# Attendre Conjugation — Every Tense of the French Verb “To Wait”

> **Attendre** means “to wait”. Présent: **j’attends, tu attends, il attend, nous attendons, vous attendez, ils attendent** — a regular *-re* verb. The trap: the “for” is built in. *J’attends le bus*, never “j’attends pour le bus”.

Canonical page: https://cocoonfrench.com/guides/attendre-conjugation
Published by Cocoon French (https://cocoonfrench.com/) — French for total beginners through
slow, visual stories. The Club adds full lessons and a scored speaking drill, free for 7 days:
https://club.cocoonfrench.com/login
Updated: 2026-09-16

## 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 |
|---|---|
| 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 |

**Three forms, one sound** — 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 |

**It keeps company with three others** — 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.

**⚠ Depuis, not the past tense** — “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.

**Note the à** — 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 |
|---|---|
| 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 |
|---|---|
| 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 |
|---|---|
| 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 |
|---|---|
| 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 |
|---|---|
| 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 |
|---|---|
| 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 |
|---|---|
| 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 |

## FAQ

### How do you conjugate attendre in the present tense?

J’attends, tu attends, il / elle attend, nous attendons, vous attendez, ils / elles attendent.

### How do you say “wait for” in French?

Just attendre — the “for” is already in the verb. J’attends le bus, je t’attends. Adding pour is wrong.

### How do you say “I’ve been waiting for an hour”?

J’attends depuis une heure — in the présent, because you are still waiting. The past tense would mean you have stopped.

### What does s’attendre à mean?

“To expect.” Je ne m’y attendais pas — “I didn’t expect that”. The reflexive form takes à, unlike the plain verb.

### What is the past participle of attendre?

Attendu, with avoir — the regular -re ending.

## Related guides

- Vendre conjugation: https://cocoonfrench.com/guides/vendre-conjugation
- Entendre conjugation: https://cocoonfrench.com/guides/entendre-conjugation
- Répondre conjugation: https://cocoonfrench.com/guides/repondre-conjugation
- All free French guides: https://cocoonfrench.com/guides