Vouloir: Examples, Sentences and Quiz in French
Introduction
Vouloir means “to want”, and it is one of the most useful verbs in French — you will meet it in conversation, in books, in films and in every textbook. This page puts the verb to work: twelve example sentences across the tenses, a short dialogue you can act out, a tour of the verb in its most important tenses, the mistakes learners make most often, and a ten-question quiz with explained answers. Every form on this page comes from the verified conjugation tables for vouloir, so you can trust what you read here. Start with the examples, say them aloud, and then test yourself with the quiz at the end.
Example sentences
Twelve sentences with vouloir, in different tenses and with different subjects. Read the French first, guess the meaning, then check the English.
- “Je veux un café tous les jours.” — “I want a coffee every day.”
- “Tu veux partir en vacances tous les jours.” — “You want go on holiday every day.”
- “J'ai voulu apprendre le français cette semaine.” — “I have wanted learn French this week.”
- “Il voulait un café autrefois.” — “He used to want a coffee in the past.”
- “Nous voudrons partir en vacances demain.” — “We will want go on holiday tomorrow.”
- “Tu as voulu apprendre le français cette semaine.” — “You have wanted learn French this week.”
- “Je voudrais un café un jour.” — “I would want a coffee one day.”
- “Il est important que il veuille partir en vacances.” — “It is important that he want go on holiday.”
- “Nous avions voulu apprendre le français avant la fête.” — “We had wanted learn French before the party.”
- “Il voudra un café demain.” — “He will want a coffee tomorrow.”
- “Ils veulent partir en vacances tous les jours.” — “They want go on holiday every day.”
- “Veuille apprendre le français !” — “Want learn French!”
A short dialogue
Marie and Pierre are talking about a coffee. Read the dialogue aloud, one voice per person, and notice how vouloir changes with the tense and the subject. Every form of vouloir below is taken from the verified tables.
Marie : Tu fais quoi, ce soir ? Pierre : “Je veux un café tous les jours.” — “I want a coffee every day.” Marie : Et demain ? Pierre : “Je voudrai partir en vacances demain.” — “I will want go on holiday tomorrow.” Marie : Tu as fait ça hier aussi ? Pierre : “J'ai voulu apprendre le français cette semaine.” — “I have wanted learn French this week.” Marie : Tu ferais ça un jour ? Pierre : “Je voudrais un café un jour.” — “I would want a coffee one day.”
Notice how the dialogue moves through time: the present for what is happening now, the future for tomorrow, the passé composé for yesterday, and the conditional for what someone would do one day. The verb stays the same — only the tense changes — and that is the whole point of learning a conjugation table: one verb, many moments.
Vouloir in different tenses
The same verb does different jobs in different tenses. Here are the six uses of vouloir that matter most, each with a sentence you can copy and adapt.
The present: habits and facts
In the present, vouloir describes habits, facts and what is happening now. The je form is veux: “Je veux un café tous les jours.” — “I want a coffee every day.”
The imperfect: the past as it used to be
In the imperfect, vouloir describes the past as it used to be — background, habit, an action in progress. The il form is voulait: “Il voulait partir en vacances autrefois.” — “He used to want go on holiday in the past.”
The passé composé: finished actions
In the passé composé, vouloir reports one finished action, built with avoir plus the participle voulu. The je form is ai voulu: “J'ai voulu apprendre le français cette semaine.” — “I have wanted learn French this week.”
The future: what will happen
In the future, vouloir talks about what will happen. The nous form is voudrons: “Nous voudrons un café demain.” — “We will want a coffee tomorrow.”
The conditional: what would happen
In the conditional, vouloir talks about what would happen. The tu form is voudrais: “Tu voudrais partir en vacances un jour.” — “You would want go on holiday one day.”
The subjunctive: wishes and doubts
In the subjunctive, vouloir appears after triggers such as il est important que. The form is veuille, and the sentence keeps the same complement as the other tenses: “Il est important que je veuille apprendre le français.” — “It is important that I want learn French.”
Common mistakes
Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Je vouloir un café.”
