How to Use The French Verb “Prendre”

The verb “prendre” is used a lot in the French language. Do you know how to use it?
What about the verb prendre conjugation?

Here are some explanations:

The verb ‘prendre’ is used the same way as the English verb ‘to take’ but is also used as the verb ‘to have’ in English when speaking about drinks or food.
We don’t say: “I’ll have a coffee” but we say I take a coffee.

It’s the same situation for meals:
Je prends le petit-déjeuner (I’m having breakfast) / Je prends le déjeuner = (I’m having lunch)
Je prends le dîner = I’m having dinner.
Je prends un goûter (I’m having a snack) – the children after school often eat a small slice of bread with some Nutella.

You’ve probably heard the waiters in the restaurants often asking questions with the verb ‘prendre’.
For example: Est-ce que vous prendrez un dessert ?  (Will you be having a dessert?).
To which you can respond: ‘Oui, je prendrais bien une mousse au chocolat!’ (Yes, I would love to have a chocolate mousse).

A note about ‘je prendrais bien’ = the verb to take conjugated in the conditional tense changes its meaning a bit, it expresses: I would love.

Another example:

‘Je voudrais bien un cognac avec mon dessert.’ = I would love a cognac with my dessert.
At the end of the workday, the French will often offer a colleague to ‘aller prendre un verre,’ which means to go have a drink.

For example:

‘Caroline, tu veux aller prendre un verre après le travail’ ? Caroline, do you want to go for a drink after work?

We take this opportunity to remind you about the conjugation of prendre:

Au présent :
Je prends, tu prends, il/elle/on prend, nous prenons, vous prenez, ils/elles/ prennent

Au passé composé :
J’ai pris, tu as pris, il/elle/on a pris, nous avons pris, vous avez pris, ils/elles ont pris

À l’imparfait :
Je prenais, tu prenais, il/elle/on prenait, nous prenions, vous preniez, ils/elles prenaient

Au conditionnel :
Je prendrais, tu prendrais, il/elle/on prendrait, vous prendrez, ils prendraient, ils/elles prendraient

Au futur simple :
Je prendrai, tu prendras, il/elle/on prendra, nous prendrons, vous prendrez, ils/elles prendront

Et voilà, if you want to speak like a French person, don’t forget to use the verb prendre in restaurants, with friends when talking about drinks, dishes and meals!

Céline Van Loan

For more explanations and exercises, check out our very useful French Grammar book

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