attendre
French
Etymology
From Old French atendre, from Latin attendere, present active infinitive of attendō.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /a.tɑ̃dʁ/
audio (file) - Rhymes: -ɑ̃dr
Verb
attendre
- (transitive) to wait for, to await
- Je l'attends. ― I'm waiting for her/him.
- J’attends mon cousin à la gare.
- I'm waiting for my cousin at the station.
- to expect
- On attendait mieux de toi.
- We expected better from you.
- (reflexive, followed by à) to expect
- Je m'attendais à pire. ― I expected worse.
- Il s'attend à ce que tu viennes ce soir.
- He expects you to come tonight.
- Pourquoi est-ce que je me suis attendu à ce que vous ayez la gentillesse de me laisser tranquille ?
- Why did I expect you to be nice enough to leave me in peace?
- (Louisiana) Alternative form of entendre, to hear
- Quand t'étais petit, t'attendais le français à la Messe ou a l'église?
- When you were little, would you hear French at Mass or at church?
Usage notes
- This is a false friend in French, and does not mean “to attend” under any circumstances.
Conjugation
Conjugation of attendre (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| infinitive | simple | attendre | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle or gerund1 | simple | attendant /a.tɑ̃.dɑ̃/ | |||||
| compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | attendu /a.tɑ̃.dy/ | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | attends /a.tɑ̃/ | attends /a.tɑ̃/ | attend /a.tɑ̃/ | attendons /a.tɑ̃.dɔ̃/ | attendez /a.tɑ̃.de/ | attendent /a.tɑ̃d/ |
| imperfect | attendais /a.tɑ̃.dɛ/ | attendais /a.tɑ̃.dɛ/ | attendait /a.tɑ̃.dɛ/ | attendions /a.tɑ̃.djɔ̃/ | attendiez /a.tɑ̃.dje/ | attendaient /a.tɑ̃.dɛ/ | |
| past historic2 | attendis /a.tɑ̃.di/ | attendis /a.tɑ̃.di/ | attendit /a.tɑ̃.di/ | attendîmes /a.tɑ̃.dim/ | attendîtes /a.tɑ̃.dit/ | attendirent /a.tɑ̃.diʁ/ | |
| future | attendrai /a.tɑ̃.dʁe/ | attendras /a.tɑ̃.dʁa/ | attendra /a.tɑ̃.dʁa/ | attendrons /a.tɑ̃.dʁɔ̃/ | attendrez /a.tɑ̃.dʁe/ | attendront /a.tɑ̃.dʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | attendrais /a.tɑ̃.dʁɛ/ | attendrais /a.tɑ̃.dʁɛ/ | attendrait /a.tɑ̃.dʁɛ/ | attendrions /a.tɑ̃.dʁi.jɔ̃/ | attendriez /a.tɑ̃.dʁi.je/ | attendraient /a.tɑ̃.dʁɛ/ | |
| (compound tenses) | present perfect | present indicative of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| past anterior2 | past historic of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| future perfect | future of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| conditional perfect | conditional of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| subjunctive | que je (j’) | que tu | qu’il, qu’elle | que nous | que vous | qu’ils, qu’elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | attende /a.tɑ̃d/ | attendes /a.tɑ̃d/ | attende /a.tɑ̃d/ | attendions /a.tɑ̃.djɔ̃/ | attendiez /a.tɑ̃.dje/ | attendent /a.tɑ̃d/ |
| imperfect2 | attendisse /a.tɑ̃.dis/ | attendisses /a.tɑ̃.dis/ | attendît /a.tɑ̃.di/ | attendissions /a.tɑ̃.di.sjɔ̃/ | attendissiez /a.tɑ̃.di.sje/ | attendissent /a.tɑ̃.dis/ | |
| (compound tenses) | past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | attends /a.tɑ̃/ | — | attendons /a.tɑ̃.dɔ̃/ | attendez /a.tɑ̃.de/ | — | |
| compound | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | |
| 1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en. | |||||||
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way:
(Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81). | |||||||
Derived terms
- attendre au tournant
- attendre cent sept ans
- attendre comme le Messie
- attendre famille
- attendre son heure
- attendre un heureux événement
- attendu que
- ne perdre rien pour attendre
- tout vient à point à qui sait attendre
Further reading
- “attendre”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Anagrams
- datèrent, dénatter
Norman
Etymology
From Old French atendre, borrowed from Latin attendere, present active infinitive of attendō.
Verb
attendre
- (Jersey) to wait
- (Guernsey, reflexive, s'attendre) to expect