How to Teach French Boire and Prendre – A French Teacher’s Guide
When I introduce irregular French verbs, I try not to overwhelm students with a huge list of verbs that they simply have to memorize.
Instead, I like to introduce very common verbs that students can immediately use in real-life situations.
Two of my favorites to teach together are boire and prendre.
Both are irregular, both are extremely useful, and both come up constantly when students start talking about food, drinks, restaurants, daily activities, and what they are doing.
French Verbs Prendre & Boire – Sudoku Puzzles
Start With the Conjugation
The first thing I tell students is that these are verbs they need to learn as irregular verbs.
With boire, there isn’t a simple conjugation trick that will allow students to predict all of the forms.
BOIRE — to drink
je bois
tu bois
il / elle / on boit
nous buvons
vous buvez
ils / elles boivent
I have students practice the conjugation until they can recognize the forms without having to stop and think about them.
One thing I point out right away is how different the nous, vous, and ils/elles forms look:
bois — bois — boit — buvons — buvez — boivent
That’s a good reason not to try to force boire into the pattern of a regular -RE verb. I simply tell students that this one is irregular. Learn it as it is.
French Verb Boire – Present Tense Conjugation Review Activity
Teach Boire With Real-Life Examples
Once students know the conjugation, I immediately put it into sentences they can actually imagine themselves saying.
Je bois du café.
I am drinking coffee.
Tu bois de l’eau ?
Are you drinking water?
Qu’est-ce qu’il boit ?
What is he drinking?
On boit beaucoup de thé.
We drink a lot of tea.
Nous ne buvons pas de soda.
We don’t drink soda.
Vous buvez du lait ?
Do you drink milk?
This is also a nice opportunity to reinforce another grammar concept students have already encountered: articles after negation.
For example:
Nous buvons du soda.
We drink soda.
Nous ne buvons pas de soda.
We don’t drink soda.
Students get to practice the verb and see a familiar grammar rule in context.
Then I Move to Prendre
I like to introduce prendre alongside boire because students encounter it in so many everyday situations.
PRENDRE — to take
The conjugation is:
je prends
tu prends
il / elle / on prend
nous prenons
vous prenez
ils / elles prennent
Again, I don’t spend too much time trying to make students find a logical pattern.
I want them to recognize:
prends — prends — prend — prenons — prenez — prennent
and then start using the verb.
French Verb Prendre Present Tense Conjugation Review Activities
The Most Important Thing I Teach About Prendre
This is where prendre becomes particularly interesting for English-speaking students.
Students often learn that prendre = to take, but that’s only part of the story.
French uses prendre in several situations where English speakers would naturally use a completely different verb.
That’s something I like to teach explicitly rather than waiting for students to discover it through confusion.
Prendre for Food and Drinks
In French, you can use prendre to talk about having food or a drink.
Qu’est-ce que tu prends ?
What are you having?
Je prends le poisson.
I’m having the fish.
Je prends un café.
I’m having a coffee.
This is especially useful in a restaurant or café.
Students don’t need to translate prendre word-for-word every time. They need to understand what the expression means in context.
Prendre for “Getting” Something
Prendre can also be used when you’re going to get or pick up something.
Tu prends le pain ?
Are you getting the bread?
Tu prends les chaises ?
Are you getting the chairs?
Again, I point out that translating prendre as “take” every single time isn’t going to work.
Prendre for “Taking”
Of course, there are plenty of situations where prendre really does correspond to English “take.”
Je prends la voiture.
I’m taking the car.
Tu prends des notes ?
Are you taking notes?
Je prends le temps pour manger.
I’m taking the time to eat.
These are useful expressions to learn as complete phrases rather than worrying too much about translating each individual word.
French Verb PRENDRE Present and Passé Composé – French Grammar Activity
Two Very Useful Expressions With Prendre
There are two expressions I especially like to introduce because students will encounter them frequently.
Prendre rendez-vous
prendre rendez-vous means to make an appointment.
Je prends rendez-vous chez le médecin.
I’m making an appointment at the doctor’s.
Tu prends rendez-vous à la banque ?
Are you making an appointment at the bank?
This is a great example of why learning vocabulary in context is so important.
Students might know that prendre means “to take,” but they would never guess that prendre rendez-vous means “to make an appointment.”
Prendre une décision
prendre une décision means to make a decision.
Je vais prendre une décision aujourd’hui.
I’m going to make a decision today.
This is another expression I like to teach as a chunk.
Students don’t need to translate it literally. They just need to recognize and use prendre une décision.
Why I Teach Boire and Prendre Together
For me, these two verbs make a useful pair because they’re both:
- irregular and very common
- easy to put into everyday situations
- useful for talking about food and drinks
- full of expressions that don’t translate literally from English
They also give students a chance to practice several things they are learning at the same time: conjugation, articles, negation, questions, and vocabulary.
I don’t want students to learn irregular verbs as isolated conjugation charts that they can recite for a test and then forget.
I want them to start using the verbs.
That’s why I teach boire with coffee, water, tea, and other drinks, and prendre with food, drinks, transportation, appointments, decisions, and everyday activities.
The more useful the context, the easier it becomes for students to remember the verb.
French Boire and Prendre Resources
If you’re teaching these verbs to beginning French students, I have resources that provide structured practice with boire and prendre, including conjugation and practical examples.
French Verbs Prendre and Boire Bundle
I find that students are much more successful with irregular verbs when they don’t just memorize the conjugation. Give them useful language they can actually imagine saying, and the conjugation starts to become meaningful.
