218 - How to Conjugate "Vouloir" (To Want) in French (Imperfect Tense)

 
 

In this episode, you'll learn how to conjugate the French verb vouloir (to want) in the imperfect tense.

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Links & Cheat Sheet:

Transcript

Hello everyone! Bonjour tout le monde. 🖤

Welcome back to the French Made Easy podcast. This is episode 218 — numéro deux cent dix-huit!

Today, we're continuing our conjugation series in the imperfect tense, or l'imparfait, in French. And this time, we're learning how to conjugate a very useful verb: "vouloir" — which means to want.

Now, if you want a refresher on the verb "vouloir," I covered the present tense back in episode 34, and the future tense in episode 122. So feel free to listen to those after this lesson.

As always, if you're new to the podcast — welcome! Make sure you've got your lesson's cheat sheet ready so you can follow along as you listen. And after this lesson, you can practice what you've learned using the exercises inside the French Made Easy Exercise Library. You'll find all the links in the episode notes — it's free!

Alright, just a quick reminder before we start: the imperfect tense, or l'imparfait, is used to talk about past habits, ongoing actions, or situations in the past.

Couple of examples:

  • Quand j'étais petite, je lisais tous les soirs. (When I was little, I used to read every evening.)

  • Il faisait très chaud l'été dernier. (It was very warm last summer.)

Now let's see "vouloir" in the imperfect tense.

Please repeat after me:

  • je voulais (I wanted / I used to want)

  • tu voulais (you wanted / you used to want)

  • il / elle voulait (he / she wanted)

  • on voulait (we wanted)

  • nous voulions (we wanted)

  • vous vouliez (you wanted)

  • ils / elles voulaient (they wanted)

Now, let's see some example sentences:

  • Je voulais prendre le train, mais il y avait une grève. (I wanted to take the train, but there was a strike.)

  • Tu voulais partir plus tôt ? (Did you want to leave earlier?)

  • Il voulait parler français avec la famille de sa femme. (He wanted to speak French with his wife's family.)

  • On voulait essayer un nouveau restaurant. (We wanted to try a new restaurant.)

  • Nous voulions passer le week-end à la campagne. (We wanted to spend the weekend in the countryside.)

  • Vous ne vouliez pas vraiment vous séparer. (You didn't really want to separate.)

  • Le dimanche, ils voulaient toujours jouer au foot. (On Sundays, they always wanted to play football.)

Quick Recap:

je voulais, tu voulais, il / elle voulait, on voulait, nous voulions, vous vouliez, ils / elles voulaient

Et voilà ! That wraps up our lesson on how to conjugate "vouloir" in the imperfect tense.

Make sure you download the cheat sheet to review today's conjugation, and head over to the Exercise Library to get some extra practice. The exercises really help everything stick — so don't skip them!

Thanks so much for listening, and I'll chat with you next week.

À bientôt — bye! 🖤

Mathilde KienComment