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Je voulais le protéger pendant que le vent soufflait.

Je voulais le protéger pendant que le vent soufflait.
I wanted to protect him while the wind was blowing.
From Lesson 133:Past tense contrast: descriptions vs. completed actions·French

Questions & Answers about Je voulais le protéger pendant que le vent soufflait.

Why is voulais in the imparfait instead of the passé composé?
Verbs that express states of mind, feelings, or desires in the past, like vouloir (to want), are usually in the imparfait. Here, wanting to protect him was an ongoing state, not a single sudden action.
Why does le come right before protéger instead of before voulais?
In French, an object pronoun like le (him/it) goes directly before the verb it is logically attached to. Because you wanted to protect him rather than want him, the pronoun le must go right in front of the infinitive protéger.
Why do we use the imparfait for soufflait here?
The phrase pendant que (while) introduces a background action that was ongoing at that moment in the past. Because the wind was in the middle of blowing, we use the imparfait soufflait to describe this ongoing state.
Could I just say pendant le vent soufflait instead of pendant que?
No, because pendant (during) must be followed by a noun, like pendant la tempête (during the storm). When you want to say while and follow it with a subject and a verb like le vent soufflait, you must use pendant que.

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