Paul veut se coucher tôt ce soir.

Paul wants to go to bed early tonight.

Breakdown of Paul veut se coucher tôt ce soir.

• Paul: Paul
• vouloir: to want
• tôt: early
• ce soir: tonight
• se coucher: to set

Questions & Answers about Paul veut se coucher tôt ce soir.

What exactly does se coucher mean, and why do we use this reflexive form instead of just coucher?

Coucher on its own basically means to lay / to put to bed (often someone or something else):

• Je couche le bébé. = I put the baby to bed.

When you’re talking about putting yourself to bed, French normally uses the reflexive form:

• se coucher = to go to bed, literally to put oneself to bed.

So in Paul veut se coucher tôt ce soir, se coucher means to go to bed, and the se shows that Paul is doing the action to himself.

What does the se in se coucher refer to, and does it change with different subjects?

Se is a reflexive pronoun that refers back to the subject of the verb:

• Paul veut se coucher. → se = Paul
• Il veut se coucher. → se = he (the same person as il)

It changes with the subject:

• Je veux me coucher. (I want to go to bed.)
• Tu veux te coucher. (You want to go to bed.)
• Il / Elle / On veut se coucher.
• Nous voulons nous coucher.
• Vous voulez vous coucher.
• Ils / Elles veulent se coucher.

So se is just the 3rd person reflexive; it always refers back to il/elle/on/ils/elles.

Why is it Paul veut se coucher and not Paul se veut coucher or Paul veut coucher se?

Two rules are at play:

1. Word order in a normal French statement is:

   • Subject + conjugated verb + (rest of the sentence)
     → Paul veut …

2. With object or reflexive pronouns and an infinitive, the pronoun goes before the infinitive, not before the conjugated verb:

   • Paul veut se coucher.
   • Je peux me lever.
   • Nous allons nous reposer.

So:

• Paul se veut coucher is wrong.
• Paul veut coucher se is wrong.
• Paul veut se coucher is the correct order: veut (conjugated) + se coucher (infinitive with its pronoun).

What tense is veut in, and how is vouloir conjugated here?

Veut is the present tense, 3rd person singular of vouloir (to want):

• Je veux
• Tu veux
• Il / Elle / On veut
• Nous voulons
• Vous voulez
• Ils / Elles veulent

So Paul veut se coucher = Paul wants to go to bed (now, as a general desire, or referring to a future time specified by context).

If this is about tonight, why does French use the present (veut) and not a future form?

In French, the present tense is very often used for near-future actions, especially when you add a time expression like ce soir:

• Paul veut se coucher tôt ce soir.
  = Literally: Paul wants to go to bed early this evening.
  = Functionally: about something that will happen tonight.

Using a simple present with a time expression (demain, ce soir, la semaine prochaine, etc.) is completely normal to talk about future plans or intentions.

You could say Paul voudra se coucher tôt ce soir, but it sounds more like a prediction and is less natural in everyday speech.

What’s the difference between Paul veut se coucher and Paul voudrait se coucher?

• Paul veut se coucher = Paul wants to go to bed.
  → Direct, neutral statement of desire.

• Paul voudrait se coucher = Paul would like to go to bed.
  → More polite / soft / hypothetical. It often sounds more tentative or courteous.

So veut is straightforward; voudrait (conditional) is more polite or less blunt.

What does tôt mean exactly, and is it the same as “soon” or “earlier”?

Tôt means early (in time), not “soon” and not “earlier” in the comparative sense.

• se coucher tôt = to go to bed early.
• It does not mean “to go to bed soon”.
• For “soon”, you’d use bientôt:
  
  • Paul va se coucher bientôt. (Paul is going to bed soon.)

For “earlier” as a comparison, you’d usually say plus tôt:

• Paul veut se coucher plus tôt ce soir.
  = Paul wants to go to bed earlier tonight (than usual / than before).

Why is tôt placed before ce soir? Could I say ce soir tôt?

In Paul veut se coucher tôt ce soir:

• tôt modifies se coucher (he wants to go to bed early),
• ce soir specifies when (tonight).

The usual and most natural order is: > Verb + adverb (tôt) + time expression (ce soir)

So:

• Paul veut se coucher tôt ce soir. ✅ very natural
• Paul veut se coucher ce soir tôt. ❌ sounds awkward or overly marked in everyday speech

French generally prefers the adverb (tôt) closer to the verb, and then broader time indications like ce soir at the end.

What does ce soir mean, and why is it ce and not cet?

Ce soir means this evening / tonight.

Soir is a masculine noun starting with a consonant sound, so it takes ce:

• ce soir (this evening)
• ce matin (this morning)
• ce week‑end (this weekend)

You only use cet before masculine nouns starting with a vowel sound or mute h:

• cet homme (this man)
• cet été (this summer)
• cet anniversaire (this birthday)

So cet soir is incorrect; it must be ce soir.

Could we also say Paul veut aller se coucher tôt ce soir? If yes, what’s the nuance?

Yes, Paul veut aller se coucher tôt ce soir is grammatically correct.

Nuance:

• Paul veut se coucher tôt ce soir.
  → Neutral “He wants to go to bed early tonight.”

• Paul veut aller se coucher tôt ce soir.
  → Slight emphasis on the going off to bed part (the movement / transition).
  It can feel a bit more “in the moment” or informal, but in many contexts there is little practical difference.

In everyday speech, se coucher alone is often enough.

How would I make this sentence negative or turn it into a question?

Negative:

Put ne … pas around the conjugated verb veut, and keep se before coucher:

• Paul ne veut pas se coucher tôt ce soir.
  = Paul doesn’t want to go to bed early tonight.

Yes–no questions:

1. With est‑ce que:

   • Est‑ce que Paul veut se coucher tôt ce soir ?
     (Does Paul want to go to bed early tonight?)

2. With inversion (more formal/written):

   • Paul veut‑il se coucher tôt ce soir ?

3. With rising intonation (speech):

   • Paul veut se coucher tôt ce soir ?
     (Just say it with questioning intonation.)

How do you pronounce Paul veut se coucher tôt ce soir?

Approximate pronunciation (in IPA):
/ pɔl vø sə kuʃe to sə swaʁ /

Piece by piece:

• Paul → /pɔl/ (like “pohl”)
• veut → /vø/ (one syllable, rounded vowel; final t is silent)
• se → /sə/ (like weak “suh”)
• coucher → /kuʃe/ (cou = /ku/, ch = /ʃ/ as in “sh”, final er here = /e/)
• tôt → /to/ (closed o, final t silent)
• ce → /sə/
• soir → /swaʁ/ (oi = /wa/, final r often lightly pronounced or almost dropped in relaxed speech)

There are no required liaisons here, and the silent final consonants (t in veut, tôt) are not pronounced.