Question 1

Why does Je prends translate to "I am having" instead of "I take"?

Accepted Answer

While prendre literally means "to take", French uses it exactly like English uses "to have" when talking about ordering or consuming food and drinks. So, Je prends un dessert translates naturally to "I am having a dessert."

Question 2

How do I pronounce prends? Do I pronounce the "d" or the "s"?

Accepted Answer

Neither! Both the d and the s are silent. You just pronounce it with a nasal vowel at the end. The "I" and "you" forms (je prends, tu prends) sound exactly the same as the "he/she" form (il/elle prend).

Question 3

Why is petit placed before dessert? I thought French adjectives go after the noun.

Accepted Answer

Most French adjectives do go after the noun, but a small group of common adjectives go before it. A helpful memory trick is BANGS (Beauty, Age, Number, Goodness, Size). Because petit (small/little) describes Size, it comes before the noun it describes.

Question 4

If a woman is speaking, would she say ma café instead of mon café?

Accepted Answer

No, she would still say mon café. In French, the word for "my" matches the gender of the object being owned, not the gender of the speaker. Since café is masculine, it always takes the masculine word for "my", which is mon.

Je prends un petit dessert avec mon café.

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