Learn Hardcore French: Je veux effacer ce message sur mon téléphone. - I want to erase this message on my phone.

Je veux effacer = I want to erase/delete
- veux = conjugated (1st person singular of vouloir)
- effacer = infinitive (dictionary form)

You cannot have two conjugated verbs in a row, so “Je veux efface” is wrong: efface is a conjugated form, not an infinitive.

You also do not add a preposition like à after vouloir. Some verbs do take à or de before an infinitive (e.g. commencer à faire, essayer de faire), but vouloir takes the infinitive directly:

✅ Je veux partir.
✅ Je veux manger.
✅ Je veux effacer ce message.
❌ Je veux à effacer ce message.

What’s the difference between “Je veux effacer…” and “Je voudrais effacer…”?

Both are grammatically correct, but they differ in tone:

Je veux effacer ce message.
- Literally: I want to delete this message.
- Sounds more direct and sometimes a bit strong, depending on context.
Je voudrais effacer ce message.
- Literally: I would like to delete this message.
- Much softer and more polite, like English I’d like to…

In everyday polite French, especially when talking to someone you don’t know well or in a service situation, “Je voudrais…” is often preferred.

To friends or when simply stating your intention (not as a request), “Je veux…” is fine.

Why is it “ce message” and not “cet message” or “cette message”?

Because message is:

masculine (le message)
and starts with a consonant sound (m)

So you use the masculine demonstrative adjective ce:

ce message = this/that message

Forms of “this / that” in French:

ce
- masculine noun starting with a consonant:
  - ce message, ce livre, ce garçon
cet
- masculine noun starting with a vowel or silent h:
  - cet homme, cet arbre, cet hôtel
cette
- feminine noun:
  - cette voiture, cette idée, cette maison
ces
- any plural noun (masc. or fem.):
  - ces messages, ces maisons

So:

❌ cet message (wrong, because message starts with a consonant)
❌ cette message (wrong gender)
✅ ce message

Could I replace “ce message” with a pronoun, like “it”?

Yes. If it’s clear from context which message you’re talking about, French uses a direct object pronoun:

Je veux l’effacer sur mon téléphone.
- l’ = le (it), because message is masculine singular
- The pronoun goes before the infinitive effacer, not at the end.

Structure:

Je veux effacer ce message.
Je veux l’effacer.

With the negative:

Je ne veux pas effacer ce message.
Je ne veux pas l’effacer.

Position rule: with verb + infinitive, the object pronoun goes right before the infinitive, not before veux.

Why is it “mon téléphone” and not something like “le téléphone” or “ma téléphone”?

Because:

You want to say “my phone”, not just “the phone”:
- mon téléphone = my phone
- le téléphone = the phone (could be any phone, more general)
téléphone is masculine:
- un téléphone, le téléphone → masculine noun
- So the correct possessive is mon (masculine singular), not ma.

Quick reminder of my in French:

mon
- masculine singular noun (or any noun starting with a vowel):
  - mon téléphone, mon frère, mon ami
ma
- feminine singular noun (starting with a consonant):
  - ma sœur, ma voiture
mes
- any plural noun:
  - mes téléphones, mes messages

Why is it “sur mon téléphone” and not “dans mon téléphone”?

French uses sur for things that are on / stored on / displayed on a device (phone, computer, tablet):

sur mon téléphone = on my phone
sur mon ordinateur = on my computer
sur ma tablette = on my tablet

dans mon téléphone literally means inside my phone (physically inside), which sounds strange in this context.

If you want to emphasize removing it from the phone, you could say:

Je veux effacer ce message de mon téléphone.
= I want to delete this message from my phone.

Here:

sur = located/stored on
de = from (source it’s removed from)

Can I change the word order of “sur mon téléphone” in the sentence?

In neutral, natural French, the most usual order is:

Je veux effacer ce message sur mon téléphone.

