adminPrendre is a very important verb in French. It’s used a lot in everyday speaking and it’s used for things you might not expect, where in English you would use verbs like “to have”, “to catch”, “to make”.
Often part of the battle of learning French is understanding how the French say certain things and constructing sentences in that way. There’s not always a direct translation from English to French, so you can’t always think about what you want to say in English and then translate it into French.
Notice that for food and drink we use prendre rather than avoir (to have), because it’s an intake of food or drink.
| French | English |
|---|---|
| Prendre l'air | To get a breath of fresh air |
| Prendre un verre | To have a drink |
| Prendre froid | To catch a cold |
| Prendre rendez-vous avec quelqu'un | To make an appointment with someone |
| Prendre du poids | To put on/gain weight |
| Prendre bien/ mal une chose | To take something well/badly |
| Passer prendre quelqu'un | To go pick someone up |
| Prendre à gauche/ à droite | To take left/right |
| Prendre une décision | To make a decision |
| Prendre le temps | To take time |
Sarah
This is a great exercise. You’ve made it really clear how the French say things that in English we’d use other verbs for. I also love the use of audio – perfect for getting correct pronunciation!
Françoise
Merci beaucoup sarah! I’m glad you like it! And yes, the audio is great because you can practise the phrases in your own time… & a big “Merci” for reading our blog.
LOUIS
Hello Francoise,its a great exercise but i cant play the audio.;
s
Merci beucoup.Love this website, Its the pronunciation that is soooo difficile..
Françoise Giordano
Merci beaucoup …Et Oui, je sais mais avec de la pratique, ça deviendra de plus en plus facile 😉 …