Learn Hardcore French: J'attends la réponse. - I am waiting for the answer.

J’attends la réponse.
In many contexts this will naturally be understood as
“I’m waiting for your answer” (for example, in an email or a conversation with one person).

If you want to be explicit, you can say:

J’attends ta réponse. (informal “you”)
J’attends votre réponse. (formal or plural “you”)

So:

la réponse = the answer (often: the one we both know we’re talking about)
ta / votre réponse = clearly “your answer”

Why is it J’attends and not something like “I am waiting” with a separate word for “am” and an -ing form?

French does not usually have a special continuous tense like English “I am waiting”.

The simple present covers both:

J’attends la réponse.
= I wait for the answer / I am waiting for the answer

If you really want to emphasize that the action is happening right now, you can say:

Je suis en train d’attendre la réponse.
Literally: “I am in the process of waiting for the answer.”

But in normal conversation, J’attends la réponse is perfectly fine for “I’m waiting for the answer.”

Why is it written J’attends and not Je attends?

In French, je becomes j’ before a word that starts with a vowel sound or a silent h. This is called elision.

je
- attends → j’attends

You do this to make pronunciation smoother:

Je attends (awkward)
J’attends (natural)

More examples:

j’aime (not je aime)
j’habite (not je habite)

How do you pronounce J’attends la réponse?

Approximate pronunciation in IPA:
/ʒa.tɑ̃ la ʁe.pɔ̃s/

Piece by piece:

J’ → /ʒ/ (like the s in measure)
attends → /a.tɑ̃/
- final -ds is silent
la → /la/
réponse → /ʁe.pɔ̃s/
- ré- like “ray”
- -ponse nasal vowel /ɔ̃/ (like “on” in French) + final s pronounced /s/

No compulsory liaison between attends and la: you normally say /a.tɑ̃ la/, not /a.tɑ̃zla/ in everyday speech.

Why is it la réponse and not le réponse?

Every French noun has a grammatical gender: masculine or feminine.

réponse is a feminine noun.
The feminine singular definite article is la.

So:

la réponse = the answer
une réponse = an answer

If it were masculine, you’d use le or un, but réponse is always feminine: la / une réponse.

What is the difference between J’attends la réponse and J’attends une réponse?

The article changes the nuance:

J’attends la réponse.
→ You and the listener know which specific answer you’re talking about.
(e.g. the answer to a particular question, an email reply you’re expecting.)
J’attends une réponse.
→ You are waiting for some answer, not specified which.
It focuses more on the fact of eventually getting an answer from someone.

So:

la réponse = a particular, identified answer
une réponse = an answer (any answer)

Can J’attends la réponse ever mean “I expect an answer”?

It can, depending on tone and context.

attendre basically means “to wait for”, but in real usage it often carries a sense of expectation:

J’attends la réponse.
→ I’m waiting for the answer.
→ I’m expecting an answer. (implied: I believe/assume I will get one)

If you want to clearly say “I expect an answer”, French often uses:

J’attends une réponse de ta part / de votre part.
Je m’attends à une réponse. (more literally “I expect an answer”)

Still, in many contexts J’attends la réponse can sound like “I expect an answer (from you).”

What is the difference between attendre and espérer?

They are not interchangeable:

attendre = to wait (for)
Physical or temporal waiting.
- J’attends la réponse.
  I’m waiting for the answer.
espérer = to hope (for), to hope that
Emotional hope, wish.
- J’espère une réponse.
  I hope for an answer.
- J’espère que tu répondras.
  I hope you’ll answer.

So you wait with attendre, and you hope with espérer.
You can do both:

J’attends la réponse et j’espère qu’elle sera positive.
I’m waiting for the answer and I hope it will be positive.

How is attendre conjugated? What are the other present-tense forms?

attendre is a regular -re verb. Present tense:

j’attends – I wait / I am waiting
tu attends – you wait (informal singular)
il / elle / on attend – he / she / one waits
nous attendons – we wait
vous attendez – you wait (formal or plural)
ils / elles attendent – they wait

Only the nous / vous forms clearly show the -d-; for others, the -d / -ds / -dent are silent in speech.

How would you make J’attends la réponse negative?

Use ne … pas (or n’ … pas before a vowel sound) around the verb:

Je n’attends pas la réponse.
= I am not waiting for the answer.

Structure:

Je (subject)
n’ … pas around attends (verb)
la réponse (object)

So: Je n’attends pas la réponse.

How do you replace la réponse with a pronoun in J’attends la réponse?

You use the direct object pronoun la (feminine singular) and put it before the verb:

J’attends la réponse.
Je l’attends. (because la → l’ before a vowel sound)

So:

la réponse → la → l’ in front of attends
Je l’attends. = I’m waiting for it (the answer).

Can you say just J’attends without saying la réponse?

Yes, you can omit the object if it’s obvious from context:

(Someone knows you’re waiting for an email.)
– Tu fais quoi ? (What are you doing?)
– J’attends. (I’m waiting.)

In isolation, J’attends simply means “I’m waiting”, without specifying for what.
In a sentence like J’attends la réponse, the object is made explicit.

How can I turn J’attends la réponse into a question?

There are three common ways, with increasing formality:

Intonation only (informal speech):
- Tu attends la réponse ?
  (Rising tone at the end.)
Est-ce que (neutral/common):
- Est-ce que tu attends la réponse ?
  Are you waiting for the answer?
Inversion (more formal/written):
- Attends-tu la réponse ?

All three are correct; est-ce que is often the safest for learners.

Is there any polite or more formal way to express this idea in writing, especially in emails?

Yes. In formal emails or letters, French often uses set phrases instead of a bare J’attends la réponse. For example:

Dans l’attente de votre réponse,
Literally: “In the waiting for your answer,” used like “I look forward to your reply.”
J’attends votre réponse avec impatience.
I am eagerly awaiting your reply.

But these are stylistic choices. Grammatically, J’attends la réponse is perfectly correct.