Prendre Conjugation: Je Prends, J'ai Pris & Every Tense

Prendre means to take, and it's one of the busiest verbs in French. You use it to catch a train, order a coffee, have breakfast, make a decision and take your time. English speakers usually get the meaning right. The spelling is what trips them up: ils prenent, nous prennons, j'ai prendu. I correct all three in almost every beginner class.

This page gives you the full prendre conjugation in every tense you need, with simple pronunciation hints, the double-n rule, how to order in a café, the bonus verbs apprendre and comprendre, 10 example sentences and a short practice set.

Prendre conjugation in the present tense

Learn these six forms first. Larousse classifies prendre as an irregular verb of the third group.

You hear three different stems in the present tense:

• prend- for je, tu, il: the d is written but silent.
• pren- for nous and vous: no d at all, and a soft "uh" vowel.
• prenn- for ils: double n, open "eh" vowel, and the n is pronounced.

Tip from class: say the n at the end of ils prennent. Il prend ends in a nasal vowel with no n sound, while ils prennent ends on a clear n, like the English word "pen". That n is the only way your listener knows you mean "they" and not "he."

The double-n rule in one sentence

When the ending after the n is a silent -e ending (-ent, -e, -es), French writes nn. When the ending is pronounced (-ons, -ez, -ions, -iez), it writes a single n. That's why you get ils prennent but nous prenons, and later que je prenne but que nous prenions. Once your students see it this way, the spelling mistakes stop.

Prendre in the passé composé: j'ai pris

Larousse conjugates prendre with avoir. The past participle is pris.

Larousse lists four written forms of the participle: pris, prise, pris, prises. Unlike most participles, you can hear the feminine. Pris sounds like "pree", while prise sounds like "preez". So when a feminine direct object comes before the verb, the agreement shows up when you speak: La photo ? Je l'ai prise hier. (The photo? I took it yesterday.)

With the reflexive s'y prendre (to go about something), Larousse points out that the participle always agrees with the subject: Elles s'y sont mal prises (They went about it the wrong way).

Prendre in the imparfait: je prenais

Take nous prenons, drop -ons, and add the imparfait endings.

The contrast with the passé composé is the usual one. Je prenais le bus tous les matins means I used to take the bus every morning (a habit). Ce matin, j'ai pris le bus means I took the bus this morning (one event). Our guide to passé composé vs imparfait has more examples of this logic.

Prendre in the future: je prendrai

The future is the easy part: the stem is the full infinitive minus the final e, so prendr-.

Prendre in the conditional: je prendrais

Same stem, prendr-, with the imparfait endings.

Tip from class: je prendrai (future) and je prendrais (conditional) sound almost the same: prahn-DRAY and prahn-DREH. In writing, ask yourself "will" or "would"? "Will" gets no s.

Prendre in the subjunctive: que je prenne

The subjunctive uses the ils prennent stem, so the double n comes back for je, tu, il and ils.

You'll use it after expressions like il faut que: Il faut que je prenne le métro (I have to take the metro). The French subjunctive explained simply covers the full list of triggers.

The imperative has three forms, according to Larousse: prends, prenons, prenez. Prenez votre temps (Take your time) is one you'll hear from every patient teacher.

Ordering in a café with prendre

In French and Québec cafés, prendre is the verb of ordering. The Académie française dictionary lists prendre une tasse de thé, un café among its everyday uses, and inviter quelqu'un à prendre un verre (to invite someone for a drink).

Mini-dialogue at the café

• Serveuse : Bonjour ! Qu'est-ce que vous prenez ?
• Vous : Je vais prendre un café au lait, s'il vous plaît.
• Votre ami : Et moi, je prends un thé.
• Serveuse : Vous prenez autre chose ?
• Vous : Non merci, ce sera tout.

Server: Hello! What are you having? You: I'll have a coffee with milk, please. Your friend: And I'll have a tea. Server: Will you have anything else? You: No thanks, that will be all.

Je vais prendre and je prends are both natural and polite here. If you want an even softer request, use je voudrais, which our vouloir conjugation guide explains.

Apprendre, comprendre and the rest of the family

The Académie française dictionary notes that prendre is conjugated like apprendre. In practice, every verb built on -prendre follows the same pattern, so one table gives you all of these:

Je ne comprends pas (I don't understand) and J'apprends le français (I'm learning French) are probably the two sentences you need most as a learner, and they are pure prendre.

10 example sentences with prendre

1. Je prends le train de 8 h pour Montréal. I'm taking the 8 a.m. train to Montréal.
2. Tu prends du sucre ? Do you take sugar?
3. Elle a pris une décision difficile. She made a difficult decision.
4. Nous prenons toujours le petit déjeuner ensemble. We always have breakfast together.
5. Prenez votre temps. Take your time.
6. Ils prennent l'avion demain. They're flying tomorrow.
7. J'ai pris froid hier soir. I caught a chill last night.
8. Quand j'étais étudiant, je prenais le métro tous les jours. When I was a student, I took the metro every day.
9. Il faut que tu prennes tes clés. You need to take your keys.
10. Pour qui tu me prends ? Who do you take me for?

Everyday expressions with prendre

These come from the Larousse and Académie française entries. They are the ones my students use first.

You can review these expressions, along with être, avoir, faire and the other core verbs, in five minutes a day with the free French Keys flashcards.

A note for learners in Canada: prendre une marche

In Québec and across Canada you will hear prendre une marche (to take a walk). The Office québécois de la langue française discourages it as a word-for-word translation of the English "to take a walk." It recommends faire une promenade, faire une marche, faire un tour, se promener or aller marcher instead. People will understand you either way. For a test, a cover letter or any formal writing, use faire une promenade or aller marcher.

Common mistakes English speakers make

• Mistake: j'ai prendu → Say instead: j'ai pris.
• Mistake: ils prenent or nous prennons → Say instead: ils prennent, nous prenons. Double n only before a silent ending.
• Mistake: faire une décision (copying "make a decision") → Say instead: prendre une décision.
• Mistake: Je vais te prendre à l'école for "I'll take you to school" → Say instead: Je vais t'emmener à l'école. When you take a person somewhere, use emmener.
• Mistake: prendre une marche in formal writing → Say instead: faire une promenade or aller marcher.
• Mistake: Je prendrai un café when you order right now → Say instead: Je vais prendre un café or Je prends un café.

Practice

Fill in the correct form of prendre, or of one of its family verbs.

1. Mes parents ___ le train ce soir. (present)
2. Hier, j'___ le bus pour aller au travail. (passé composé)
3. Je ne ___ pas la question. (comprendre, present)
4. Il faut que vous ___ un parapluie. (subjunctive)
5. La photo ? Je l'ai ___ à Québec. (past participle, feminine)

Answers: 1. prennent · 2. ai pris · 3. comprends · 4. preniez · 5. prise (you hear the s: "preez")

In short

Prendre has three present-tense stems: prend- for je, tu and il, pren- for nous and vous, and prenn- for ils. It uses prendr- in the future and conditional and prenn- again in the subjunctive. It takes avoir (j'ai pris), and it hands you apprendre and comprendre for free. Next, compare it with faire, the other verb English speakers mix up with "make" and "take", and see where both rank among the most common French verbs.

If you'd like Magali to listen to your ils prennent and help you order your next café in French with confidence, book a free 30-minute assessment. You'll leave knowing exactly which verbs to work on next.