Prendre is among the French verbs you will use often, even early on. The closest English meaning is "to take," but French uses prendre in places where English prefers another verb.

In English, you take a bus, have a coffee, eat breakfast, or take medicine. In French, those ideas can all be expressed with prendre.

What you take might be an object in your hand, a train across town, a coffee in front of you, or medication.

Learn these patterns and you will be able to use prendre in your everyday French.

Forms and grammar

Prendre is irregular, and the stem changes as you move through the present tense:

Singular Plural
je prends nous prenons
tu prends vous prenez
il / elle prend ils / elles prennent

The three singular forms sound identical, so spelling matters more in writing than in speech. This conjugation pattern is similar to other verbs like apprendre and comprendre.

One habit that will keep your sentences correct: keep the article. French says prendre le bus, never prendre bus.

In the past tense, prendre uses avoir, and the participle is pris:

French English
J'ai pris le métro ce matin. I took the metro this morning.
J'ai pris un café dans le restaurant. I had a coffee in the restaurant.

How to use prendre

The three uses of prendre below are sorted by what gets taken: an object, a means of transport, or something you eat, drink, or swallow.

Taking or picking something up

This is the most literal sense, and the closest to English.

French English
Je prends mon sac. I'm taking my bag.
Prends ton téléphone. Take your phone.
Elle prend un livre. She takes a book.

Taking transport

Buses, trains, taxis, the metro, planes. Where English says "go by bus," French names the transport as the thing you take.

French English
J'ai pris le bus. I took the bus. / I went by bus.
Nous prenons le train. We take the train.
Elle prend un taxi. She takes a taxi.

Having food, drink, or medicine

Here prendre covers English "have," for meals, drinks, and medicine alike. Ordering in a café almost always uses it.

French English
Je prends un café. I'm having a coffee.
Nous prenons le petit-déjeuner à huit heures. We have breakfast at eight o'clock.
Il prend un médicament. He takes medicine.

Boire and prendre both work with a drink, but they say different things.

French English
Je bois un café. I drink a coffee.
Je prends un café. I'm having a coffee.

Boire is the physical act of drinking. Prendre is the occasion: ordering a drink, sitting down with it, having one as part of your morning.

On prend un café ? is an invitation, the equivalent of "shall we grab a coffee?". On boit un café ? doesn't naturally carry that conversational invitation meaning.

You may be tempted to over-use boire here, because "I'm taking a coffee" in English can suggest taking it away, so "take" never comes to mind.

Other common constructions

Here are three more combinations using prendre that fall outside the senses above:

French English
prendre une photo to take a photo
prendre rendez-vous to make an appointment
prendre une décision to make a decision

The last two are worth a second look. In English, we make an appointment and make a decision. French uses prendre for both.

Expressions and idioms

In fixed expressions prendre drifts away from taking, so learn the phrase as a whole rather than word by word.

prendre son temps

To not hurry.

French English
Prends ton temps. Take your time.

prendre froid

To catch a chill.

French English
Mets ton manteau, tu vas prendre froid. Put on your coat or you'll catch a chill.

Common mistakes

One of the mistakes below comes from translating an English pattern word for word. The other is a spelling slip in the irregular stem.

Using avec for transport

You might reach for "with the bus," following the English pattern "I go to work by bus." French makes the transport the object of prendre instead.

Incorrect Correct
Je vais au travail avec le bus. Je prends le bus pour aller au travail.

Keeping the d in the plural

The d disappears in the nous, vous, and ils forms: nous prenons, vous prenez, ils prennent. The singular keeps it: je prends, tu prends, il prend.

Incorrect Correct
Nous prendons le train. Nous prenons le train.
  • manger: to eat
  • boire: to drink
  • aller: to go
  • emmener: to take someone somewhere

Emmener is the one to watch. For taking a person along, French uses emmener, not prendre: je t'emmène à la gare.

Before you go

Learn prendre through the combinations where it appears rather than by translating it directly. At A1 level it will carry you through much of the day-to-day French you meet.