Prendre: Examples, Sentences and Quiz in French

Introduction

Prendre means “to take”, and it is one of the most useful verbs in French — you will meet it in conversation, in books, in films and in every textbook. This page puts the verb to work: twelve example sentences across the tenses, a short dialogue you can act out, a tour of the verb in its most important tenses, the mistakes learners make most often, and a ten-question quiz with explained answers. Every form on this page comes from the verified conjugation tables for prendre, so you can trust what you read here. Start with the examples, say them aloud, and then test yourself with the quiz at the end.

Example sentences

Twelve sentences with prendre, in different tenses and with different subjects. Read the French first, guess the meaning, then check the English.

  1. “Je prends un café le matin tous les jours.” — “I take a coffee in the morning every day.”
  2. “Tu prends le train à huit heures tous les jours.” — “You take the train at eight o'clock every day.”
  3. “J'ai pris une photo de Paris cette semaine.” — “I have taken a photo of Paris this week.”
  4. “Il prenait un café le matin autrefois.” — “He used to take a coffee in the morning in the past.”
  5. “Nous prendrons le train à huit heures demain.” — “We will take the train at eight o'clock tomorrow.”
  6. “Tu as pris une photo de Paris cette semaine.” — “You have taken a photo of Paris this week.”
  7. “Je prendrais un café le matin un jour.” — “I would take a coffee in the morning one day.”
  8. “Il est important que il prenne le train à huit heures.” — “It is important that he take the train at eight o'clock.”
  9. “Nous avions pris une photo de Paris avant la fête.” — “We had taken a photo of Paris before the party.”
  10. “Il prendra un café le matin demain.” — “He will take a coffee in the morning tomorrow.”
  11. “Ils prennent le train à huit heures tous les jours.” — “They take the train at eight o'clock every day.”
  12. “Prends une photo de Paris !” — “Take a photo of Paris!”

A short dialogue

Marie and Pierre are talking about a coffee in the morning. Read the dialogue aloud, one voice per person, and notice how prendre changes with the tense and the subject. Every form of prendre below is taken from the verified tables.

Marie : Tu fais quoi, ce soir ? Pierre : “Je prends un café le matin tous les jours.” — “I take a coffee in the morning every day.” Marie : Et demain ? Pierre : “Je prendrai le train à huit heures demain.” — “I will take the train at eight o'clock tomorrow.” Marie : Tu as fait ça hier aussi ? Pierre : “J'ai pris une photo de Paris cette semaine.” — “I have taken a photo of Paris this week.” Marie : Tu ferais ça un jour ? Pierre : “Je prendrais un café le matin un jour.” — “I would take a coffee in the morning one day.”

Notice how the dialogue moves through time: the present for what is happening now, the future for tomorrow, the passé composé for yesterday, and the conditional for what someone would do one day. The verb stays the same — only the tense changes — and that is the whole point of learning a conjugation table: one verb, many moments.

Prendre in different tenses

The same verb does different jobs in different tenses. Here are the six uses of prendre that matter most, each with a sentence you can copy and adapt.

The present: habits and facts

In the present, prendre describes habits, facts and what is happening now. The je form is prends: “Je prends un café le matin tous les jours.” — “I take a coffee in the morning every day.”

The imperfect: the past as it used to be

In the imperfect, prendre describes the past as it used to be — background, habit, an action in progress. The il form is prenait: “Il prenait le train à huit heures autrefois.” — “He used to take the train at eight o'clock in the past.”

The passé composé: finished actions

In the passé composé, prendre reports one finished action, built with avoir plus the participle pris. The je form is ai pris: “J'ai pris une photo de Paris cette semaine.” — “I have taken a photo of Paris this week.”

The future: what will happen

In the future, prendre talks about what will happen. The nous form is prendrons: “Nous prendrons un café le matin demain.” — “We will take a coffee in the morning tomorrow.”

The conditional: what would happen

In the conditional, prendre talks about what would happen. The tu form is prendrais: “Tu prendrais le train à huit heures un jour.” — “You would take the train at eight o'clock one day.”

