que je fasse ?: What do you want me to do ?

Two different subjects means que and the subjunctive, with no exceptions.

Willingness and Agreement

Je veux bien un peu de gâteau.: I'd happily have a bit of cake.
Si tu veux, on peut y aller à pied.: If you like, we can walk there.
Elle a bien voulu m'aider.: She was kind enough to help me.
Tu veux bien fermer la fenêtre ?: Would you mind closing the window ?

Vouloir bien means willing rather than wanting very much, which is the opposite of what bien suggests.

In the Past

Je voulais te parler de quelque chose.: I wanted to talk to you about something.
Il a voulu ouvrir la porte, sans succès.: He tried to open the door, without success.
Elle n'a pas voulu signer.: She refused to sign.
Nous aurions voulu rester plus longtemps.: We would have liked to stay longer.

The imparfait gives the state of wanting; the passé composé gives the moment of acting on it, often as trying or refusing.

How Vouloir Behaves

Five things separate the French verb from its English translation, and all five come up early.

The Stem Changes Between Singular and Plural

Veu- in the three singular forms and in ils, voul- in nous and vous. This boot-shaped pattern is shared with pouvoir and with several -oir verbs.

Je veux bien, mais nous voulons partir tôt.

I'm happy to, but we want to leave early.

veux, veux, veut, voulons, voulez, veulent.

The Conditional Is the Polite Form

Je voudrais is not a hypothetical, it is a register marker. Using the present in a shop or with a stranger sounds abrupt in a way English want does not.

Je voudrais deux baguettes, s'il vous plaît.

I'd like two baguettes, please.

Stranger present → conditional.

Vouloir Que Takes the Subjunctive

Wanting something to happen does not make it happen, and the subjunctive is the mood for events that exist only in someone's head. This is the textbook subjunctive trigger.

Je veux que tu viennes avec nous.

I want you to come with us.

vouloir que + subjonctif.

Same Subject Means an Infinitive

When the wanter and the doer are the same person, French drops que entirely and uses a bare infinitive. Je veux que je parte is ungrammatical.

Je veux partir maintenant.

I want to leave now.

Same subject → infinitive, no que.

The Past Tenses Split the Meaning

In the imparfait vouloir describes a wish you held. In the passé composé it describes the moment you acted on it, which in the negative comes out as refused.

Il n'a pas voulu répondre.

He refused to answer.

n'a pas voulu = refused.

Common Mistakes with Vouloir

Incorrect: Je veux que tu viens. — I want you to come.

Correct: Je veux que tu viennes. — I want you to come.

Vouloir que always takes the subjunctive, because the event is only being wished for. Viens is the indicative and asserts that you are coming, which contradicts the wish.

Incorrect: Je veux toi de venir. — I want you to come.

Correct: Je veux que tu viennes. — I want you to come.

English builds want with an object and an infinitive. French has no such structure: as soon as the second verb has its own subject, you need a full que clause.

Incorrect: Je veux un billet pour Nice, s'il vous plaît. — I'd like a ticket to Nice, please.

Correct: Je voudrais un billet pour Nice, s'il vous plaît. — I'd like a ticket to Nice, please.

The present is not ungrammatical, it is just brusque with someone you do not know. French politeness runs through the conditional, and s'il vous plaît does not rescue a bare je veux.

Incorrect: Ils veulent partir, nous veulons rester. — They want to leave, we want to stay.

Correct: Ils veulent partir, nous voulons rester. — They want to leave, we want to stay.

The veul- stem belongs to ils only. Nous and vous keep the regular voul- stem, which is the pattern shared with pouvoir: ils peuvent but nous pouvons.

Vouloir Conjugated

Three stems: veu- and veul- in the present, voul- for the imparfait and participle, and voudr- for the future and conditional. The subjunctive adds a fourth, veuill-.

The Simple Tenses

Note that the conditional column is the one you will use most in real conversation, not the present.

Pronoun	présent	imparfait	futur simple	conditionnel
je / j'	veux	voulais	voudrai	voudrais
tu	veux	voulais	voudras	voudrais
il / elle / on	veut	voulait	voudra	voudrait
nous	voulons	voulions	voudrons	voudrions
vous	voulez	vouliez	voudrez	voudriez
ils / elles	veulent	voulaient	voudront	voudraient

Je veux and je veut are the same sound, but only veux exists for je and tu. The -t form belongs to il alone.

