Learn Hardcore French: Je ne veux pas réveiller Paul maintenant.

This structure ne … pas roughly corresponds to do not / don’t in English.
You cannot drop pas here; if you only say Je ne veux réveiller Paul, it is incorrect in modern French (except in very literary or old‑fashioned styles with other negative words like jamais, plus, etc.).

Can I put pas after réveiller instead, like Je ne veux réveiller pas Paul maintenant?

No. Pas must come right after the conjugated verb, not after the infinitive:

✅ Je ne veux pas réveiller Paul maintenant.
❌ Je ne veux réveiller pas Paul maintenant.

Reason: veux is the only verb that is conjugated here (present tense of vouloir).
Réveiller is an infinitive, so pas cannot attach to it in this structure.

Why is réveiller in the infinitive here and not something like réveille?

In French, when one verb is followed by another verb, the second one is usually in the infinitive form, just like English to + verb.

Vouloir (to want) is one of these verbs:

Je veux dormir. → I want to sleep.
Je ne veux pas manger. → I don’t want to eat.
Je ne veux pas réveiller Paul. → I don’t want to wake Paul.

So you conjugate vouloir (je veux) and then keep réveiller in the infinitive, not je réveille.

What is the difference between réveiller and se réveiller?

Réveiller (without se) means to wake someone up, to cause another person to stop sleeping. It takes a direct object:
- Je vais réveiller Paul. → I’m going to wake Paul (up).
- Ne réveille pas le bébé. → Don’t wake the baby.
Se réveiller is reflexive and means to wake up (oneself):
- Paul se réveille à 7 heures. → Paul wakes up at 7.
- Je me réveille tôt. → I wake up early.

In your sentence, you are waking Paul, not yourself, so you correctly use réveiller Paul, not se réveiller.

How would I say I don’t want to wake him up now instead of saying Paul?

You replace Paul with a direct object pronoun and place it before the infinitive:

✅ Je ne veux pas le réveiller maintenant. → I don’t want to wake him up now.

Structure:

Je ne veux pas (I don’t want)
le (him / it, standing for Paul)
réveiller (to wake up)
maintenant (now)

So the order is: ne + veux + pas + le + réveiller + maintenant.

In real spoken French, do people actually say ne in Je ne veux pas réveiller Paul maintenant?

In everyday spoken French, many people drop the ne in negative sentences:

Colloquial speech: Je veux pas réveiller Paul maintenant.
Standard / written French: Je ne veux pas réveiller Paul maintenant.

Important points:

Dropping ne is very common in speech and informal writing (texts, chats).
In school, exams, and formal writing, you should keep ne.
You should still learn the full form, because official grammar and most teaching materials use ne … pas.

Why is there no article before Paul? Why not le Paul?

In French, as in English, most personal names do not take an article:

Paul, Marie, Luc, Sophie – no article, just like Paul or Mary in English.

So:

✅ Je ne veux pas réveiller Paul.
❌ Je ne veux pas réveiller le Paul. (sounds wrong in standard French)

Articles with names do exist in some regional or colloquial varieties (for example in parts of France or Switzerland you might hear le Paul, la Marie), but in neutral, standard French you do not use the article with first names in this kind of sentence.

Can maintenant go somewhere else in the sentence?

Yes, adverbs like maintenant (now) are somewhat flexible. All of these are possible, with slightly different emphasis:

Je ne veux pas réveiller Paul maintenant.
Neutral: focus on not waking him now.
Maintenant, je ne veux pas réveiller Paul.
Emphasis on now as the time frame: As for now / at this moment, I don’t want to wake Paul.
Je ne veux pas, maintenant, réveiller Paul.
More written / careful style, with commas indicating a pause; adds a slight rhetorical or dramatic nuance.

The most natural everyday version is your original: Je ne veux pas réveiller Paul maintenant.

What is the difference between Je ne veux pas and Je ne voudrais pas here?

Both are possible, but they feel different:

Je ne veux pas réveiller Paul maintenant.
Very direct and firm: I don’t want to wake Paul now.
It clearly states your will.
Je ne voudrais pas réveiller Paul maintenant.
Softer and more polite: I wouldn’t want to wake Paul now.
Often used to sound more considerate or less abrupt, similar to the difference between I don’t want and I wouldn’t want / I’d rather not in English.

For daily neutral speech, Je ne veux pas… is perfectly fine. Use Je ne voudrais pas… if you want to be more polite or tactful.

How is veux formed, and what are the other present‑tense forms of vouloir?

Veux is the 1st person singular present of vouloir (to want):

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

So Je ne veux pas réveiller Paul maintenant is present tense: I don’t want to wake Paul now.

How would I say I didn’t want to wake Paul (up) now in French?

You keep réveiller in the infinitive and put vouloir in the imparfait (to express a past state or intention):

Je ne voulais pas réveiller Paul maintenant.
→ I didn’t want to wake Paul (up) now / then.

Structure:

Je ne voulais pas – I didn’t want
réveiller Paul – to wake Paul (up)
maintenant – now (often understood as at that time, from context)

You can also move maintenant if needed, just like in the present‑tense version.