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Je veux que tu sois respectueux dans la colocation.

Je veux que tu sois respectueux dans la colocation.
I want you to be respectful in the flatshare.
From Lesson 183:Present subjunctive of to be and to have (être, avoir)·French

Questions & Answers about Je veux que tu sois respectueux dans la colocation.

Why does this sentence use sois instead of the regular present tense es?
The phrase Je veux que (I want) expresses a desire, wish, or demand. In French, this always triggers the subjunctive mood for the action that follows. Sois is the highly irregular subjunctive form of être (to be) for tu.
Since the English is "I want you to be", could I translate it literally as Je veux te être?
No, you cannot translate "want someone to do something" word-for-word into French. When the person wanting (I) is different from the person doing the action (you), you must use vouloir que (to want that) plus a brand new subject and a conjugated subjunctive verb: Je veux que tu sois (literally: I want that you be).
Would the word respectueux change if I am speaking to a woman?
Yes. Because respectueux is an adjective describing tu, it must match the gender of the person you are talking to. If the person you are speaking to is female, it changes to the feminine form: respectueuse.
What exactly does la colocation mean here? Is it just the physical apartment?
Une colocation (often shortened to une coloc in casual French) refers to the shared living arrangement or flatshare itself, but it is also widely used to mean the shared apartment. The people you share the place with (your housemates) are called les colocataires (or les colocs).

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