Je veux protéger mon épargne.

I

Breakdown of Je veux protéger mon épargne.

• mon: my
• vouloir: to want
• protéger: to protect

Questions & Answers about Je veux protéger mon épargne.

Why is it mon épargne and not ma épargne, since épargne is feminine?

Épargne is indeed feminine, but before a feminine noun starting with a vowel (or mute h), French uses mon / ton / son instead of ma / ta / sa to make pronunciation smoother.

• ma épargne is hard to pronounce (two vowel sounds together).
• So it becomes mon épargne (like mon amie, mon habitude, etc.).

Grammatically it’s still feminine; only the possessive adjective changes form for sound reasons.

What’s the structure je veux + infinitive? Do I always use an infinitive after veux?

Yes. Vouloir (to want) is commonly followed by an infinitive without any preposition:

• Je veux protéger mon épargne. – I want to protect my savings.
• Je veux partir. – I want to leave.
• Je veux manger. – I want to eat.

You do not say je veux de protéger or je veux à protéger. Just je veux + infinitive.

Is je veux too direct? Would something else sound more polite?