Grammaire 2: savoir, vouloir and pouvoir
On étudie !
So far in this course, you have seen several examples of how to put two verbs together to express likes, preferences and future actions. For example,
J’aime danser. (I like to dance.)
Il préfère faire du vélo. (He prefers to ride a bike.)
Nous allons étudier le français ce soir.
(We are going to study French this evening.)
In each case, only the first verb is conjugated while the second verb is in the infinitive; this is called an infinitive structure.
In this section, we are going expand the list of infinitive structures we can use and practice putting verbs together to talk about what we “know how” to do, what we “are able” to do, and what we “want” to do:
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Watch how the meaning of parler changes with each of these verbs:
Je parle français. (I speak French.) (I’m speaking French.)
Je sais parler français. (I know how to speak French.)
Je veux parler français. (I want to speak French.)
Je peux parler français. (I am able to speak French. I can speak French.)
Let’s practice these one at a time.
Le verbe savoir
Qu’est-ce que tu sais faire ?
One way to express “knowing” is with the verb savoir.
Conjugaison du verbe savoir (to know)
| Singulier | Pluriel |
|---|---|
| je sais | nous savons |
| tu sais | vous savez |
| il, elle, on sait | ils, elles savent |
You can use this verb to talk about (a) what someone knows and (b) what someone knows how to do.
(a) Knowing facts/info
| Français | Anglais |
|---|---|
| Je sais combien de personnes il y a dans la classe. | I know how many people there are in the class. |
| Savez-vous pourquoi Preet est absente ? | Do you know why Preet is absent? |
(b) Knowing how to do something (savoir + infinitive verb)
| Français | Anglais |
|---|---|
| Catherine sait parler espagnol. (Un peu!) | Catherine knows how to speak Spanish. (A little!) |
| Je sais faire un gâteau au chocolat. | I know how to make a chocolate cake. |
| Savez-vous danser le tango ? | Do you know how to dance the tango? |
Les verbes vouloir et pouvoir
Qu’est-ce que tu veux faire ? Qu’est-ce que tu peux faire ? (What do you want to do? What can you do?)
We are practicing these two verbs together because they are conjugated in a similar way:
Conjugaison du verbe vouloir (to want)
| Singulier | Pluriel |
|---|---|
| je veux | nous voulons |
| tu veux | vous voulez |
| il, elle, on veut | ils, elles veulent |
Conjugaison du verbe pouvoir (to be able to, can)
| Singulier | Pluriel |
|---|---|
| je peux | nous pouvons |
| tu peux | vous pouvez |
| il, elle, on peut | ils, elles peuvent |
Notice how the l is preserved in the plural forms of vouloir, and the v is preserved in the plural forms of pouvoir.
Vouloir. You can use this verb to talk about (a) something someone wants and (b) what someone wants to do.
(a) Wanting something
| Français | Anglais |
|---|---|
| Je veux un croissant. | I want a croissant. |
| Les enfants veulent des bonbons. | The children want candy. |
(b) Wanting to do something
| Français | Anglais |
|---|---|
| Je veux jouer au football ce week-end. | I want to play soccer this weekend. |
| Adeline veut sortir avec Anne. | Adeline wants to go out with Anne. |
| Les enfants veulent jouer au jeux vidéo. | The children want to play video games. |
Note:
Use je voudrais or j’aimerais instead of je veux to express a desire more politely. These are forms of the present conditional and it would be best to use these when you are (for instance) at a café or restaurant. See examples below (and note you can either follow it with a noun or a verb in the infinitive).
Je voudrais un sandwich au fromage s’il-vous-plaît. (I would like a cheese sandwich please.)
J’aimerais payer avec ma carte. (I would like to pay with my card.)
