French guides · Verb tables + audio
Attendre: waiting, with no word for “for”.
Attendre means “to wait”, and it is a model regular -re verb — it conjugates exactly like vendre, right down to the bare il attend with no ending. What makes it worth a page is the preposition that is not there. English waits for things; French simply waits them. Adding pour is the single most common mistake made with this verb.
Présent — the regular -re pattern
Stem attend-, endings -s, -s, —, -ons, -ez, -ent. The il form takes nothing at all, because the stem already ends in d.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| j’attends | I wait | |
| tu attends | you wait | |
| il / elle attend | he / she waits | |
| nous attendons | we wait | |
| vous attendez | you wait | |
| ils / elles attendent | they wait |
Attends, attends and attend are all “a-TAHN”. Attendent is “a-TAHND”, with the d audible. That final consonant is the only way to hear singular from plural.
⚠ No pour, ever
Attendre takes a direct object. Whatever you are waiting for goes straight after the verb with nothing in between.
| Say this | Not this | Means |
|---|---|---|
| j’attends le bus | j’attends pour le bus | I’m waiting for the bus |
| je t’attends | j’attends pour toi | I’m waiting for you |
| attends-moi ! | — | wait for me! |
| j’attends depuis une heure | — | I’ve been waiting an hour |
| attendre un enfant | — | to be expecting a baby |
Écouter (listen to), regarder (look at), chercher (look for) and payer (pay for) all do the same thing. Learn them as a set of five and the whole habit clicks at once.
“I’ve been waiting for an hour” is j’attends depuis une heure — présent, because you are still waiting. Using the past would mean you have stopped. This is one of the biggest tense differences between the two languages.
S’attendre à — to expect
Make it reflexive and add à and the meaning changes completely: not waiting, but expecting.
- Je m’attendais à ça. — I expected that.
- Je ne m’y attendais pas. — I didn’t see that coming.
- Il faut s’attendre à tout. — you have to expect anything.
The plain verb takes no preposition; the reflexive one insists on à. J’attends le résultat is waiting for it. Je m’attends à un bon résultat is expecting a good one.
Passé composé — attendu
Regular -re participle in -u, with avoir: j’ai attendu.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| j’ai attendu | I waited / have waited | |
| tu as attendu | you waited / have waited | |
| il / elle a attendu | he / she waited / have waited | |
| nous avons attendu | we waited / have waited | |
| vous avez attendu | you waited / have waited | |
| ils / elles ont attendu | they waited / have waited |
Imparfait — was waiting
J’attendais — the natural tense for waiting, since it is always a stretch of time rather than a point.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| j’attendais | I used to wait / was waiting | |
| tu attendais | you used to wait / was waiting | |
| il / elle attendait | he / she used to wait / was waiting | |
| nous attendions | we used to wait / was waiting | |
| vous attendiez | you used to wait / was waiting | |
| ils / elles attendaient | they used to wait / was waiting |
Futur and conditionnel — drop the e
The -re rule: lose the final e, giving attendr-. J’attendrai.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| j’attendrai | I will wait | |
| tu attendras | you will wait | |
| il / elle attendra | he / she will wait | |
| nous attendrons | we will wait | |
| vous attendrez | you will wait | |
| ils / elles attendront | they will wait |
Conditionnel — would wait
J’attendrais. Also used for advice: moi, j’attendrais demain.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| j’attendrais | I would wait | |
| tu attendrais | you would wait | |
| il / elle attendrait | he / she would wait | |
| nous attendrions | we would wait | |
| vous attendriez | you would wait | |
| ils / elles attendraient | they would wait |
Subjonctif — and after en attendant
Regular from the plural stem. Worth knowing the related phrase en attendant — “meanwhile”, “in the meantime” — which is extremely common and uses the present participle.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| j’attende | (that) I wait | |
| tu attendes | (that) you wait | |
| il / elle attende | (that) he / she wait | |
| nous attendions | (that) we wait | |
| vous attendiez | (that) you wait | |
| ils / elles attendent | (that) they wait |
Impératif — hold on
Attends ! keeps its s, as -re verbs do — and on its own it is the everyday “hang on a second”. Attendez for someone you don’t know.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| attends ! | wait! (to one person you know) | |
| attendons ! | let’s wait! | |
| attendez ! | wait! (formal, or to a group) |
Plus-que-parfait — had waited
J’avais attendu.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| j’avais attendu | I had waited | |
| tu avais attendu | you had waited | |
| il / elle avait attendu | he / she had waited | |
| nous avions attendu | we had waited | |
| vous aviez attendu | you had waited | |
| ils / elles avaient attendu | they had waited |
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Quick answers
Attendre, answered.
The questions that come up while you are learning the table.