FrenchConjugationPassé Composé

Prendre (to take) · Passé Composé

By TutorLily Editorial Team · Last updated May 22, 2026

Prendre in the French passé composé is: j'ai pris, tu as pris, il/elle/on a pris, nous avons pris, vous avez pris, ils/elles ont pris. The passé composé of prendre uses AVOIR + the irregular participle 'pris'. 'J'ai pris le train' = 'I took the train'. Participle 'pris' is invariable unless there's a preceding direct object ('la décision que j'ai prise').

prendre conjugation in the Passé Composé
To Take	Prendre
I took	j'ai pris
you took	tu as pris
he/she took	il/elle/on a pris
we took	nous avons pris
you took	vous avez pris
they took	ils/elles ont pris

Examples

Prendre (to take) in context

Sentences that use prendre in the passé composé. Tap each to hear it.

J'ai pris le train ce matin.

I took the train this morning.

Tu as pris quoi au restaurant?

What did you have at the restaurant?

Elle a pris la mauvaise route.

She took the wrong road.

Nous avons pris beaucoup de photos.

We took a lot of photos.

Vous avez pris une bonne décision.

You made a good decision.

Ils ont pris un taxi pour rentrer.

They took a taxi to go home.

Tip

Working with the passé composé

The passé composé is French's dominant past tense — used in almost every spoken past reference ("j'ai mangé" = "I ate" or "I have eaten"). It's a COMPOUND tense formed with an auxiliary (avoir for most verbs, être for ~17 motion/state verbs and all reflexives) plus a past participle. Two things to memorise: which verbs take être (aller, venir, partir, sortir, arriver, monter, descendre, naître, mourir, rester, tomber, devenir, retourner, entrer, rentrer, passer, revenir — the so-called "house of être"), and agreement rules (être verbs agree with the subject; avoir verbs only agree with a preceding direct object).

Questions

Frequently asked questions

How do you form the passé composé of prendre?

Use avoir + the past participle 'pris': j'ai pris, tu as pris, il a pris, nous avons pris, vous avez pris, ils ont pris. The 's' of 'pris' is silent.

Does 'pris' agree with the subject?

Since prendre takes avoir as auxiliary, 'pris' is invariable in standard cases. Exception: when a direct object PRECEDES the verb, 'pris' agrees with it in gender and number — 'la décision que j'ai prise' (the decision I made — feminine, so 'prise'). This is the avoir-verb direct-object-agreement rule, which applies to all avoir verbs.

Should I use 'j'ai pris' or 'je prenais'?

Use 'j'ai pris' for a specific completed taking: 'ce matin, j'ai pris le train' (this morning, I took the train). Use 'je prenais' for habitual past taking: 'chaque jour, je prenais le train' (every day, I used to take the train). The contrast is one-time vs habitual.