prendre

Catalan

Etymology

Inherited from Old Catalan prendre, from Latin prēndere, from older prehendere, from prae- (“before”) + hendere (“take, seize”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰed-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) , (proscribed spelling pronunciation)
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) , (proscribed spelling pronunciation)
• IPA^(key): (Valencian) , (proscribed spelling pronunciation)

• Central

  (file)

Verb

prendre (first-person singular present prenc, first-person singular preterite prenguí, past participle pres); root stress: (Central) /ɛ/; (Valencian) /e/; (Balearic) /ə/

1. to take

Conjugation

Derived terms

Related terms

• aprendre
• comprendre

Further reading

• “prendre” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “prendre”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “prendre” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “prendre” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Franco-Provençal

Etymology

From Latin prēndere, variant of prehendere (“to seize”), present active infinitive of prehendō.

Verb

prendre

1. to take

Conjugation

    Conjugation of prendre

		simple			compound
infinitive		prendre			aveir preis
gerund		prenent			ayent preis
auxiliary verb		aveir
past participle		masculine			feminine
	singular	preis			preisi
	plural	preis			preises
		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		jo (j')	tu (t')	il/elli	nos	vos	ils
	present	prenno	prends	prend	prenems	prentes	prennont
	imperfect	prenèvo	prenèves	prenève	prenévams	prenévaz	prenèvant
	preterite	preisi	preisis	preisit	preisîmos	preisîtes	preisiront
	future	prendrai	prendrés	prendra	prendrems	prendreiz	prendrant
	conditional	prendrim	prendriés	prendriet	prendriams	prendriaz	prendríont prendríant
compound tenses	present perfect	present indicative of aveir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of aveir + past participle
	past anterior	preterite indicative of aveir + past participle
	future perfect	future indicative of aveir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of aveir + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j')	que te (t')	qu'il/el	que nos	que vos	qu'ils/els
	present	preigno	preignes	preigne	prenams	prenaz	preignant
	imperfect	preisisso	preisisses	preisît	preisissams	preisissaz	preisissant
compound tenses	past	present subjunctive of aveir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of aveir + past participle
imperative		—	te	—	nos	vos	—
			prends		prenems	prentes

• Literary imperfect: prenim, preniés, preniet, preniams, preniaz, preníant

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French prendre, from Old French prendre, prandre, from Latin prēndere, alternative form of prehendere (“to seize”), present active infinitive of prehendō, from prae- (“before”) + *hendō (“to take, seize”) (not attested without prefix), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰed-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pʁɑ̃dʁ/

• audio

  (file)

Verb

prendre

1. (transitive) to take

   prends ma main ― take my hand

2. (transitive) to eat; to drink

   elle prend un café ― she is drinking a coffee

3. (transitive) to get; to buy

   Je vais prendre le plat du jour. ― I'll get the dish of the day.

4. (transitive) to rob; to deprive

   prendre quelque chose à quelqu’un ― to take something from someone

5. (transitive) to make

   prendre une décision ― to make a decision

   prendre des mesures draconiennes ― to take draconian measures

6. (intransitive) to catch, to work, to start

   le feu ne prend pas ― the fire won't start

   la sauce ne prend pas ― the sauce isn't thickening

   ma mayonnaise ne prend pas ― my mayonnaise isn't setting

   ça ne prend pas avec moi ― that won't wash with me

7. (reflexive) to get (something) caught (in), to jam

   je me suis pris la main dans la porte ― I caught my hand in the door

   je me suis pris la porte dans la figure ― the door hit me in the face

8. (transitive with à)

   Qu’est-ce qui t’a pris ? Qu’est-ce qui t’est passé par la tête ? ― What were you thinking? What got into you? What came over you?

   Qu’est-ce qui lui a pris ? Quelle mouche l’a piqué ? ― What was he thinking? What got into him?

   bien lui en prit ― good for him; it was a good choice (literally, “he took it well”)

   mal lui en prit ― too bad for him; it was a bad choice (literally, “he took it badly”)

9. (transitive, in various idiomatic expressions) to start having a negative feeling towards someone

   prendre en aversion ― take an aversion (to)

   prendre en grippe ― take a dislike (to)

   prendre en dégoût ― become disgusted (by)

10. (followed by a partitive, in various idiomatic expressions) to gain

    prendre de la vitesse ― to gain speed

    prendre du galon ― to gain a promotion

    prendre de l’avance ― to gain ground

    prendre du retard ― to fall behind schedule, to run late, to drop behind

    prendre de la hauteur ― to gain some perspective

    prendre du recul ― to take a step back

    prendre de la bouteille ― to gain experience

    en prendre de la graine ― to take away a lesson

    prendre du poids ― to gain weight

    prendre de la masse ― to build muscle

    prendre de la brioche, prendre du bide, prendre du ventre ― to get a paunch

    prendre du bouchon ― to fail

    prendre de l’élan ― to gain momentum

    prendre de l’âge ― to get older

    prendre de la valeur ― to gain value

    prendre de l’importance ― to become important

11. (colloquial; impersonal) to take (a certain amount of time)

    Synonym: falloir

    Ça va me prendre au moins deux heures pour le mettre à jour.