✓ Right: “Je veux un café.”
The infinitive vouloir never takes a subject. After je you need the conjugated form veux.
Using the wrong person’s form
✗ Wrong: “Tu veux un café.”
✓ Right: “Tu veux un café.”
veux is the je form. With tu you need veux. Check the subject before you choose the form.
Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Je veux un café hier.”
✓ Right: “Je ai voulu un café hier.”
The time word hier points to the past, so a finished action needs the passé composé ai voulu, not the present.
Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Il est important que tu veux partir en vacances.”
✓ Right: “Il est important que tu veuilles partir en vacances.”
After il est important que French needs the subjunctive: veuilles, not the indicative veux.
Forgetting the auxiliary in the passé composé
✗ Wrong: “Je voulu un café.”
✓ Right: “Je ai voulu un café.”
The passé composé of vouloir needs the auxiliary avoir plus the participle voulu: the full je form is ai voulu.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on vouloir. Choose the right answer, then check the answer key below.
What is the je form of vouloir in the Present indicative?
- A) veux
- B) veut
- C) voulons
- D) voulez
What is the tu form of vouloir in the Present indicative?
- A) veux
- B) veut
- C) voulons
- D) voulez
What is the il/elle form of vouloir in the Present perfect (passé composé)?
- A) a voulu
- B) ai voulu
- C) as voulu
- D) avons voulu
What is the nous form of vouloir in the Imperfect?
- A) vouliez
- B) voulions
- C) voulais
- D) voulait
What is the tu form of vouloir in the Future?
- A) voudras
- B) voudrai
- C) voudra
- D) voudrons
What is the je form of vouloir in the Conditional?
- A) voudrait
- B) voudrions
- C) voudriez
- D) voudrais
What is the il/elle form of vouloir in the Present subjunctive?
- A) voulions
- B) vouliez
- C) veuille
- D) veuilles
What is the je form of vouloir in the Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)?
- A) aviez voulu
- B) avais voulu
- C) avait voulu
- D) avions voulu
What is the gerund of vouloir?
- A) en voulant
- B) en sachant
- C) en venant
- D) en voyant
What does vouloir mean in English?
- A) to know
- B) to come
- C) to see
- D) to want
Answer key
- A) veux — the je form of vouloir in the Present indicative is veux. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) veux — the tu form of vouloir in the Present indicative is veux. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) a voulu — the il/elle form of vouloir in the Present perfect (passé composé) is a voulu. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) voulions — the nous form of vouloir in the Imperfect is voulions. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) voudras — the tu form of vouloir in the Future is voudras. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) voudrais — the je form of vouloir in the Conditional is voudrais. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) veuille — the il/elle form of vouloir in the Present subjunctive is veuille. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) avais voulu — the je form of vouloir in the Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is avais voulu. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) en voulant — the gerund of vouloir is en voulant. The other options are the gerunds of neighbouring verbs.
- D) to want — vouloir means “to want” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does vouloir mean in English?
vouloir means “to want”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is vouloir regular or irregular?
vouloir is irregular in these tenses: present, passe-simple, future, conditional, present-subjunctive, imperfect-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative, gerund, past-participle. The gerund is voulant and the past participle is voulu.
How do I practise vouloir every day?
Say one sentence with vouloir in the present, one in the passé composé and one in the future every day, using the examples on this page as models — for example, “Je veux un café tous les jours.”, “J'ai voulu un café cette semaine.” and “Je voudrai un café demain.”. Then take the quiz again and check your answers against the key.
Pronunciation
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for vouloir, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of vouloir — every tense of vouloir in one place.
- Vouloir in the passé composé tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
- Vouloir examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Savoir conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- Venir conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- Voir conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- French irregular verbs — every common irregular French verb, grouped by pattern.
- French verbs — the full hub of French conjugation pages.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- VerbFlow home — all languages, tools and verb lists.
- Spanish Verb Quiz — practise vouloir with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Practice — practise vouloir with the interactive tool.
- Verb Translator — practise vouloir with the interactive tool.