Conjugation table
Prendre, apprendre, comprendre: present-tense forms and practice
See the six present forms of prendre and its apprendre and comprendre family, then practise the three stems and everyday expressions.
- A2
- 1 tenses
- Auxiliary: avoir
- Learn this in the A2 notebook →
In short
Prendre has three written stem shapes: prend- in the singular, pren- with nous and vous, and prenn- with ils and elles. Apprendre and comprendre carry the same changes: j’apprends, nous apprenons, elles apprennent.
Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learnRed watch out
- Infinitive
- prendre
- Past participle
- pris
- Present participle
- prenant
- Auxiliary
- avoir
Présenttaking something, transport and everyday expressions
| je | prends |
| tu | prends |
| il / elle / on | prend |
| nous | prenons |
| vous | prenez |
| ils / elles | prennent |
Nous prenons le métro chaque matin.
We take the metro every morning.
How do you conjugate prendre, apprendre and comprendre?
| Subject | apprendre — to learn | comprendre — to understand |
|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | apprends | comprends |
| tu | apprends | comprends |
| il / elle / on | apprend | comprend |
| nous | apprenons | comprenons |
| vous | apprenez | comprenez |
| ils / elles | apprennent | comprennent |
J’apprends à conduire. Ma sœur apprend le français.
I’m learning to drive. My sister is learning French.
Use apprendre à + infinitive for a skill; a language follows apprendre directly.
Vous comprenez la question ? Nous comprenons votre réponse.
Do you understand the question? We understand your answer.
Comprendre takes the thing understood directly. Keep one n in comprenons and comprenez.
What do you take?
Find:
The same verb has several everyday partners: prendre le train, prendre un café, prendre une décision. The English translation changes with the expression. The French subject still controls the ending. In les élèves apprennent, les élèves is plural, so use the double n in apprennent.
- Nous prendons une décision.Nous prenons une décision.
The nous stem is pren-. It drops the d of the singular.
- Elles comprendent la question.Elles comprennent la question.
Use comprenn- with a double n for elles.
- Je veux apprends le français.Je veux apprendre le français.
After veux, apprendre stays in the infinitive.