Learn Hardcore French: Paul veut parler de son avenir professionnel. - Paul wants to talk about his professional future.

veux is only for je and tu.
vouloir is the infinitive form (to want), used after another verb or as a dictionary form, not directly with Paul here.

How does the structure veut parler work? Why two verbs in a row?

French often uses a conjugated verb + infinitive pattern, similar to English “wants to speak”.

veut = conjugated verb (vouloir, present, 3rd person singular)
parler = infinitive (to speak / to talk)

Structure: [subject] + [conjugated vouloir] + [infinitive]

Examples:

Paul veut parler. – Paul wants to talk.
Je veux apprendre le français. – I want to learn French.
Ils veulent sortir. – They want to go out.

There is no word like English “to” between the verbs; the infinitive alone fills that role.

Why do we say parler de here? What’s the role of de?

In French, parler needs a preposition when you mean “to talk about something.”

parler de quelque chose = to talk about something
parler de son avenir professionnel = to talk about his professional future

Contrast:

parler à quelqu’un = to talk/speak to someone
- Paul parle à son chef. – Paul talks to his boss.
parler une langue (no preposition) = to speak a language
- Elle parle français. – She speaks French.

So whenever you want “talk about X”, you normally need parler de X in French.

Why is it de son avenir and not something like du avenir or de le avenir?

A few points:

de + le contracts to du, but we never use de le.
Here we are not using le (the), we are using son (his/her), so there is nothing to contract.

Pattern:

parler de + possessive adjective + noun

So:

parler de son avenir – to talk about his/her future
parler de leur projet – to talk about their project

If you were talking about the future in general, you could say:

parler de l’avenir – to talk about the future
(de + le → de l’ before a vowel sound)

But since the sentence refers specifically to Paul’s own future, French uses de son avenir, not du avenir or de le avenir.

Why is it son avenir and not sa avenir, since Paul is male?

In French, the form of the possessive (son / sa / ses) depends on the grammatical gender and number of the noun possessed, not on the owner.

avenir is masculine singular → use son
If the noun were feminine singular, you would use sa (unless it starts with a vowel sound, see below).
For plural nouns (masculine or feminine), use ses.

Examples:

son avenir – his/her future (because avenir is masculine)
sa carrière – his/her career (because carrière is feminine)
ses projets – his/her projects (plural)

Note: even with a feminine noun beginning with a vowel or mute h, French uses son for euphony:

son amie (his/her (female) friend), not sa amie

But in this sentence, son is used simply because avenir is masculine.

What does avenir professionnel literally mean, and why is professionnel after avenir?

Literally:

avenir = future
professionnel = professional, related to one’s job/career

So avenir professionnel literally means “professional future”, i.e. career future / career prospects.

As for word order:

In French, many adjectives normally come after the noun.
avenir professionnel follows the common pattern [noun] + [adjective].

Compare:

un projet important – an important project
une décision politique – a political decision
un avenir professionnel – a professional future

Some frequent adjectives (e.g. grand, petit, jeune, vieux, bon, mauvais, beau, nouveau) often precede the noun, but professionnel is not one of those, so it comes after avenir.

What is the difference between avenir and futur? Could we say son futur professionnel?

Both avenir and futur can translate “future”, but their usage differs:

avenir is very common for someone’s personal or practical future, especially about life and career.
- penser à son avenir – to think about one’s future
- avenir professionnel – career future
futur is more:
- abstract or literary (the future as a concept: le passé, le présent, le futur),
- grammatical (future tense: le futur simple).

You might hear son futur professionnel, and it would be understood, but son avenir professionnel is the standard, natural collocation for one’s professional future / career prospects. Using avenir here is more idiomatic.

Why isn’t there an extra word like “to” between veut and parler, as in English “wants to talk”?

English uses “to” + verb (to talk, to go, to eat).
French uses the infinitive alone, without an extra word.

So:

English: Paul wants to talk
French: Paul veut parler

More examples:

Je veux apprendre le français. – I want to learn French.
Ils aiment voyager. – They like to travel.
Nous allons partir. – We are going to leave.

In all of these, French just puts the infinitive directly after the conjugated verb, with no equivalent of English “to.”

Could we say Paul va parler de son avenir professionnel instead? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can, but the meaning changes slightly:

Paul veut parler de son avenir professionnel.
Focuses on Paul’s desire: he wants to talk about it (but maybe hasn’t yet).
Paul va parler de son avenir professionnel.
Uses aller + infinitive (near future), focusing on a planned / imminent action: he is going to talk about it.

So:

veut parler = wants to talk (intention/desire)
va parler = is going to talk (future action)

How would I make this sentence negative in French?

To negate veut parler, you wrap ne … pas around the conjugated verb (veut):

Paul ne veut pas parler de son avenir professionnel.
= Paul does not want to talk about his professional future.

Pattern:

[subject] + ne + [conjugated verb] + pas + [infinitive / rest of sentence]

Examples:

Je ne veux pas sortir. – I don’t want to go out.
Nous ne voulons pas discuter de ça. – We don’t want to discuss that.

In spoken French, ne is often dropped:

Paul veut pas parler de son avenir professionnel. (informal speech)