Published September 25, 2025 • Updated April 4, 2026 — Lesson written by French teacher David Issokson for students who want to learn French online, with native audio by Marie Assel Cambier, a voice artist from France.
📘 Attendre meaning
Attendre is a versatile French regular -re verb meaning “to wait” or “to expect.” It’s used for waiting on people or things, and in the reflexive form s’attendre à it means “to expect something.” It’s a model regular -re verb, forming the pattern for many other French verbs. Attendre always takes a direct object—e.g., J’attends mon ami (I’m waiting for my friend). Using pour (for) here would be incorrect.
✅ Meaning
✅ Pronunciation
✅ Example sentences
🎧 Attendre pronunciation
Attendre is pronounced /a.tɑ̃dʁ/, roughly “ah-tahndr.”
📝 Attendre examples
J’attends le bus devant l’école.
I’m waiting for the bus in front of the school.
Nous attendons une réponse importante.
We are expecting an important answer.
Ils attendent un bébé en janvier.
They are expecting a baby in January.
Je m’attends à une surprise ce soir.
I’m expecting a surprise tonight.
👉 Detailed explanation: Attendre and s’attendre à »
Attends, je viens tout de suite !
Wait, I’m coming right away!
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🔗 Related words and expressions
- l’attente — waiting, the wait; expectation
- dans l’attente de — awaiting, in anticipation of
- sans attendre — without delay
- attendre avec impatience — to look forward to
- faire attendre — to keep someone waiting
- contre toute attente — against all expectations
📚 Related lessons
👉 Attendre conjugation chart »
👉 Regular RE verbs »
👉 Regular verbs »
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