Prendre (to Take) in French

In Brief

Prendre is an irregular French verb meaning “to take,” but it also appears when talking about transport, food, drinks, and time. In the present tense, its key forms are je prends, nous prenons, and ils prennent. The same pattern appears in related verbs such as apprendre (“to learn”) and comprendre (“to understand”).

Overview

Prendre is one of the most useful verbs introduced at A1. You need it to say that you take a bus, have a coffee, pick up an object, or choose something. It often corresponds to English “take,” but not always: Tu prends un café ? is naturally “Will you have a coffee?” rather than “Are you taking a coffee?”

It is an irregular verb, meaning that it does not use the predictable present-tense endings of regular -er verbs. However, its forms are not random. Once you know the three stems prend-, pren-, and prenn-, you can also recognize and conjugate several related verbs.

English relies heavily on one unchanged present form: “I take,” “you take,” and “they take.” French changes the written verb ending according to the subject (the person or thing doing the action). Some of those written forms sound identical, so it is important to learn both spelling and pronunciation.

How It Works

Present-tense conjugation

The infinitive (the dictionary form of a verb) is prendre. Its present tense is:

Subject	Form	Basic meaning	Approximate pronunciation
je	je prends	I take / I am taking	pran
tu	tu prends	you take / you are taking	pran
il / elle / on	il / elle / on prend	he / she / one takes; we take	pran
nous	nous prenons	we take / we are taking	pruh-non
vous	vous prenez	you take / you are taking	pruh-nay
ils / elles	ils / elles prennent	they take / they are taking	prenn

The spellings are easiest to remember in three groups:

• prend- in je prends, tu prends, il/elle/on prend
• pren- in nous prenons, vous prenez
• prenn- in ils/elles prennent

The final -s of prends, the final -d of prend, and the ending -ent of prennent are normally silent. As a result, prends and prend sound alike. Prennent, however, has a clearly pronounced final consonant in the stem and sounds like prenn.

French has no separate present continuous form equivalent to English “am taking.” Context decides whether je prends means “I take” or “I am taking.” If you need to stress that something is happening right now, French can use être en train de: Je suis en train de prendre le train (“I’m in the process of getting on/taking the train”). Usually, the simple present is enough.

Negatives and questions

To make a basic negative, place ne before the conjugated verb and pas after it:

• Je ne prends pas de sucre. — I don’t take sugar.
• Nous ne prenons pas la voiture. — We aren’t taking the car.

Before a vowel sound, ne becomes n’, as in Je n’apprends pas vite. In everyday speech, people often omit ne and say Je prends pas de sucre, but learners should know and use the full form in careful speech and writing.

Questions can be formed in several ways:

• Tu prends le métro ? — You’re taking the metro? (common in conversation)
• Est-ce que tu prends le métro ? — Are you taking the metro? (neutral and clear)
• Prenez-vous le métro ? — Do you take the metro? (formal or careful)

In inversion, a hyphen joins the verb and pronoun: prenez-vous. With il, elle, or on, the normal form is prend-il, prend-elle, or prend-on.

The main meanings of prendre

Taking or picking up something

With a direct object (the person or thing directly affected by the action), prendre can mean to take, pick up, select, or grab:

• Je prends mes clés. — I’m taking my keys.
• Elle prend le livre sur la table. — She picks up the book from the table.
• Prenez une carte. — Take a card.

Transport

French normally uses prendre + definite article + means of transport:

• prendre le bus — to take the bus
• prendre le train — to take the train
• prendre le métro — to take the metro
• prendre l’avion — to fly / take a plane

This describes the transport you use. By contrast, aller en bus / en train / en avion describes how you go: Je vais à Lyon en train (“I’m going to Lyon by train”).

Food, drink, and choices

At a café, restaurant, or shop, prendre often means “to have,” “to order,” or “to choose”:

• Je prends un thé. — I’ll have a tea.
• Qu’est-ce que vous prenez ? — What are you having?
• Nous prenons le menu du jour. — We’ll have the daily set menu.

