Wollen: Examples, Sentences and Quiz in German
Introduction
Wollen means “to want”, and it is one of the most useful verbs in German — 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 wollen, 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 wollen, in different tenses and with different subjects. Read the German first, guess the meaning, then check the English.
- “Ich will einen Kaffee.” — “I want to a coffee.”
- “Du willst in den Urlaub fahren.” — “You want to go on holiday.”
- “Ich habe es gewollt.” — “I have wanted to it.”
- “Er wollte einen Kaffee.” — “He wanted to a coffee.”
- “Wir werden es wollen.” — “We will want to it.”
- “Du hast es gewollt.” — “You have wanted to it.”
- “Ich wollte einen Kaffee.” — “I would want to a coffee.”
- “Er wolle in den Urlaub fahren.” — “He wants to go on holiday.”
- “Wir hatten es gewollt.” — “We had wanted to it.”
- “Er wird es wollen.” — “He will want to it.”
- “Sie wollen in den Urlaub fahren.” — “They want to go on holiday.”
- “Du willst Deutsch lernen.” — “You want to learn German.”
A short dialogue
Lena and Jonas are talking about a coffee. Read the dialogue aloud, one voice per person, and notice how wollen changes with the tense and the subject. Every form of wollen below is taken from the verified tables.
Lena: “Willst du einen Kaffee?” — “You want to a coffee?” Jonas: “Ich will einen Kaffee.” — “I want to a coffee.” Lena: Und morgen? Jonas: “Ich werde es wollen.” — “I will want to it.” Lena: Und gestern? Jonas: “Ich habe es gewollt.” — “I have wanted to it.” Lena: Und eines Tages? Jonas: “Ich wollte einen Kaffee.” — “I would want to a coffee.”
Notice how the dialogue moves through time: the present for what is happening now, the future for tomorrow, the Perfekt for yesterday, and Konjunktiv II 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.
Wollen in different tenses
The same verb does different jobs in different tenses. Here are the six uses of wollen that matter most, each with a sentence you can copy and adapt.
The present: habits and facts
In the present, wollen describes habits, facts and what is happening now. The ich form is will: “Ich will einen Kaffee.” — “I want to a coffee.”
The preterite: the past as a finished event
In the preterite, wollen describes one finished action in the past, the way a story tells it. The er form is wollte: “Er wollte in den Urlaub fahren.” — “He wanted to go on holiday.”
The Perfekt: finished actions
In the Perfekt, wollen reports one finished action in everyday speech, built with haben plus the participle gewollt. The ich form is habe gewollt: “Ich habe es gewollt.” — “I have wanted to it.”
The future: what will happen
In the future, wollen talks about what will happen. The wir form is werden wollen: “Wir werden es wollen.” — “We will want to it.”
Konjunktiv II: what would happen
In Konjunktiv II, wollen talks about what would happen. Konjunktiv II doubles as the German conditional — there is no separate conditional tense. The du form is wolltest: “Du wolltest in den Urlaub fahren.” — “You would want to go on holiday.”
Konjunktiv I: reported speech
In reported speech, wollen appears in Konjunktiv I, reporting what someone else said. The er form is wolle: “Er wolle Deutsch lernen.” — “He wants to learn German.” Read it as a quotation — someone said this, and the sentence reports it.
Common mistakes
Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Ich wollen einen Kaffee.”
✓ Right: “Ich will einen Kaffee.”
The infinitive wollen never takes a subject. After ich you need the conjugated form will.
Using the wrong person’s form
✗ Wrong: “Du will einen Kaffee.”
✓ Right: “Du willst einen Kaffee.”
will is the ich form. With du you need willst. Check the subject before you choose the form.
Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Ich will einen Kaffee gestern.”
✓ Right: “Ich habe es gewollt.”
The time word gestern points to the past, so a finished action needs the Perfekt habe gewollt, not the present.
Using the indicative in reported speech
✗ Wrong: “Ich will einen Kaffee.” (quoted as reported speech)
✓ Right: “Ich wolle einen Kaffee.” (quoted as reported speech)
In reported speech German uses Konjunktiv I: wolle, not the indicative will.
Forgetting the auxiliary in the Perfekt
✗ Wrong: “Ich gewollt einen Kaffee.”
✓ Right: “Ich habe es gewollt.”
The Perfekt of wollen needs the auxiliary haben plus the participle gewollt: the full ich form is habe gewollt.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on wollen. Choose the right answer, then check the answer key below.
What is the ich form of wollen in the Present (Präsens)?
- A) will
- B) willst
- C) wollen
- D) wollt
What is the du form of wollen in the Present (Präsens)?
- A) wollt
- B) willst
- C) will
- D) wollen
What is the er/sie/es form of wollen in the Perfect (Perfekt)?
- A) haben gewollt
- B) hat gewollt
- C) habe gewollt
- D) hast gewollt
What is the wir form of wollen in the Preterite (Präteritum)?
- A) wollte
- B) wolltest
- C) wolltet
- D) wollten
What is the du form of wollen in the Future (Futur I)?
- A) wird wollen
- B) werden wollen
- C) wirst wollen
- D) werde wollen
What is the ich form of wollen in the Konjunktiv II (conditional)?
- A) wolltet
- B) wollte
- C) wolltest
- D) wollten
What is the er/sie/es form of wollen in the Konjunktiv I?
- A) wollet
- B) wolle
- C) wollest
- D) wollen
What is the ich form of wollen in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)?
- A) hatte gewollt
- B) hattest gewollt
- C) hatten gewollt
- D) hattet gewollt
What is the past participle of wollen?
- A) gemocht
- B) gewusst
- C) gewollt
- D) gedurft
What does wollen mean in English?
- A) to be allowed to
- B) to like
- C) to know
- D) to want
Answer key
- A) will — the ich form of wollen in the Present (Präsens) is will. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) willst — the du form of wollen in the Present (Präsens) is willst. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) hat gewollt — the er/sie/es form of wollen in the Perfect (Perfekt) is hat gewollt. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) wollten — the wir form of wollen in the Preterite (Präteritum) is wollten. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) wirst wollen — the du form of wollen in the Future (Futur I) is wirst wollen. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) wollte — the ich form of wollen in the Konjunktiv II (conditional) is wollte. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) wolle — the er/sie/es form of wollen in the Konjunktiv I is wolle. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) hatte gewollt — the ich form of wollen in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) is hatte gewollt. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) gewollt — the past participle of wollen is gewollt. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
- D) to want — wollen means “to want” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does wollen mean in English?
wollen means “to want”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is wollen regular or irregular?
wollen is irregular in these tenses: present, preterite, perfect, pluperfect, future, future-perfect, konjunktiv-1, konjunktiv-2, conditional-perfect, imperative, past-participle. The present participle is wollend and the past participle is gewollt.
How do I practise wollen every day?
Say one sentence with wollen in the present, one in the Perfekt and one in the future every day, using the examples on this page as models — for example, “Ich will einen Kaffee.”, “Ich habe es gewollt.” and “Ich werde es wollen.”. 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 wollen, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of wollen — every tense of wollen in one place.
- Wollen in the Perfekt tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
- Wollen examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Dürfen conjugation — another everyday German verb.
- Mögen conjugation — another everyday German verb.
- Wissen conjugation — another everyday German verb.
- German irregular verbs — every common irregular German verb, grouped by pattern.
- German verbs — the full hub of German conjugation pages.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- French verbs — the full hub of French conjugation pages.
- VerbFlow home — all languages, tools and verb lists.
- Spanish Verb Quiz — practise wollen with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Practice — practise wollen with the interactive tool.
- Verb Translator — practise wollen with the interactive tool.