Present Tense of Irregular Verbs – Devoir, Pouvoir and Vouloir

This lesson covers three of the most frequently occurring verbs, devoir, pouvoir and vouloir, which equate to the modal English verbs ‘to have to,’ ‘to be able to’ and ‘to want to.’

There are many irregular verbs in the present tense in French. We have met a couple already, avoir and être; and aller and faire, which are some of the most common verbs used. Next, we’ll make a start with the verbs devoir (‘to have to,’ ‘must,’ or ‘should’), pouvoir (‘to be able to,’ ‘can’) and vouloir (‘to want to’) – these are also very common and they also are extremely useful as they can be used as helping verbs, or more precisely ‘auxiliary verbs,’ to create more sophisticated phrases in French. We’ll take a look at how we can use these in this lesson.

But let’s start with the present tense of each of these verbs and some of the English phrases that they can equate to.

What is the present tense of devoir (‘to have to’)?

This is the French present tense of devoir, (‘to have to’) along with English equivalents. Devoir expresses a need or obligation to do something.

French	English
je dois	I must, I ought to, I should
tu dois	you must, you ought to, you should
il doit	he must, he ought to, he should
elle doit	she must, she ought to, she should
nous devons	we must, we ought to, we should
vous devez	you must, you ought to, you should
ils doivent	they must, they ought to, they should
elles doivent	they must, they ought to, they should

What is the present tense of pouvoir (‘to be able to’)?

This is the French present tense of pouvoir, (‘to be able to’) along with English equivalents. Pouvoir expresses an ability or a capability to do something.

French	English
je peux	I am able to, I can
tu peux	you are able to, you can
il peut	he is able to, he can
elle peut	she is able to, she can
nous pouvons	we are able to, we can
vous pouvez	you are able to, you can
ils peuvent	they are able to, they can
elles peuvent	they are able to , they can

What is the present tense of vouloir (‘to want to’, ‘to want’)?

This is the French present tense of vouloir, (‘to want to’, ‘to want’) along with English equivalents. Vouloir expresses a desire for something or a want.

French	English
je veux	I want (to)
tu veux	you want (to)
il veut	he wants (to)
elle veut	she wants (to)
nous voulons	we want (to)
vous voulez	you want (to)
ils veulent	they want (to)
elles veulent	they want (to)

How do you use these verbs to form more complex sentences?

The benefit of learning these verbs is that you can add any infinitive after it in order to express more complex sentences. Take a look at the examples, which use all the verbs from this lesson as auxiliary verbs plus a main verb in the infinitive, along with some possible English translations.

je veux aider	I want to help
tu veux travailler	You want to work
il veut réussir	He wants to succeed
elle veut arriver	She wants to arrive
nous voulons chanter	We want to sing
vous voulez chercher	You want to look for
ils veulent danser	They want to dance
elles veulent finir	They want to finish
je peux donner	I can give
tu peux écouter	You are able to listen to
il peut entrer	He is able to enter
elle peut étudier	She is able to study
nous pouvons manger	We can eat
vous pouvez habiter	You can live
ils peuvent jouer	They can play
elles peuvent monter	They can climb
je dois aller	I should go
tu dois rester	You must rest
il doit retourner	He should return
elle doit sortir	She must go out
nous devons venir	We ought to come
vous devez attendre	You should wait
ils doivent répondre	They ought to respond
elles doivent penser	They should think