Want in French: je veux or je voudrais, plus can and must

Want in French is vouloir, and the form you need most is je veux, “I want”. To ask for something politely, French uses je voudrais, “I would like”, instead [1][2]. This page covers vouloir and its two partners, pouvoir (can) and devoir (must), then the natural way to say “need”. For how any verb is built, read How to conjugate French verbs. For more irregular verbs, see French irregular verbs. To drill the forms, try French conjugation practice.

How do you say to want in French?

You use the verb vouloir. Larousse gives its first sense as applying your will to get something, and its second as wanting or wishing for something: “les agriculteurs veulent de la pluie” (farmers want rain) [2]. It is irregular, so the stem changes: veux, veut, voulons, voulez, veulent [1].

The forms are from Larousse’s conjugation pages [1][3][5]. The sound recordings are for the three infinitives.

How do you say I want in French?

You say je veux, followed by a noun or a verb: “je veux un café” or “je veux partir” (our examples, built on the pattern in Larousse’s entry [2]). To say “I want to” do something, put the second verb in the infinitive straight after: Larousse’s own example is “vouloir réussir” [2]. There is no “to” word to add.

For “I want that someone does something”, Larousse says vouloir que takes the subjunctive: “je veux qu’il vienne” [2]. Larousse also gives vouloir de for accepting someone or something: “je ne veux pas de sa pitié” (I do not want his pity) [2].

How do you say I would like in French?

You say je voudrais. Larousse gives the polite pattern directly: “je voudrais cinq carottes et deux poireaux” and “nous voudrions vous demander un renseignement” [2]. The conditional present of vouloir is: voudrais, voudrais, voudrait, voudrions, voudriez, voudraient [1].

Pouvoir works the same way in a polite request. Larousse lists “pourriez-vous me dire l’heure, s’il vous plaît ?” under its sense for polite requests [4]. And veuillez plus an infinitive opens a polite order, as in “veuillez vous asseoir” [1][2]. Finish a request with s’il vous plaît, and thank the person with merci.

What is the verb vouloir conjugation in other tenses?

Beyond the present and conditional, here are the others you meet first, all from Larousse [1]. The imparfait is voulais, voulait, voulions, vouliez, voulaient. The futur is voudrai, voudras, voudra, voudrons, voudrez, voudront. The passé composé is j’ai voulu [1]. Note how close the futur (je voudrai) and conditional (je voudrais) look: one letter, a different meaning.

Vouloir also has two imperatives, veuille (courteous) and veux. Larousse gives “ne lui en voulez pas” (do not hold it against him) as an example of the second set [1].

What is the difference between pouvoir and savoir?

Pouvoir is about possibility or permission, and savoir is about knowledge or learned skill. Larousse defines pouvoir as having the possibility or the physical, material or intellectual means to do something, and also as having permission: “puis-je vous parler un moment ?” [4]. It defines savoir as having learned something, and as having the ability, after study and practice, to do an activity: “savoir nager” [7].

So “je sais nager” says you have learned how. “Je peux nager” is a different statement, that nothing stops you right now. That contrast is our reading of the two entries, not a quoted rule. For “can I?”, use puis-je: Larousse says that in questions with inversion, puis replaces peux [3]. Larousse also notes that “je ne saurais” is a softer way of saying “je ne peux” [7].

How do you use devoir for must and probably?

Devoir followed by an infinitive marks obligation or necessity: “vous devez dire la vérité” [6]. It also marks probability: “il doit être midi” (it must be noon) [6]. The same entry warns that this double use makes some sentences ambiguous: “il a dû partir” can mean “he probably left” or “he had to leave” [6].

Devoir followed by a noun means to owe: “je dois 50 euros à mon épicier” [6]. The past participle takes a circumflex in the masculine singular, dû, to tell it apart from du [5][6].

How do you say need in French?

The natural French for need is avoir besoin de, “to have need of”, and il faut, “it is necessary”. Larousse gives avoir besoin de plus a noun or an infinitive: “j’ai besoin de m’absenter mardi” [8]. It also gives “j’ai besoin de toi, de ton aide” and, with the subjunctive, “j’ai besoin que vous me souteniez” [8].

Larousse defines falloir as expressing obligation or necessity, and says il faut is equivalent to devoir with an infinitive [9]. The verb exists only in the third person singular [9]. Do not swap in il faut mieux for “it is better to”: the correct phrase is il vaut mieux, which gives a preference, not a necessity [9]. And je dois is “I must”, an obligation placed on you, so it is not the everyday word for need [6].

Common mistakes

• Ordering with je veux. It is grammatical, but Larousse treats it as too commanding for a request. Use je voudrais [2].
• Adding “to” after vouloir. Larousse shows the infinitive straight after: vouloir réussir [2].
• Mixing up voudrai and voudrais. The futur ends in -ai, the conditional in -ais [1].
• Using pouvoir for a learned skill. Larousse uses savoir for ability gained by study: savoir nager [7].
• Forgetting that il a dû partir has two meanings. Check the context before you decide whether it is probability or obligation [6].
• Writing il faut mieux. It is il vaut mieux [9].
• Relying on a verb page from a blog, including this one. Dictionary entries change. Compare each entry’s date with the date at the top of this page.

See also: the 100 most common French verbs and common French phrases.

See also: the French subjunctive.

See also: the French future tense and the French conditional.

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