Learn French: Nous prenons un jus pour la pause. - We are having a juice for the break.

Nous prenons un jus pour la pause.

We are having a juice for the break.

Breakdown of Nous prenons un jus pour la pause.

a / an (masculine)

nous

we / us (object pronoun)

pour

for

prendre

to have (a meal/drink) / to take

Questions & Answers about Nous prenons un jus pour la pause.

Why does the French sentence use prenons (we take) instead of a form of avoir (to have)?

In French, you do not use avoir (to have) when talking about consuming food or drinks. Instead, you always use prendre (to take). So, nous prenons un jus literally means "we take a juice," but it is the correct way to say "we are having a juice."

Why did the 'd' from prendre disappear in prenons?

Prendre is an irregular verb. While the standard -ons ending for the nous (we) form is there, the base of the word changes. For plural forms like nous prenons and vous prenez, the 'd' from the infinitive prendre is dropped entirely.

Does French have a separate tense to say "we are having" instead of just "we have"?

No, French only has one present tense. Nous prenons translates to "we have", "we are having", or "we do have". You simply choose the most natural English translation based on what is happening in the sentence.

Why does jus have an 's' at the end if the sentence says un jus (a juice)? Is it plural?

It is singular here! The word jus naturally ends in an 's' even in its singular form. This final 's' is completely silent. If you wanted to talk about multiple juices, the spelling stays exactly the same: des jus (some juices).