Хотеть (to want) | Russian Grammar

Infinitive: хоте́ть — "to want, to wish, to feel like" Aspect: imperfective Perfective: захоте́ть ("to come to want, to suddenly want")

хоте́ть is one of the four or five truly irregular verbs in Russian, and it earns its place: it is the textbook example of a mixed-conjugation verb. In the singular it takes first-conjugation endings on a softened stem (хоч-), and in the plural it switches to second-conjugation endings on a different stem (хот-). No other common verb does exactly this, so it's worth drilling the six present forms until they're automatic. Everything else about the verb — past, future, government — is regular and gentle. Stress is marked on every form.

Present tense — the mixed conjugation

Person	Form	Conjugation type
я	хочу́	1st conj., stem хоч-
ты	хо́чешь	1st conj., stem хоч-
он / она́ / оно́	хо́чет	1st conj., stem хоч-
мы	хоти́м	2nd conj., stem хот-
вы	хоти́те	2nd conj., stem хот-
они́	хотя́т	2nd conj., stem хот-

Two things to lock in. First, the stem changes: the singular has ч (хоч-), the plural has т (хот-) — a classic т → ч alternation that you also see in other verbs. Second, the stress shifts: it's end-stressed in я (хочу́) and across the whole plural (хоти́м, хоти́те, хотя́т), but stem-stressed in ты and он (хо́чешь, хо́чет). Mapping it out: the singular looks like a normal first-conjugation verb (-у, -ешь, -ет), the plural looks like a normal second-conjugation verb (-им, -ите, -ят). That split is the whole irregularity.

Я хочу́ ко́фе, а ты?

I want a coffee, and you? — хочу́, the я form. Note the bare noun object here is colloquial; full grammar takes the accusative or partitive genitive (see below).

Что ты хо́чешь на у́жин?

What do you want for dinner? — хо́чешь, the ты form, stem-stressed.

Они́ не хотя́т идти́ домо́й.

They don't want to go home. — хотя́т, the они́ form, end-stressed plural + infinitive object.

Past tense

Completely regular and gentle — a plain хоте́- stem with the standard past endings, all stem-stressed.

Gender / number	Form
masculine	хоте́л
feminine	хоте́ла
neuter	хоте́ло
plural	хоте́ли

Я хоте́л тебе́ позвони́ть, но забы́л.

I wanted to call you but I forgot. — хоте́л (masculine speaker).

Она́ всегда́ хоте́ла стать врачо́м.

She always wanted to become a doctor. — хоте́ла + infinitive стать + instrumental predicate.

Future tense

хоте́ть is imperfective, so the future is the compound бу́ду хоте́ть — but in practice this is rare. To talk about a future wish, Russians more often use the perfective захоте́ть (захочу́, захо́чешь, …) or simply state the desire with a future-tense main verb. The compound future of хоте́ть itself is almost never needed.

Person	imperfective: бу́ду хоте́ть	perfective: захоте́ть
я	бу́ду хоте́ть	захочу́
ты	бу́дешь хоте́ть	захо́чешь
он / она́ / оно́	бу́дет хоте́ть	захо́чет
мы	бу́дем хоте́ть	захоти́м
вы	бу́дете хоте́ть	захоти́те
они́	бу́дут хоте́ть	захотя́т

Notice that захоте́ть mirrors the same mixed pattern: захочу́ / захо́чешь in the singular, захоти́м / захотя́т in the plural. The prefix за- adds an inceptive sense — "to come to want, to take a fancy to."

Е́сли захо́чешь — позвони́, и я сра́зу прие́ду.

If you feel like it, call, and I'll come right away. — захо́чешь, perfective future, inceptive 'come to want'.

Imperative

хоте́ть has no everyday imperative. You cannot meaningfully command someone to want something, so a form like \хоти́ is essentially unused in normal speech. (The dictionary form хоти́ exists on paper but you will not encounter it.) To express "want" as an instruction, Russians rephrase — e.g. захоти́* is similarly avoided. Treat хоте́ть as a verb without a practical imperative.

Participles and verbal adverbs

Form	Russian	Note
present active participle	хотя́щий	"(the one) wanting" — (literary / rare)
verbal adverb	хотя́	has frozen into the conjunction "although"; not used as a live verbal adverb
past active participle	хоте́вший	"(the one) who wanted" — (literary)

The verbal adverb хотя́ is a special case: historically "wanting," it has fully grammaticalised into the conjunction хотя́ = "although, even though." That word is alive and constant in modern speech — but as a conjunction, not as a verb form.

