French Vouloir, Pouvoir, and Devoir

It is important to understand and be able to use three irregular French verbs—vouloir, pouvoir, and devoir — as they are very common as well as useful. They are often taught together because of the similarities in their conjugations.

In this unit, you’ll learn three more irregular verbs – vouloir, pouvoir, and devoir – meaning “to want,” “to be able to,” and “to have to / to owe ,” respectively. The reason why we learn verbs in groups is because they are conjugated in similar ways. Below you’ll find the conjugation tables for these three verbs with example sentences. Notice the similarities between the three tables. Vouloir and pouvoir are more similar to each other than they are to devoir. The other resources in this module explain their patterns separately.

From this unit forward, you will learn the past participle with each new verb to use in the past tense. Go ahead and review the past tense, or le passé composé.

Past Participle: voulu

Using vouloir in a sentence can express a particular item you want if it’s followed by a definite or indefinite article, or a particular action if it’s followed by an infinitive.

Examples:

Je veux une boisson.                                       I want a drink.

Il a voulu le désert.                                         He wanted the desert.

Nous ne voulons pas jouer aux cartes.           We don’t want to play cards.

Elles n’ont pas voulu faire du shopping.        They didn’t want to do some shopping 

Past Participle: pu

Most often, pouvoir is followed by an infinitive to express that one can or can not do something.

Examples:

Tu peux aller au cinéma.                    You can go to the movies.

Vous ne pouvez pas partir.                 You are not able to leave.

La petite fille a pu voir les étoiles.      The little girl was able to see the stars.

Nous n’avons pas pu aller ce soir.     We were not able to go tonight.  

Past Participle: dû

*The verb devoir can have several meanings. Understanding devoir depends on the context of each sentence. The translation of devoir when it means “to owe” is typically followed by a noun, while the translation that means “to have to” is typically followed by a verb.

Examples:

Je dois de l’argent.                                                                  I owe some money.

Nous ne devons pas lui téléphoner jusqu’à demain.               We don’t have to call him until tomorrow.

A la fin de la semaine, nous avons dû faire des courses.        At the end of the week, we had to do some grocery shopping.

Elle n’a pas dû de livres à la bibliothèque.                            She didn’t take any books to the library.

It is important to understand and be able to use three irregular French verbs—vouloir, pouvoir, and devoir — as they are very common as well as useful. They are often taught together because of the similarities in their conjugations.