Conjugate vouloir in Le Présent (present tense)

"Voudriez-vous de l'eau" is acceptiable, if that's what you were thinking. It is actually more polite than simply "Voulez-vous de l'eau".

-- Chris (not a native speaker).

Hi Dominic, 

Not in this case, you would simply use the present tense in the question.

Vous voulez de l'eau ?

The polite answer might be to say ,

j'en voudrais bien merci. 

But the question doesn't need extra politeness, the fact you are offering water is enough. 

Hope this helps!

The French are generally very polite in sentence request phrasing and the use of le conditionnel is considered to be more polite, i.e. je voudrais, pourriez-vous, voudriez-vous. Loosely translated:
I would like vs je peux I want, could you and would you instead of pouvez-vous, voulez-vous can you, do you want. Le conditionnel seems less abrupt.

So what's your question? Isn't the answer right in the lesson? -- Chris.

Sorry, I was too quick. You are asking about the Subjunctive.

je veuille
tu veuilles
il/elle veuille
nous voulions
vous vouliez
ils/elles veuillent

As a general hint: there are conjugation tables available on the internet, e.g. this one: http://conjugator.reverso.net/conjugation-french-verb-vouloir.html

-- Chris.

Bonjour Alexandra,

Nous voulons is the normal way to say "we want" in French. On veut is informal. Note that on veut can also mean "you" and "people in general": https://french.kwiziq.com/my-languages/french/view/703

but doesn't on also mean we ?

Yes and as Laura mentioned, it's "informal". So if you're with your friends, you can use "on" instead of "nous".

Bonjour Darren !

Je veux means "I want" - it's very direct.

Je voudrais means "I would like" - it's softer and politer, so you'd use it when ordering in a restaurant or shopping, for example.

In France, we actually teach children to use "voudrais" instead of "veux" as it is more polite.
"Maman, je veux un gâteau!
- Non, on dit 'je voudrais / j'aimerais un gâteau, s'il-te-plaît maman' "
:)

Merci pour les exemples.