Sept personnes attendent.

French numbers do not usually change form for plural. Sept always stays sept, whether it is counting one thing or many things.

So:

• sept personnes = seven people
• sept jours = seven days

There is no extra plural ending added to sept.

Because it refers to more than one person. In French, nouns usually take -s in the plural.

Here:

• une personne = one person
• des personnes = people / persons
• sept personnes = seven people

Even though the final -s is usually not pronounced, it is still required in writing.

After a number, French normally does not use an article.

So you say:

• sept personnes
• trois enfants
• dix livres

Not:

• les sept personnes unless you specifically mean the seven people
• des sept personnes in this basic counting use

In Sept personnes attendent, the number itself already introduces the noun, so no article is needed.

Because the subject is plural: sept personnes.

The verb attendre must agree with its subject:

• une personne attend = one person is waiting
• sept personnes attendent = seven people are waiting

So attendent is the third person plural form, used with they-type subjects.

In a basic French sentence, the usual order is:

subject + verb

So in:

• Sept personnes attendent

the subject is Sept personnes, and the verb is attendent.

This is just like English word order in:

• Seven people are waiting.

No. In regular -er, -ir, and many -re verb forms, the -ent ending of the third person plural is usually silent.

So attendent is pronounced essentially like attend.

That means:

• il attend
• ils attendent

sound the same in normal speech, even though they are written differently.

Sept is usually pronounced set.

The final p and t are normally not both fully pronounced in isolation in the most basic pronunciation learners are taught; the word sounds like set.

Before a vowel, you may hear liaison in some expressions, but in sept personnes, since personnes begins with a consonant, there is no liaison here.

They are similar, but not always interchangeable.

• personnes is a very general and flexible word meaning people/persons
• gens also means people, but it has some usage restrictions and behaves a bit differently grammatically

In a simple sentence like this, sept personnes is very natural and straightforward for learners. It is often easier to use than gens when counting.

For example:

• sept personnes = seven people

This is completely normal French.

Because attendent already means are waiting or wait, depending on context.

French often expresses ideas with a single verb form where English may use be + -ing.

So:

• Sept personnes attendent can mean Seven people are waiting
• It can also mean Seven people wait, depending on context, though are waiting is the more natural translation in many situations

French does not need a separate word for are in this sentence.

The infinitive is attendre, which means to wait.

A few forms are:

• j’attends = I wait / I am waiting
• tu attends = you wait / you are waiting
• il/elle attend = he/she waits / is waiting
• ils/elles attendent = they wait / are waiting

So attendent comes from attendre.

Because that is not how French normally forms the present continuous idea.

In English, you say:

• Seven people are waiting

But in French, you usually just use the simple present:

• Sept personnes attendent

French does have other ways to stress an ongoing action, such as être en train de, but that would be:

• Sept personnes sont en train d’attendre

That is more emphatic. The normal, natural sentence is simply:

• Sept personnes attendent

Yes. The French present tense often covers both meanings.

So Sept personnes attendent can mean:

• Seven people wait
• Seven people are waiting

In real life, context tells you which English translation sounds best. In most everyday situations, Seven people are waiting is the most natural translation.

The verb agrees with the subject in number and person, not in grammatical gender.

So here the important thing for attendent is that sept personnes is third person plural.

That said, personne is a feminine noun, so if you added an adjective or past participle in a context where gender agreement matters, you would use feminine plural forms.

For example:

• sept personnes patientes = seven patient people

But for the present-tense verb attendent, gender does not change the form—only plurality does.

Yes. That means:

• There are seven people waiting
• literally, There are seven people who are waiting

Compare:

• Sept personnes attendent = Seven people are waiting
• Il y a sept personnes qui attendent = There are seven people waiting

Both are correct, but the second version is a little more explicit and slightly longer. The original sentence is simpler and more direct.