En tout cas, Paul attend.

En tout cas is a very common expression meaning in any case, anyway, or at any rate, depending on context.

In this sentence, it works like a discourse marker: it sets up what the speaker wants to say regardless of what came before. So it can sound like:

• Anyway, Paul is waiting.
• In any case, Paul is waiting.

It does not usually change the basic grammar of the sentence; it just adds a conversational nuance.

The comma is there because en tout cas is being used as an introductory phrase.

It is similar to English punctuation in sentences like:

• Anyway, Paul is waiting.
• In any case, Paul is waiting.

The comma helps separate the introductory expression from the main clause Paul attend.

Because en tout cas is an introductory expression, it comes first, and then the main sentence follows:

• En tout cas = introductory phrase
• Paul attend = main clause

French often does this with expressions like:

• En effet, ...
• Cependant, ...
• D’ailleurs, ...
• En tout cas, ...

So the word order is completely normal.

Attend is the third-person singular present form of the verb attendre.

Here it means waits or is waiting, depending on how you translate it into natural English.

French present tense often covers both:

• Paul waits
• Paul is waiting

English chooses between simple present and present progressive more often than French does.

Because the verb form matches the subject Paul, which is third-person singular.

With attendre in the present tense:

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

So attend matches il/elle/on or a singular noun like Paul.

Yes, but this is a classic false friend situation.

French attendre usually means to wait, not to attend in the English sense of go to or be present at an event.

So:

• Paul attend = Paul is waiting
• not Paul attends

If you want to say attend a class / attend a meeting in French, you often use assister à or another verb depending on context.

In standard French, attend is pronounced approximately ah-tahn.

A few key points:

• the final -d is not pronounced
• the en makes a nasal vowel
• the stress is not strong like in English

So it sounds roughly like a-tan with a nasal ending, not like English attend.

Usually, no. This is an important difference.

In English, you say:

• Paul is waiting for Marie

In French, you usually say:

• Paul attend Marie

So attendre normally takes a direct object without a word for for.

Examples:

• J’attends le bus. = I’m waiting for the bus.
• Nous attendons nos amis. = We’re waiting for our friends.

That is one of the most useful things to remember about attendre.

Yes, but it changes the feel slightly.

• Paul attend is the normal, simple way to say Paul is waiting
• Paul est en train d’attendre emphasizes that the action is in progress right now

So the longer version is possible, but in ordinary French, Paul attend is usually the more natural choice unless you really want to stress the ongoing action.

They can sometimes be similar in English translation, but they are not always identical.

• en tout cas often means in any case / anyway / at any rate
• de toute façon often means anyway / in any event / regardless

En tout cas often sounds like the speaker is summing up or moving on from what was said before.
De toute façon can sound more like regardless or it doesn’t matter, because...

So in this sentence, en tout cas is a very natural choice for in any case / anyway.