Présent
Present
What happens now or regularly: je parle français.
French verb conjugation
Attendre conjugation
Attendre — “to wait”. Every tense with audio: tap a form to hear it, or the speaker to hear the whole tense.
- Translation
- to wait
- Group
- 3rd group (irregular)
- Participe passé
- attendu
- Passé composé with avoir
- j’ai attendu
Attendre in every tense
Il / elle and ils / elles share the same forms. With être the participle agrees with the subject: (e) for the feminine, (e)s for the plural.
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Passé composé
Perfect (completed past)
What happened and is over: hier, j’ai vu un film. The main past tense of speech.
Imparfait
Imperfect (ongoing past)
Description, habit or background in the past: quand j’étais petit, je jouais au foot.
Futur simple
Future
What will be: demain, il fera beau. In speech aller + infinitive often replaces it.
Conditionnel présent
Conditional
Polite requests and imagined situations: je voudrais un café ; si j’avais le temps, je voyagerais.
Subjonctif présent
Subjunctive
After wishes, necessity and feelings: il faut que tu viennes. Always after que.
Impératif
Imperative
Requests, advice, orders: viens ! écoutez !
What to know
The model of verbs in -re: the il form has no ending (il attend). Attendre takes no preposition: j’attends le bus. The same with répondre, vendre, entendre.
Examples
- J’attends le bus.I’m waiting for the bus.
- Nous avons attendu une heure.We waited for an hour.
- Attendez un moment.Wait a moment.
Practice
A person and a tense — choose the right form of attendre. 10 questions.
Choose the form
FAQ
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How do you conjugate attendre in the présent?
j’attends, tu attends, il/elle attend, nous attendons, vous attendez, ils/elles attendent.
Does attendre take avoir or être in the passé composé?
Avoir: j’ai attendu, tu as attendu, il/elle a attendu, nous avons attendu, vous avez attendu, ils/elles ont attendu.
What is attendre in the imparfait?
j’attendais, tu attendais, il/elle attendait, nous attendions, vous attendiez, ils/elles attendaient.
What is attendre in the futur simple?
j’attendrai, tu attendras, il/elle attendra, nous attendrons, vous attendrez, ils/elles attendront.
What’s next
French irregular verbs
The présent, passé composé and futur of irregular verbs in one table — with search and practice.
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See the wordsFrench level test
Grammar, vocabulary and reading from A1 to C1 — and your level of French.
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Grammar for this topic
Rules in plain words — with tables, examples and a quiz in every topic.
The présent tense
Je parle, nous finissons, vous faites — the endings of the three verb groups and the key irregulars.
Level A1Passé composé or imparfait
Two past tenses: what happened — and what it was like, what was going on.
Level A2–B1Futur proche and futur simple
Two ways to talk about the future: je vais partir and je partirai.
Level A1–A2The subjonctif: il faut que…
Il faut que tu viennes, je veux qu’il soit là — how to form the subjunctive and which words trigger it.
Level B1
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