Compound Tenses, Subjunctive and Imperative

Vouloir takes avoir. Its subjunctive has two stems, veuill- and voul-, and its imperative is used almost only in the formal veuillez.

Pronoun	passé composé	plus-que-parfait	subjonctif (que…)	impératif
je / j'	ai voulu	avais voulu	veuille	—
tu	as voulu	avais voulu	veuilles	veuille
il / elle / on	a voulu	avait voulu	veuille	—
nous	avons voulu	avions voulu	voulions	veuillons
vous	avez voulu	aviez voulu	vouliez	veuillez
ils / elles	ont voulu	avaient voulu	veuillent	—

Veuillez plus an infinitive is standard in letters and announcements: veuillez agréer, veuillez patienter.

The Politeness Scale

The same request at three levels of directness. Moving right makes the sentence gentler and, in the last column, adds regret about something that did not happen.

Pronoun	présent (direct)	conditionnel (polite)	conditionnel passé (regret)
je / j'	veux	voudrais	aurais voulu
tu	veux	voudrais	aurais voulu
il / elle / on	veut	voudrait	aurait voulu
nous	voulons	voudrions	aurions voulu
vous	voulez	voudriez	auriez voulu
ils / elles	veulent	voudraient	auraient voulu

J'aurais voulu vous prévenir means I would have liked to warn you, with the clear implication that you did not.

Vouloir Dire, Veuillez, and En Vouloir À

Three fixed uses that have drifted a long way from the idea of wanting.

Vouloir dire: to mean

The standard way to ask or explain what something means. Signifier exists but sounds technical in speech.

Qu'est-ce que ça veut dire ?: What does that mean ?
Ce mot veut dire la même chose.: That word means the same thing.
Je ne voulais pas dire ça.: That's not what I meant.
Tu veux dire qu'il est déjà parti ?: You mean he's already left ?

Note the difference between je ne voulais pas dire ça, I didn't mean that, and je ne voulais pas le dire, I didn't want to say it.

Veuillez: the formal request

The imperative of vouloir plus an infinitive, used in signage, announcements and correspondence. It is more formal than s'il vous plaît and never sounds rude.

Veuillez patienter quelques instants.: Please wait a few moments.
Veuillez trouver ci-joint le document.: Please find the document attached.
Veuillez éteindre vos téléphones.: Please switch off your phones.

Veuillez agréer, Madame, mes salutations distinguées is the standard closing of a formal French letter.

En vouloir à: to hold something against someone

With the pronoun en and the preposition à, vouloir stops meaning want entirely and becomes a way of talking about resentment.

Je ne t'en veux pas.: I'm not upset with you.
Elle m'en veut d'avoir oublié son anniversaire.: She's cross with me for forgetting her birthday.
Ne lui en veux pas, il ne savait pas.: Don't hold it against him, he didn't know.

Je ne t'en veux pas is the phrase you need when someone apologises to you.

Vouloir FAQs

How do you conjugate vouloir in the present tense?: Je veux, tu veux, il veut, nous voulons, vous voulez, ils veulent. The singular and the third person plural use the stem veu-, while nous and vous keep voul-. The past participle is voulu.
What is the difference between je veux and je voudrais?: Je veux states a want plainly and can sound demanding to a stranger. Je voudrais is the conditional and turns the same want into a request. In shops, restaurants and offices, the conditional is the normal choice.
Why does vouloir que take the subjunctive?: Because the clause after it describes something the speaker wants rather than something that is happening. Je veux qu'il parte says nothing about whether he will, and the subjunctive parte is what marks that gap between wish and fact.
How do you say I want you to do something in French?: With que and a subjunctive: je veux que tu fasses la vaisselle. There is no way to keep the infinitive, so je veux toi faire and je veux te faire are both impossible.
What does vouloir dire mean?: To mean. Qu'est-ce que ça veut dire ? is the everyday way to ask what something means, and ça veut dire is how you explain it. The two words work as a single verb and cannot be separated.