Grammaire 1: les verbes comme prendre

Le verbe prendre

We are now going to look at the useful French verb prendre. This is how you conjugate prendre:

Conjugaison du verbe prendre (to take)

Take the time to  listen to the pronunciation of each conjugated forms, particularly the plural forms (note the silent e with nous and vous) and the silent -ent ending in ils, elles form)!

The verbe prendre is an irregular -re verb useful for a variety of expressions about transportation and daily activities. It can usually be translated to English as “to take“, but not always. Observe how it is used in the following sentences:

Je prends le bus pour aller au café.

   (I take the bus to the café.)

Au café, je prends un café avec mes amis.

   (At the café, I have a coffee with my friends.)

Nous parlons d’un cours que nous prenons.

   (We talk about a class that we are taking.)

Je prends mon temps pour rentrer chez moi.

   (I take my time going home.)

Quand je rentre à la maison, je prends un bain.

   (When I get home, I take a bath.)

D’autres verbes comme prendre

Other important verbs that conjugate in the same exact way include comprendre (to understand), apprendre (to learn) and reprendre (to take again, to take back, to resume). Notice how they all end with -prendre.

Nathalie ne comprend pas la leçon.

     (Nathalie does not understand the lesson.)

Est-ce que tu apprends l’italien ?

     (Are you learning Italian?)

Vous apprenez le français, mais parfois vous ne le comprenez pas.

      (You are learning French, but sometimes you do not understand it.)

*apprendre can be followed by a noun (to learn something) or a verb (to learn to do something). If you are using a verb, remember to use the preposition à and a second verb in the infinitive form:

Mon ami apprend à conduire         (My friend is learning to drive.)

Nous apprenons à parler français. (We are learning to speak French.)

We will look at regular -re verbs such as attendre (to wait for) and vendre (to sell) later this month. Many verbs in French end in -re but we cannot assume they are conjugated like prendre. For now, simply learn the table up above (and how prendre, apprendre, comprendre, reprendre are similarly conjugated).

Ressources supplémentaires

Watch this video review the the verb review the verb prendre.