Pouvoir (can, to be able to), vouloir (to want), and devoir (must, to have to) are French's three core "modal" verbs. They're grouped together because they behave the same way grammatically: all three are followed directly by an infinitive, with no preposition, unlike English, which sometimes needs "to" (je dois travailler = I have to work, not "je dois de travailler").
| Je peux venir samedi. | I can come Saturday. |
| Tu veux un café ? | Do you want a coffee? |
| Il doit partir tôt. | He has to leave early. |
| Nous pouvons attendre. | We can wait. |
| Vous voulez essayer ? | Do you want to try? |
| Ils doivent finir le projet. | They have to finish the project. |
1. Conjugation: present tense
| Pronoun | Pouvoir | Vouloir | Devoir |
|---|
| je / j' | peux | veux | dois |
| tu | peux | veux | dois |
| il / elle / on | peut | veut | doit |
| nous | pouvons | voulons | devons |
| vous | pouvez | voulez | devez |
| ils / elles | peuvent | veulent | doivent |
2. Spot the pattern
They rhyme on purpose: pouvoir and vouloir conjugate in exact parallel: peux/veux, peut/veut, pouvons/voulons, pouvez/voulez, peuvent/veulent. Devoir follows the same shape with a d- stem (dois, doit, devons, devez, doivent). Learn one, and the other two are 90% done.
3. Devoir can also mean "to owe"
| Je dois travailler ce soir. | I have to work tonight. (obligation) |
| Je dois 20 euros à mon frère. | I owe my brother 20 euros. (debt) |
4. "Je voudrais": the polite way to want something
The conditional form je voudrais (I would like) softens je veux (I want) into something much more polite: the standard way to order or ask for things in French.
| Je voudrais un café, s'il vous plaît. | I would like a coffee, please. |
| Je veux un café. | I want a coffee. (blunter, less polite) |