    It's going to take me at least two hours to update it.

12. (colloquial; impersonal; by extension) to take (a certain number or amount of)

    Synonym: falloir

    Pour finir dans deux heures, ça prend trois personnes.

    To finish in two hours, it'll take three people.

13. (impersonal) to come over (to arise in and gain some control over one's thoughts and/or actions)

    il prend [quelque chose] à [quelqu’un] ― comes over

    Il lui prend une fantaisie de mettre le feu à la maison.

    A fancy comes over him to set fire to the house.

    • 2015, Zaz, Si jamais j'oublie:

      Et s’il me prend l’envie d’ m’en aller, enferme-moi et jette la clé.

      And if I feel like leaving, lock me up and throw away the key.

Conjugation

This verb is quite irregular, with the following patterns:

• In the infinitive, in the singular forms of the present indicative, and in the future and the conditional, it is conjugated like rendre, perdre, etc. (sometimes called the regular -re verbs).
• In the plural forms of the present indicative and imperative, in the imperfect indicative, in the present subjunctive, and in the present participle, it is conjugated like appeler or jeter, using the stem prenn- before mute 'e' and the stem pren- elsewhere.
• In the past participle, and in the past historic and the imperfect subjunctive, its conjugation resembles that of mettre.

Derived terms

Related terms

• apprendre
• comprendre
• reprendre

Further reading

• “prendre”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.

Anagrams

• reprend

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French prendre, prandre, from Latin prēndō, prēndere, from prehendō.

Verb

prendre

1. to take

Descendants

• French: prendre

Norman

Alternative forms

• prende (Guernsey)
• prenre (France)

Etymology

From Old French prendre, prandre, from Latin prēndō, prēndere, an alternative form of prehendō, prehendere (“lay hold of, seize, grasp, grab, snatch, take, catch”).

Verb

prendre

1. (Jersey) to take
   • 1903, Edgar MacCulloch, “Proverbs, Weather Sayings, etc.”, in Guernsey Folk Lore‎, pages 524, 526:

     Ch'est prendre de Pierre Chyvret pour dounaïr à Monsieur Careye.

     It is taking from Pierre Chyvret to give to Mr. Carey.

Antonyms

• bailli, donner (“to give”)

Derived terms

Occitan

Alternative forms

• prener (Limousin)
• préner (Languedoc)

Etymology

From Old Occitan prendre.

Verb

prendre (Provençal)

1. (transitive) to take

Derived terms

Further reading

• Simon-Jude Honnorat, Dictionnaire Provençal-Français (tome 2, P-Z), Repos, Digne, 1847, page 950.

Old French

Alternative forms

• panre, penre, prandre, preindre

Etymology

From Latin prēndere, from older prehendere.

Pronunciation

• (archaic) IPA^(key): /ˈpɾendɾə/
• (classical) IPA^(key): /ˈpɾandɾə/

Verb

prendre

1. to take
   • c. 1250, Rutebeuf, Ci encoumence la vie de Sainte Elyzabel, fille au roi de Hongrie:

     Sachiez, ce mes oncles m'esforce
     Que je preigne mari a force,
     Je m'enfuirai en aucun leu

     Know that if my uncle forces me
     To take a husband against my will
     I will flee to any place

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a third-group verb. This verb has irregularities in its conjugation. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

Related terms

Descendants

• Bourguignon: prarre
• Franc-Comtois: pranre
• Middle French: prendre
  • French: prendre
    • → English: prender
• Norman: prendre, prenre
• Picard: prinde
• Walloon: prinde

Old Occitan

Alternative forms

• penre
• perne
• prener
• prenze

Etymology

From Latin prēndere, variant of prehendere, present active infinitive of prehendō. Gallo-Romance cognate with Old French prendre.

Verb

prendre

1. to take

Descendants

• Occitan: prendre

References

• Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002) “prehendere”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), volumes 9: Placabilis–Pyxis, page 339