Learn Hardcore French: Je veux relire ce roman ce soir. - I want to reread this novel tonight.

You conjugate vouloir to match the subject (je veux, tu veux, il veut, etc.), but you leave the second verb (relire) in the infinitive. You would not say je veux relis – that’s incorrect in French.

Why is it relire and not lire encore?

Both are possible, but relire is the standard, concise verb for to reread.

relire = to read something again (one compact verb)
lire encore / lire à nouveau / lire de nouveau = to read again (periphrastic expressions)

Examples:

Je veux relire ce roman. – completely natural and common.
Je veux lire ce roman encore. – understandable, but less elegant and less idiomatic in this context.
Je veux le lire à nouveau. – also correct, a bit more formal.

If a single specific text is involved (a book, a letter, an article), French strongly prefers relire.

What is the difference between ce roman and le roman here?

Both are grammatically correct, but the nuance changes:

ce roman = this / that novel
It points to a specific novel in context (maybe the one you’re holding, the one you’ve just mentioned, etc.).
le roman = the novel
More neutral, like “the novel” already known in the conversation.

So:

Je veux relire ce roman. → I want to reread this (particular) novel.
Je veux relire le roman. → I want to reread the novel (you know which one I mean).

In many real situations, ce roman will sound more natural if you’re literally referring to a specific book in front of you or just mentioned.

Why ce roman and not cet roman or cette roman?

Because roman is:

Masculine → you must use ce (masculine demonstrative), not cette (feminine).
Starts with a consonant sound [ʀ] in roman → you use ce, not cet.

Rules for the singular forms:

ce
- masculine noun starting with a consonant: ce roman, ce livre, ce garçon
cet
- masculine noun starting with a vowel or silent h: cet homme, cet avion, cet ordinateur
cette
- any feminine noun: cette femme, cette histoire

So ce roman is the only correct choice here.

Can I move ce soir to another place in the sentence?

Yes. Several positions are possible, with slightly different emphasis, but all are grammatical:

Je veux relire ce roman ce soir.
Neutral, very common word order.
Ce soir, je veux relire ce roman.
Emphasizes this evening (contrast with other times).
Je veux ce soir relire ce roman.
Grammatically correct but more written/formal; sounds a bit heavy in everyday speech.

What you generally avoid is splitting relire ce roman in an odd way, like:

✗ Je veux relire ce soir ce roman. (understandable, but feels awkward and unnatural)

Why is there no article before ce soir?

Expressions of time like ce matin, cet après-midi, ce soir, cette nuit, ce week-end normally do not take another article:

ce soir = this evening / tonight
ce matin = this morning

You don’t say le ce soir or un ce soir. Ce here is already a determiner meaning this.

Could I say Je vais relire ce roman ce soir or Je relirai ce roman ce soir instead of Je veux relire…?

Yes, but the meaning changes slightly:

Je veux relire ce roman ce soir.
Focus on desire/want: I want to reread this novel tonight.
Je vais relire ce roman ce soir.
Near future with intention: I’m going to reread this novel tonight.
Sounds like a plan or decision.
Je relirai ce roman ce soir.
Simple future tense: I will reread this novel tonight.
Slightly more formal or definite.

They all refer to the future (tonight), but veux highlights want, whereas vais relire or relirai highlight future action.

Is Je veux… polite, or should I say Je voudrais…?

Je veux… literally means I want… and can sound direct or even a bit blunt, depending on the context and intonation.

In a neutral statement about yourself (like this sentence), it’s absolutely fine:
Je veux relire ce roman ce soir. → just stating what you want to do.
In requests (especially to other people), Je voudrais… is often more polite:
- Je veux un café. → I want a coffee. (can sound demanding)
- Je voudrais un café. → I would like a coffee. (politer)

So here, because you’re just talking about your own plan, Je veux is perfectly natural.

If the novel was already mentioned, could I replace ce roman with a pronoun?

Yes. You’d use the direct object pronoun le (masculine singular) for le roman:

Full: Je veux relire ce roman ce soir.
With pronoun: Je veux le relire ce soir.
(Here le = ce roman.)

Word order with a conjugated verb + infinitive:

Subject + conjugated verb + object pronoun
- infinitive + complements
  → Je veux le relire ce soir.
  Not: ✗ Je veux relire le ce soir.

If the noun were feminine (e.g. cette histoire), it would be la:
Je veux la relire ce soir.

How do you pronounce veux in Je veux relire ce roman ce soir? Is there a liaison?

Pronunciation points:

Je veux:
- veux is pronounced /vø/.
- The final x is silent here.
Je veux relire:
Normally, no liaison between veux and relire. You say:
[ʒə vø ʀəliʀ] (or with more careful speech [ʒə vø ʁəliʁ]).

Other bits:

roman: [ʀɔ.mɑ̃] (final -n is nasal, not fully pronounced).
ce soir: [sə swaʀ], no liaison from ce.

So the whole sentence in a fairly standard pronunciation:
[ʒə vø ʀəliʀ sə ʀɔ.mɑ̃ sə swaʀ] (with slight variation depending on accent).

Is relire conjugated like lire?

Yes. Relire is built from lire, and it follows the same conjugation pattern. In the infinitive they look like:

lire = to read
relire = to reread

Present tense (just for reference):

je lis / je relis
tu lis / tu relis
il/elle lit / il/elle relit
nous lisons / nous relisons
vous lisez / vous relisez
ils/elles lisent / ils/elles relisent

In the sentence Je veux relire…, relire is not conjugated because it is in the infinitive after veux.