Он пришёл, хотя́ был о́чень уста́л.

He came, although he was very tired. — here хотя́ = the conjunction 'although', the frozen descendant of the verbal adverb.

Key uses & collocations

1. хоте́ть + accusative noun — "to want a thing"

A wanted thing goes in the accusative (the direct object). With mass nouns and "some of," Russian can use the partitive genitive to mean "some" — хочу́ ча́ю ("I'd like some tea") alongside хочу́ чай.

Я хочу́ но́вый телефо́н.

I want a new phone. — accusative direct object но́вый телефо́н.

Хо́чешь ча́ю?

Would you like some tea? — partitive genitive ча́ю = 'some tea', a warm, everyday offer. See the partitive page.

2. хоте́ть + infinitive — "to want to do" (same subject)

When the wanter and the doer are the same person, use a bare infinitive. This is the most common pattern.

Я хочу́ поспа́ть.

I want to sleep / get some sleep. — same subject → infinitive поспа́ть.

3. хочу́, что́бы… — "to want someone else to do"

When you want a different person to do something, you cannot use an infinitive. You need хочу́, что́бы + past-tense verb — the что́бы clause, where что́бы is always followed by a verb in the past-tense form (it functions as a subjunctive). This is one of the highest-value constructions in the whole language for an English speaker, because English just uses "want you to," with no clause boundary.

Я хочу́, что́бы ты был сча́стлив.

I want you to be happy. — different subjects → хочу́, что́бы + был (past-tense form after что́бы).

Роди́тели хотя́т, что́бы я учи́лся за грани́цей.

My parents want me to study abroad. — хотя́т, что́бы + учи́лся (past form). English 'want me to study'.

The full mechanics of these clauses live on the что́бы clauses page and the chto vs chtoby page.

4. Impersonal хо́чется — "to feel like"

A softer, more involuntary "I feel like / I fancy" uses the impersonal construction мне хо́чется (dative + reflexive хо́чется). It frames the desire as something that comes over you rather than a deliberate wish — gentler and very idiomatic.

Мне хо́чется чего́-нибудь сла́дкого.

I feel like something sweet. — impersonal хо́чется + dative мне + genitive object 'something sweet'.

Сего́дня совсе́м не хо́чется рабо́тать.

I really don't feel like working today. — impersonal, no subject; the negative softens it further.

For the wider family of "wanting" verbs (хоте́ть vs the more formal жела́ть), see the wanting page.

Common Mistakes

❌ Мы хо́чем пойти́ в кино́.

Incorrect — the plural is second-conjugation: хоти́м, not *хо́чем. The ч-stem is singular-only.

✅ Мы хоти́м пойти́ в кино́.

We want to go to the cinema.

❌ Они́ хочу́т есть.

Incorrect — the они́ form is хотя́т (2nd conj.), not *хочу́т. хочу́ is the я form only.

✅ Они́ хотя́т есть.

They want to eat / are hungry.

❌ Я хочу́ тебя́ быть сча́стливым. / Я хочу́ ты быть…

Incorrect — for a different subject you can't use an infinitive. Use хочу́, что́бы + past form: Я хочу́, что́бы ты был сча́стлив.

✅ Я хочу́, что́бы ты был сча́стлив.

I want you to be happy.

❌ Я хо́чу. (stress on the stem)

Stress error — the я form is end-stressed: хочу́. Stem-stress (хо́чешь, хо́чет) is for ты and он only.

✅ Я хочу́.

I want (to).

❌ Хо́чешь чай? (always plain accusative)

Not wrong, but for offering 'some tea' the warm, idiomatic form is the partitive genitive: Хо́чешь ча́ю?

✅ Хо́чешь ча́ю?

Would you like some tea?

Key Takeaways

Mixed conjugation: singular = 1st conj. on the ч-stem (хочу́, хо́чешь, хо́чет); plural = 2nd conj. on the т-stem (хоти́м, хоти́те, хотя́т). This split is the whole irregularity.
Stress: end-stressed in хочу́ and the whole plural; stem-stressed in хо́чешь, хо́чет.
Past: regular — хоте́л / хоте́ла / хоте́ло / хоте́ли.
Perfective захоте́ть (захочу́…) keeps the same mixed pattern; the compound future бу́ду хоте́ть is rarely needed.
No practical imperative.
Government: accusative (or partitive genitive 'some') for things; bare infinitive for same-subject "want to do"; хочу́, что́бы + past form for "want someone else to do."
Impersonal мне хо́чется = a softer, involuntary "I feel like."
The verbal adverb хотя́ survives only as the conjunction "although."

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