The subjunctive: wishes and doubts

In the subjunctive, prendre appears after triggers such as il est important que. The form is prenne, and the sentence keeps the same complement as the other tenses: “Il est important que je prenne une photo de Paris.” — “It is important that I take a photo of Paris.”

Common mistakes

Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form

✗ Wrong: “Je prendre un café le matin.”

✓ Right: “Je prends un café le matin.”

The infinitive prendre never takes a subject. After je you need the conjugated form prends.

Using the wrong person’s form

✗ Wrong: “Tu prends un café le matin.”

✓ Right: “Tu prends un café le matin.”

prends is the je form. With tu you need prends. Check the subject before you choose the form.

Using the present for a finished past action

✗ Wrong: “Je prends un café le matin hier.”

✓ Right: “Je ai pris un café le matin hier.”

The time word hier points to the past, so a finished action needs the passé composé ai pris, not the present.

Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger

✗ Wrong: “Il est important que tu prends le train à huit heures.”

✓ Right: “Il est important que tu prennes le train à huit heures.”

After il est important que French needs the subjunctive: prennes, not the indicative prends.

Forgetting the auxiliary in the passé composé

✗ Wrong: “Je pris un café le matin.”

✓ Right: “Je ai pris un café le matin.”

The passé composé of prendre needs the auxiliary avoir plus the participle pris: the full je form is ai pris.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on prendre. Choose the right answer, then check the answer key below.

  1. What is the je form of prendre in the Present indicative?

    • A) prends
    • B) prend
    • C) prenons
    • D) prenez

  2. What is the tu form of prendre in the Present indicative?

    • A) prends
    • B) prend
    • C) prenons
    • D) prenez

  3. What is the il/elle form of prendre in the Present perfect (passé composé)?

    • A) avons pris
    • B) a pris
    • C) ai pris
    • D) as pris

  4. What is the nous form of prendre in the Imperfect?

    • A) prenait
    • B) preniez
    • C) prenions
    • D) prenais

  5. What is the tu form of prendre in the Future?

    • A) prendrons
    • B) prendras
    • C) prendrai
    • D) prendra

  6. What is the je form of prendre in the Conditional?

    • A) prendrais
    • B) prendrait
    • C) prendrions
    • D) prendriez

  7. What is the il/elle form of prendre in the Present subjunctive?

    • A) prenne
    • B) prennes
    • C) prenions
    • D) preniez

  8. What is the je form of prendre in the Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)?

    • A) avions pris
    • B) aviez pris
    • C) avais pris
    • D) avait pris

  9. What is the gerund of prendre?

    • A) en donnant
    • B) en prenant
    • C) en mettant
    • D) en devant

  10. What does prendre mean in English?

  • A) to take
  • B) to put
  • C) to must, to owe
  • D) to give

Answer key

  1. A) prends — the je form of prendre in the Present indicative is prends. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  2. A) prends — the tu form of prendre in the Present indicative is prends. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  3. B) a pris — the il/elle form of prendre in the Present perfect (passé composé) is a pris. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  4. C) prenions — the nous form of prendre in the Imperfect is prenions. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  5. B) prendras — the tu form of prendre in the Future is prendras. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  6. A) prendrais — the je form of prendre in the Conditional is prendrais. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  7. A) prenne — the il/elle form of prendre in the Present subjunctive is prenne. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  8. C) avais pris — the je form of prendre in the Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is avais pris. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  9. B) en prenant — the gerund of prendre is en prenant. The other options are the gerunds of neighbouring verbs.
  10. A) to take — prendre means “to take” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.

Frequently asked questions

What does prendre mean in English?

prendre means “to take”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.

Is prendre regular or irregular?

prendre is irregular in these tenses: present, passe-simple, present-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative. The gerund is prenant and the past participle is pris.

How do I practise prendre every day?

Say one sentence with prendre in the present, one in the passé composé and one in the future every day, using the examples on this page as models — for example, “Je prends un café le matin tous les jours.”, “J'ai pris un café le matin cette semaine.” and “Je prendrai un café le matin demain.”. Then take the quiz again and check your answers against the key.

Pronunciation

Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for prendre, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

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