Other orders are possible but sound more marked or less natural:

Sur mon téléphone, je veux effacer ce message.
- Possible, but it puts special emphasis on “on my phone” (e.g. as opposed to on my computer).
Je veux, sur mon téléphone, effacer ce message.
- Very heavy / written / literary; not typical spoken French.
❌ Je veux effacer sur mon téléphone ce message.
- Grammatically understandable, but unusual and awkward.

So for everyday use, keep:

Je veux effacer ce message sur mon téléphone.

How is “vouloir” (the verb in “Je veux”) conjugated in the present tense?

Vouloir (to want) is irregular. Present tense:

je veux – I want
tu veux – you want (singular, informal)
il / elle / on veut – he / she / one wants
nous voulons – we want
vous voulez – you want (plural or formal)
ils / elles veulent – they want

Past participle: voulu

J’ai voulu – I wanted / I have wanted

What’s the difference between “effacer” and “supprimer”? Which is more natural for a phone message?

Both can translate as to delete, but they have slightly different usual uses:

effacer
- basic meaning: to erase, to wipe out
- used for:
  - erasing writing or marks: effacer le tableau, effacer un mot
  - deleting digital text or data: effacer un fichier, effacer un message
supprimer
- meaning: to delete, to remove, to do away with
- very common in computer / phone interfaces:
  - supprimer un fichier, supprimer un message, bouton Supprimer (“Delete” button)

For a message on a phone, both are understandable, but:

In UI / menus / buttons, you’ll usually see supprimer.
In everyday speech, many people say either effacer or supprimer.

So you might also hear:

Je veux supprimer ce message sur mon téléphone.

Why don’t we write “J’veux effacer…” instead of “Je veux effacer…”?

In standard written French, you must write the full je:

✅ Je veux effacer ce message.

J’ (je with an apostrophe) is only used before a vowel sound:

j’aime, j’écoute, j’attends, j’habite

But veux starts with a consonant sound /v/, so it must be:

je veux, not j’veux in writing.

In very informal spoken French, people often pronounce it more like [ʒvø], sounding like “j’veux”. That’s fine orally, but you do not write it like that in correct French.

How do you pronounce “Je veux effacer ce message sur mon téléphone”?

Approximate pronunciation (using English-like hints):

Je → like “zhuh”
veux → like “vuh” but with rounded lips (closer to French eu)
effacer → “eh-fah-say”
ce → “suh”
message → “meh-sahzh” (final -ge = “zh” sound)
sur → “syur” (rounded u)
mon → nasal sound, like “mohn” (but don’t fully pronounce the n)
téléphone → “tay-lay-fohn”

All together, very roughly:

[ʒə vø e.fa.se sə me.saʒ syʁ mɔ̃ te.le.fɔn]

Key points:

Final x in veux is silent.
Final e in effacer is pronounced (say/é sound).
Final e in téléphone is not pronounced (sounds like “téléphon”).
on in mon is nasal (air through the nose).

Can I use “Je vais effacer ce message…” instead of “Je veux effacer ce message…”?

Yes, but the meaning changes slightly:

Je veux effacer ce message.
- Focus on desire / intention: I want to delete this message.
Je vais effacer ce message.
- Focus on near future: I’m going to delete this message.
- Like English “I’m going to…” to express something you’re about to do.

So:

If you’re saying what you want, use vouloir: Je veux…
If you’re saying what you are going to do, use aller + infinitive: Je vais effacer…

Is there any article missing before “message” or “téléphone”?

No. In French, when you use a possessive adjective (my/your/his/etc.), you don’t add an extra article:

ce message → this/that message
mon téléphone → my phone

You would not say:

❌ ce le message
❌ le mon téléphone

The structure is:

[demonstrative/possessive] + noun
- ce message, ce texte, ce mail
- mon téléphone, mon portable, mon ordinateur

So the sentence “Je veux effacer ce message sur mon téléphone.” is complete and correct as it is.