Voudrais vs Voulais vs Souhaiterais
The polite conditional and its whole family — voudrais, aimerais, souhaiterais, pourriez, auriez — and when voulais is the right pick
🎯 In one line: voulais is an imperfect, voudrais and souhaiterais are conditionals. For a request here and now, je voudrais is the default; in formal writing, je souhaiterais; je voulais is for telling a past story — or for easing into a request.
Why they get mixed up
The three forms look alike, sound almost alike, and all three can open a polite request. Only the tone and the setting differ.
| Form | Tense / mood | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| je voulais | imperfect of vouloir | [vu-lɛ] |
| je voudrais | present conditional of vouloir | [vu-dʁɛ] |
| je souhaiterais | present conditional of souhaiter | [swɛ-tə-ʁɛ] |
🔑 The whole difference your ear can catch is the dr: voudrais has it, voulais does not.
What each one does
| Form | When to use it | Example |
|---|---|---|
| je voulais | narrating a past wish | Quand j'étais petit, je voulais être pilote. (When I was little I wanted to be a pilot.) |
| je voulais | easing into a request, usually + demander / savoir / vous voir | Bonjour, je voulais vous demander un renseignement. (Hello, I wanted to ask you something.) |
| je voudrais | a request right now: ordering, booking, asking for something — the default | Je voudrais un café. (I'd like a coffee.) |
| je voudrais | same, followed by an infinitive | Je voudrais prendre rendez-vous. (I'd like to make an appointment.) |
| je souhaiterais | formal register: letters, complaints, admin | Je souhaiterais obtenir des informations sur votre formation. (I would like to receive information about your course.) |
⚠️ je veux is not ungrammatical, but said to someone's face it lands like "I want". For a request, use je voudrais.
The whole family
1. Softening with the conditional
Putting the verb in the conditional takes the sentence down a notch. It is the most common politeness device in French.
| Verb | Conditional | Register / use | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| vouloir | je voudrais / vous voudriez | neutral default, concrete request | Voudriez-vous m'aider ? |
| aimer | j'aimerais (bien) | softer, more personal — wishes | J'aimerais savoir si c'est possible. |
| souhaiter | je souhaiterais | formal, written | Je souhaiterais déposer une réclamation. |
| désirer | je désirerais | very formal, commercial (shop staff say Vous désirez ?) | Je désirerais un renseignement. |
| pouvoir | je pourrais / Pourriez-vous | asking someone else to act | Pourriez-vous répéter, s'il vous plaît ? |
| avoir | j'aurais / Auriez-vous | "I have a question", "would you have…" | J'aurais une question. |
| être | ce serait / Serait-il possible de… | the most formal request wrapper | Serait-il possible de reporter le rendez-vous ? |
| devoir | tu devrais / vous devriez | advice, not a request | Vous devriez consulter un médecin. |
| falloir | il faudrait | a softened "we should" | Il faudrait réserver à l'avance. |
| valoir | il vaudrait mieux | "it would be better to" | Il vaudrait mieux partir tôt. |
| savoir | je ne saurais… | very formal negation ("I couldn't") | Je ne saurais vous dire. |
(For the other uses of devoir and falloir, see "Expressing obligation".)
2. The polite imperfect (imparfait de politesse)
Same softening effect, but only a handful of verbs take it, and almost always as an opening line:
| Example | Effect |
|---|---|
| Je voulais vous demander quelque chose. | eases into the request |
| Je venais pour l'annonce. | explains why you came |
| C'était pour un renseignement. | standard opener |
| Je cherchais le rayon fromages. | indirect request |
These sentences are about the present — the past tense only puts a polite step back between you and the request.
Four traps
1. Never a conditional after si
| Condition (si clause) | Result (main clause) |
|---|---|
| si + present | simple future |
| si + imperfect | present conditional |
Si j'avais le temps, je viendrais. ✅
Si j'aurais le temps ❌ · Si je voudrais ❌
(See "Future & Conditional".)
2. vouloir que takes the subjunctive
Je voudrais que vous m'aidiez. ✅ (not aidez)
Use que only when the two subjects differ; with the same subject, go straight to the infinitive: Je voudrais partir. See "The subjunctive".
3. voudrais and aimerais are not interchangeable
- Ordering or obtaining something concrete → voudrais: Je voudrais un ticket.
- Expressing a wish or a preference → aimerais: J'aimerais visiter le Québec.
4. Don't build a whole letter on voudrais
In a letter task (tâche 2 / tâche 3), souhaiterais plus Serait-il possible de hit the expected register. Speaking is the opposite: voudrais sounds natural, souhaiterais sounds bookish.
Conjugation side by side
The two series of vouloir differ by the dr and nothing else:
| Person | Imperfect | Present conditional |
|---|---|---|
| je | voulais | voudrais |
| tu | voulais | voudrais |
| il/elle | voulait | voudrait |
| nous | voulions | voudrions |
| vous | vouliez | voudriez |
| ils/elles | voulaient | voudraient |
💡 Conditional = future stem + imperfect endings. The future stem of vouloir is voudr-, hence voudrais. souhaiter and aimer are regular: the stem is the full infinitive, souhaiter + ais → souhaiterais (the e is silent but must be written). ⚠️ First person: conditional ends in -ais, future in -ai — je souhaiterais (polite request) vs je souhaiterai (future). One letter, a different meaning.