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FRENCH VERB

prendre la parole

to take the floor

  • Irregular -re verb
  • Past participle: pris la parole
  • Present participle: prenant la parole

Conjugation

Tap any form to hear it. The part that changes is in colour.

Present

Présent · now, habits and facts

  1. je I take the floor
  2. tu you take the floor
  3. il, elle, on he/she takes the floor
  4. nous we take the floor
  5. vous you take the floor
  6. ils, elles they take the floor

Past

Passé composé · finished actions

  1. je I took the floor
  2. tu you took the floor
  3. il, elle, on he/she took the floor
  4. nous we took the floor
  5. vous you took the floor
  6. ils, elles they took the floor

Imperfect

Imparfait · “used to” and “was …ing”

  1. je I used to take the floor
  2. tu you used to take the floor
  3. il, elle, on he/she used to take the floor
  4. nous we used to take the floor
  5. vous you used to take the floor
  6. ils, elles they used to take the floor

Future

Futur simple · plans; in speech, “je vais parler” is just as common

  1. je I will take the floor
  2. tu you will take the floor
  3. il, elle, on he/she will take the floor
  4. nous we will take the floor
  5. vous you will take the floor
  6. ils, elles they will take the floor

Conditional

Conditionnel · “would”, polite requests

  1. je I would take the floor
  2. tu you would take the floor
  3. il, elle, on he/she would take the floor
  4. nous we would take the floor
  5. vous you would take the floor
  6. ils, elles they would take the floor

Present subjunctive

Subjonctif présent · wishes, doubts, “il faut que …”

  1. je (that) I take the floor
  2. tu (that) you take the floor
  3. il, elle, on (that) he/she take the floor
  4. nous (that) we take the floor
  5. vous (that) you take the floor
  6. ils, elles (that) they take the floor

Imperative

Impératif · requests and orders

  1. tu take the floor!
  2. nous take the floor! (let’s)
  3. vous take the floor! (plural, or formal)

How to use prendre la parole

One sentence for each tense, the way people say it.

  1. Present

    Le maire prend la parole en premier, comme toujours.

    The mayor speaks first, as always.

  2. Past

    Emma a pris la parole devant deux cents personnes.

    Emma took the floor in front of two hundred people.

  3. Imperfect

    Il ne prenait jamais la parole en réunion.

    He never spoke up in meetings.

  4. Future

    Tu prendras la parole après le président.

    You'll take the floor after the chairman.

  5. Conditional

    Je prendrais bien la parole, mais j'ai le trac.

    I'd happily take the floor, but I've got stage fright.

  6. Present subjunctive

    Il faut que quelqu'un prenne la parole pour les parents.

    Someone has to speak up for the parents.

  7. Imperative

    Prenez la parole, on vous écoute.

    Go ahead and speak, we're listening.

Good to know

  • Prendre la parole is to start speaking in a meeting; demander la parole is to ask for it, couper la parole to interrupt.

Where you hear prendre la parole

The lessons that teach a form of it, and how they say it.

French · Fluency Level 2

  • Qui prend la parole en premier ? Who takes the floor first?
  • Marcel a pris la parole au conseil sans en avoir le droit. Marcel took the floor at the council without being allowed to.
  • Tu prendras la parole à la salle des fêtes jeudi. You'll take the floor at the village hall on Thursday.
3
Organising the Parents' Meeting

Fluency Level 2 · Jusqu'à fin mars. Deux mois. Qui veut prendre la parole ?

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Verbs like this one

The same pattern, on other verbs: irregular -re verb.