With meals, prendre means “to have”: prendre le petit-déjeuner, prendre le déjeuner, and prendre le dîner. In everyday French, déjeuner and dîner are also verbs, so Je déjeune à midi is an alternative to Je prends mon déjeuner à midi.

Time and duration

When an activity requires time, French can use prendre with the thing or activity as its subject:

• Ça prend dix minutes. — It takes ten minutes.
• Le trajet prend une heure. — The journey takes an hour.
• Ce travail prend du temps. — This work takes time.

Notice the structure. English says “It takes me ten minutes,” while French commonly says Ça me prend dix minutes. Here me indicates the person whose time is required.

Related verbs with the same present pattern

Adding a prefix changes the meaning but preserves the conjugation pattern:

Infinitive	Meaning	je	nous	ils / elles
apprendre	to learn; to find out; to teach	j’apprends	nous apprenons	ils apprennent
comprendre	to understand; to include	je comprends	nous comprenons	ils comprennent
surprendre	to surprise; to catch unexpectedly	je surprends	nous surprenons	ils surprennent

The tu, il/elle/on, and vous forms follow the same model too: tu comprends, elle apprend, vous surprenez.

The grammar around each verb matters:

• apprendre quelque chose — to learn something: J’apprends le français.
• apprendre à + infinitive — to learn to do something: Elle apprend à conduire.
• apprendre quelque chose à quelqu’un — to teach someone something: Il apprend le français à ses enfants.
• comprendre quelque chose / quelqu’un — to understand something or someone: Je comprends la question.
• surprendre quelqu’un — to surprise or catch someone unexpectedly: La nouvelle nous surprend.

English speakers should be especially careful with apprendre. It can mean “to learn,” but in the structure apprendre quelque chose à quelqu’un, it means “to teach.” The context and the phrase after the verb reveal which meaning is intended.

Examples in Context

French	English	Note
Je prends le bus tous les matins.	I take the bus every morning.	Habitual transport
Tu prends un café ?	Will you have a coffee?	Natural offer in conversation
Elle prend ses clés et sort.	She picks up her keys and goes out.	Taking an object
On prend le métro ou on marche ?	Shall we take the metro or walk?	On commonly means “we”
Nous prenons le train de huit heures.	We’re taking the eight o’clock train.	A planned journey
Vous prenez du sucre dans votre thé ?	Do you take sugar in your tea?	Polite or plural vous
Ils prennent le petit-déjeuner à la maison.	They have breakfast at home.	A meal expression
Ça me prend vingt minutes.	It takes me twenty minutes.	Duration for a person
Le projet prend plus de temps que prévu.	The project is taking more time than expected.	prendre du temps
J’apprends le français au travail.	I’m learning French at work.	apprendre + subject studied
Ma sœur apprend à conduire.	My sister is learning to drive.	apprendre à + infinitive
Nous apprenons une bonne nouvelle.	We hear some good news.	apprendre can mean “find out/hear”
Vous comprenez la question ?	Do you understand the question?	Direct object, no preposition
Je comprends mieux maintenant.	I understand better now.	No object is required
Sa réponse me surprend.	His answer surprises me.	me is the person affected

Common Mistakes

Using a regular -er ending

• Wrong: Nous prendons le train.
• Right: Nous prenons le train.
• Why: Prendre is not a regular -er verb. The nous form is prenons, without d.

Forgetting the doubled n in the plural

• Wrong: Ils prenent un taxi.
• Right: Ils prennent un taxi.
• Why: The ils/elles form has nn: prennent. Its -ent ending is silent, but the second n belongs to the pronounced stem.

Pronouncing every final letter

• Wrong: Pronouncing the final s in je prends or the final d in il prend.
• Right: prends and prend normally end in the same nasal vowel sound.
• Why: French spelling preserves letters that are silent in ordinary pronunciation. Learn the spoken form together with the spelling.

