Prendre Conjugation in French, Translation, and Examples

Prendre Conjugation in French, Translation, and Examples The French verb prendre,  which commonly means to take,  is a frequently used and very flexible  irregular French -re verb. The good news is that  prendre can help you learn similar verbs. In this article you can find the different meanings and the most frequently used prendre conjugations: the present, present progressive, compound past, imperfect, simple future, near future indicative, the conditional, the present subjunctive, as well as the imperative and the gerund of prendre. There are other verb tenses for prendre, but they are not used as frequently. For example, the passà © simple and imperfect subjunctive are formal and most often found in writing. Prendre Is the Model for an Irregular -re Verb Subgroup There are patterns for irregular French  -re verbs, and  prendre  is in one of those groups. In fact, all verbs ending in the root word  -prendre  are conjugated the same way. These verbs drop the d in all three plural forms and take a double n in the third person plural.   This means that after you learn the conjugations for  prendre, you can apply what you learned to conjugate these other verbs: Apprendre   to learnComprendre  Ã‚  to understandEntreprendre  Ã‚  to undertakeMà ©prendre  Ã‚  to mistakeReprendre  Ã‚  to retake, take againSurprendre  Ã‚  to surprise The Many Meanings of Prendre The verb  prendre  usually means to take, both literally and figuratively. Il ma pris par le bras.  Ã‚  He took me by the arm.Tu peux prendre le livre.  Ã‚  You can take the book.Je vais prendre une photo.  Ã‚  Im going to take a picture.Prenez votre temps. Take your time. Prendre  is such a flexible verb that it can change meanings based on the context. The following is a list of some of the uses of prendre, although there are many more. Prendre  can mean to come over or to strike: La colà ¨re ma pris.   I was overcome with anger.Quest-ce qui te prend  ?  (informal)   Whats come over you? Whats the matter with you? Prendre may also mean to catch in instances such as: Je lai pris tricher.   I caught him cheating. There are times when prendre  will take on the meaning of to take in, to dupe, or to fool: On ne my prendra plus !   They wont fool me again! You may also use prendre when you want to say to handle or to deal with: Il y a plusieurs moyens de prendre le problà ¨me.   There are several ways to deal with the problem. One of your options for saying to set is a form of  prendre: Le ciment na pas encore pris. The cement hasnt set yet.   When you want to say to do well, to catch on, or to be successful you can also turn to  prendre: Ce livre va prendre.   This book is going to be a great success. Sometimes, prendre  can even mean to catch or to start: Jespà ¨re que le bois va prendre.   I hope the wood catches on fire. Finally, prendre  can also mean to pick up or to fetch, especially when used with another verb: Passe me prendre midi.   Come pick me up at noon.Peux-tu me prendre demain  ? Can you pick me up tomorrow? Using Se Prendre The  pronominal  se prendre  has several meanings as well. To consider oneself:  Il se prend pour un expert.   He thinks hes an expert.To get caught, trapped:  Ma manche sest prise dans la porte.   My sleeve got caught in the door. You may also use  sen prendre , which means  to blame, to challenge, or to attack: Tu ne peux ten prendre qu toi-mà ªme.   You only have yourself to blame.Il sen est pris son chien.   He took it out on his dog. Similarly, the construction  sy prendre   means to do something about it: Il faut sy prendre.   We have to do something about it. We have to take care of it. Expressions With Prendre There are many  idiomatic expressions  using the French verb  prendre.  Among the most common are these which you can use to practice your  prendre  conjugations. Prendre sa retraite   to retirePrendre une dà ©cision   to make a decisionPrendre  un pot  (informal) to have a drinkQuest-ce qui ta pris  ?   Whats gotten into you?Être pris   to be tied up, busy Present Indicative Je prends Je prends le petit dà ©jeuner 7 heures du matin. I have breakfast at 7 in the morning. Tu prends Tu prends le train pour aller travailler. You take the train to go to work. Il/Elle/On prend Elle prend un verre de vin la fin de la journà ©e. She has a glass of wine at the end of the day. Nous prenons Nous prenons beaucoup de photos pendant le voyage. We take many photos during the trip. Vous prenez Vous prenez le livre de la bibliothà ¨que. You take the book from the library. Ils/Elles prennent Ils prennent des notes en classe. They take notes in class. Present Progressive Indicative The present progressive in French is formed with the present tense conjugation of the verb à ªtre (to be) en train de the infinitive verb (prendre). Je suis en train de prendre Je suis en train de prendre le petit dà ©jeuner 7 heures du matin. I am having breakfast at 7 in the morning. Tu es en train de prendre Tu es en train de prendre le train pour aller travailler. You are taking the train to go to work. Il/Elle/On est en train de prendre Elle est en train de prendre un verre de vin la fin de la journà ©e. She is having a glass of wine at the end of the day. Nous sommes en train de prendre Nous sommes en train de prendre beaucoup de photos pendant le voyage. We are taking many photos during the trip. Vous à ªtes en train de prendre Vous à ªtes en train de prendre le livre de la bibliothà ¨que. You are taking the book from the library. Ils/Elles sont en train de prendre Ils sont en train de prendre des notes en classe. They are taking notes in class. Compound Past Indicative The  passà © composà ©Ã‚  is translated to English as the simple past. It is formed using the auxiliary verb  avoir  and the past participle  pris.  