Want: volo

Level 3

Want, followed by an infinitive.

How It Works

PersonLatinEnglish
IvoloI want
youvisyou want
he, shevulthe wants
wevolumuswe want
you allvultisyou all want
theyvoluntthey want

Vis is also the noun for force, so the sentence shows which one you have. Quid vis? means What do you want?

Other tenses are regular: volebam (I wanted), volam (I will want) and volui (I wanted, I have wanted).

The three singular forms look different, so learn them together: volo, vis, vult. The plural forms volumus, volunt follow the usual pattern. The negative of volo is nolo, which is the next entry.

The v of volo sounds like w in classical Latin and like v in Church Latin.

Examples (5)

  1. Iulia Romam videre vult.

    Iulia wants to see Rome.

    Vult is the he or she form. Videre is the infinitive.

  2. Quid vis?

    What do you want?

    Vis is the you form of volo.

  3. Volo cantare.

    I want to sing.

    Volo is the I form, and cantare is the infinitive.

  4. Volumus venire.

    We want to come.

    Volumus is the we form.

  5. Volumus Dominum laudare.

    We want to praise the Lord.

    Dominum is the object of laudare.

Common Mistakes

  • Treating volo like a first conjugation verb.

    Tu volas venire.
    Tu vis venire.

    Volo is irregular. You want is vis, not volas.

  • Mixing up volat and vult.

    Marcus volat venire.
    Marcus venire vult.

    Volat is a different verb that means flies. He wants is vult.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Want: voloLevel 3

Learn This First

Volo is irregular and takes an infinitive, so the infinitives come first.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

volo