Translating English “take” automatically

• Wrong: Je prends une promenade.
• Right: Je fais une promenade. / Je me promène.
• Why: English uses “take” in many fixed phrases that French expresses with a different verb. Learn complete expressions rather than replacing each English “take” with prendre.

Adding a preposition after comprendre

• Wrong: Je comprends de la question.
• Right: Je comprends la question.
• Why: Comprendre normally takes its direct object with no preposition.

Confusing “learn” and “teach” with apprendre

• Wrong: J’apprends mes enfants le français.
• Right: J’apprends le français à mes enfants.
• Why: When apprendre means “teach,” the subject taught comes directly after the verb, while the learner is introduced by à.

Usage Notes

Prendre combines with many common nouns, and the best English translation changes with the expression. Useful combinations include prendre une photo (“take a photo”), prendre une décision (“make a decision”), prendre une douche (“take a shower”), prendre rendez-vous (“make an appointment”), prendre des notes (“take notes”), and prendre soin de (“take care of”). Treat these as chunks: the French noun and article are part of the expression.

For travel, prendre focuses on boarding or using a particular service: Je prends le train de 9 h 12. Aller en focuses on the mode of travel: Je vais à Paris en train. Both may be possible, but they organize the information differently.

In spoken French, a rising voice can turn a statement into a question: Tu prends quoi ? This is ordinary informal conversation. In neutral or careful language, Qu’est-ce que tu prends ? is widely useful. Que prends-tu ? is correct but sounds more formal or written.

The subject on is extremely frequent in conversation and usually replaces nous, but it still takes the third-person singular: On prend un taxi ? not on prenons. English does not have a direct equivalent of this everyday use of on, so it is worth learning as a complete pattern.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master all of the following at A1, but these forms and meanings are common enough that you will meet them later.

The past participle (the verb form used in a compound past tense) of prendre is pris. With the auxiliary avoir, it forms the passé composé: J’ai pris le train (“I took the train”), Nous avons compris (“We understood”), and Elle a appris la nouvelle (“She heard the news”). The related participles are appris, compris, and surpris.

The imperative, used for commands and instructions, has three forms:

Person addressed	Prendre	Example
tu	prends	Prends ton temps. — Take your time.
nous	prenons	Prenons le bus. — Let’s take the bus.
vous	prenez	Prenez place. — Please take a seat.

Several meanings become clear only from context. Prendre quelqu’un can mean to catch or collect someone, while s’y prendre means to go about doing something: Comment tu t’y prends ? (“How do you go about it?”). Se prendre pour quelqu’un means to imagine oneself to be someone: Il se prend pour un expert. These pronominal uses contain se and should be learned later as separate expressions rather than guessed from the basic meaning “take.”

At a more advanced level, you will also see comprendre meaning “include” or “comprise”: Le prix comprend le petit-déjeuner (“The price includes breakfast”). With people, Je te comprends can express emotional understanding as well as literal comprehension: “I understand you” or “I know how you feel.”

Finally, written past-tense sentences may require agreement of pris with a direct object placed before the verb, as in Les photos que j’ai prises (“the photos that I took”). This is a later spelling rule; beginners can first learn the stable spoken pattern avoir + pris.

Practice Tips

1. Build the three stems into a rhythm. Say je prends, nous prenons, ils prennent, then replace the prefix: j’apprends, nous apprenons, ils apprennent. This highlights the pattern more effectively than memorizing 24 unrelated forms.
2. Learn expressions as complete units. Make small groups for transport (prendre le bus), food (prendre un café), and daily actions (prendre une douche, prendre des notes). Include the article each time.
3. Practice both meaning and sound. Read a six-line conjugation aloud, paying special attention to the identical sound of prends/prend and the different sound of prennent. Then write one short question and one negative sentence with each related verb.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Regular -ER Verbs — provides the basic subject-and-ending framework that helps you see why prendre is irregular.