attendre

to wait

verb ah-TAHN-druh Common

Also means

to expect

Usage Note

Attendre is a notorious false friend — it means to wait for, not to attend, and it takes a direct object with no preposition, as in j'attends le bus. Reflexive s'attendre à means to expect, and the interjection attends ! is a casual 'hang on' or 'wait up'.

Examples

"J'attends le bus."

Natural Translation

I'm waiting for the bus.

Literal Translation

I-wait the bus

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