For example, we took is  nous avons pris. Je ai pris J'ai pris le petit dà ©jeuner 7 heures du matin. I had breakfast at 7 in the morning. Tu as pris Tu as pris le train pour aller travailler. You took the train to go to work. Il/Elle/On a pris Elle a pris un verre de vin la fin de la journà ©e. She had a glass of wine at the end of the day. Nous avons pris Nous avons pris beaucoup de photos pendant le voyage. We took many photos during the trip. Vous avez pris Vous avez pris le livre de la bibliothà ¨que. You took the book from the library. Ils/Elles ont pris Ils ont pris des notes en classe. They took notes in class. Imperfect Indicative The imperfect tense is used to talk about ongoing events or repeated actions in the past. It can be translated to English as was taking or used to take. Je prenais Je prenais le petit dà ©jeuner 7 heures du matin. I used to eat breakfast at 7 in the morning. Tu prenais Tu prenais le train pour aller travailler. You used to take the train to go to work. Il/Elle/On prenait Elle prenait un verre de vin la fin de la journà ©e. She used to have a glass of wine at the end of the day. Nous prenions Nous prenions beaucoup de photos pendant le voyage. We used to take many photos during the trip. Vous preniez Vous preniez le livre de la bibliothà ¨que. You used to take the book from the library. Ils/Elles prenaient Ils prenaient des notes en classe. They used to take notes in class. Simple Future Indicative Je prendrai Je prendrai le petit dà ©jeuner 7 heures du matin. I will eat breakfast at 7 in the morning. Tu prendras Tu prendras le train pour aller travailler. You will take the train to go to work. Il/Elle/On prendra Elle prendra un verre de vin la fin de la journà ©e. She will have a glass of wine at the end of the day. Nous prendrons Nous prendrons beaucoup de photos pendant le voyage. We will take many photos during the trip. Vous prendrez Vous prendrez le livre de la bibliothà ¨que. You will take the book from the library. Ils/Elles prendront Ils prendront des notes en classe. They will take notes in class. Near Future Indicative The near future is translated to English as going to verb. In French it is formed with the present tense conjugation of the verb aller (to go) the infinitive (prendre). Je vais prendre Je vais prendre le petit dà ©jeuner 7 heures du matin. I am going to eat breakfast at 7 in the morning. Tu vas prendre Tu vas prendre le train pour aller travailler. You are going to take the train to go to work. Il/Elle/On va prendre Elle va prendre un verre de vin la fin de la journà ©e. She is going to have a glass of wine at the end of the day. Nous allons prendre Nous allons prendre beaucoup de photos pendant le voyage. We are going to take many photos during the trip. Vous allez prendre Vous allez prendre le livre de la bibliothà ¨que. You are going to take the book from the library. Ils/Elles vont prendre Ils vont prendre des notes en classe. They are going to take notes in class. Conditional The conditional is used to talk about hypothetical or possible events. It can be used to form if clauses or to express a polite request. Je prendrais Je prendrais le petit dà ©jeuner 7 heures du matin si j'avais le temps. I would eat breakfast at 7 in the morning if I had the time. Tu prendrais Tu prendrais le train pour aller travailler si c'à ©tait moins coà »teux. You would take the train to go to work if it were less expensive. Il/Elle/On prendrait Elle prendrait un verre de vin la fin de la journà ©e si elle n'à ©tait trop fatiguà ©e. She would have a glass of wine at the end of the day if she were not too tired. Nous prendrions Nous prendrions beaucoup de photos pendant le voyage si nous avions une bonne camà ©ra. We would take many photos during the trip if we had a good camera. Vous prendriez Vous prendriez le livre de la bibliothà ¨que si vous le vouliez. You would take the book from the library if you wanted it. Ils/Elles prendraient Ils prendraient des notes en classe s'ils pouvaient. They would take notes in class if they could. Present Subjunctive You will use the subjunctive whenever the action of taking is uncertain. Que je prenne Marie propose que je prenne le petit dà ©jeuner 7 heures du matin. Marie proposes that I eat breakfast at 7 in the morning. Que tu prennes Jacques suggà ¨re que tu prennes le train pour aller travailler. Jacques suggests that you take the train to go to work. Qu'il/elle/on prenne Anne conseille qu'elle prenne un verre de vin la fin de la journà ©e. Anne advises that shehave a glass of wine at the end of the day. Que nous prenions Notre mà ¨re exige que nous prenions beaucoup de photos pendant le voyage. Our mother demands that we take many photos during the trip. Que vous preniez Laurent prà ©fà ¨re que vous preniez le livre de la bibliothà ¨que. Laurent prefers that you take the book from the library. Qu'ils/elles prennent Le professeur souhaite qu'ils prennent des notes en classe. The professor wishes that they take notes in class. Imperative When using  prendre  in the  imperative  to express a command, you do not need to state the subject pronoun. For instance, use  prends  rather than  tu prends. To form the negative commands, simply place ne...pas around the positive command. Positive commands Tu prends ! Prends le train pour aller travailler ! Take the train to go to work! Nous prenons! Prenons beaucoup de photos pendant le voyage ! Let's take many photos during the trip! Vous preniez! Preniez le livre de la bibliothà ¨que ! Take the book from the library! Negative commands Tu ne prends pas ! Ne prends pas le train pour aller travailler ! Don't take the train to go to work! Nous ne prenons pas! Ne prenons pas beaucoup de photos pendant le voyage ! Let's not take many photos during the trip! Vous ne preniez pas! Ne preniez pas le livre de la bibliothà ¨que ! Don't take the book from the library! Present Participle/Gerund The  present participle  in French has several different uses. One of them is to form the gerund (usually preceded by the preposition en), which is often used to talk about simultaneous actions. Present participle/gerund ofPrendre prenant Je t'ai vu en prenant mon petit dà ©jeuner. I saw you while I was eating my breakfast.