Je prends les deux.

Because the verb is prendre and in the present tense, the je form is je prends.

Present tense of prendre:

• je prends
• tu prends
• il / elle / on prend
• nous prenons
• vous prenez
• ils / elles prennent

So je prend is incorrect.

Les deux means both or the two.

In this sentence, the speaker is choosing between two specific things that are already known in the conversation. That is why French uses les.

• Je prends les deux. = I’ll take both / the two.
• Je prends deux croissants. = I’m taking two croissants.

So:

• deux = the number two
• les deux = both / the two ones

Literally, prendre usually means to take, but in everyday French it can also mean things like:

• to choose
• to have
• to order

So in a shop, restaurant, or when selecting items, Je prends les deux can naturally mean:

• I’ll take both
• I’m choosing both

It does not always mean physically grabbing something with your hands.

French only shortens je to j’ before a vowel sound or a mute h.

Examples:

• J’aime
• J’habite

But prends begins with the consonant sound pr-, so you keep je:

• Je prends
• not J’prends in standard writing

In casual speech, people may pronounce it very quickly, but in normal written French it stays je.

A careful pronunciation is roughly:

zhuh prahn lay duh

More exactly in IPA: /ʒə pʁɑ̃ le dø/

A few useful points:

• je sounds like zhuh
• prends ends in a nasal sound; the final -ds is not pronounced
• les sounds like lay
• deux sounds like duh with rounded lips; the x is silent

There is no liaison between les and deux, because deux starts with d, a consonant sound.

No. Les deux stays the same for both masculine and feminine.

Examples:

• Je prends les deux livres.
• Je prends les deux robes.

The word deux does not change for gender, and les is the plural article for both masculine and feminine nouns.

Yes. French present tense often covers ideas that English may express in different ways depending on context.

So Je prends les deux can mean:

• I take both
• I’m taking both
• I’ll take both

In real life, if someone is making a choice right now, English usually translates it as I’ll take both.

This is a very common and important difference.

• Je prends les deux = I’m taking both / the two specific ones
• J’en prends deux = I’m taking two of them

So:

• les deux refers to two specific items already identified
• en
  • deux refers to a quantity, not necessarily those exact two items

Example: If a baker shows you two pastries and you want both of those exact pastries:

• Je prends les deux.

If there are many pastries and you want any two:

• J’en prends deux.

Yes. Je les prends tous les deux is also correct, but it is structured differently.

• Je prends les deux. = I take both / I’ll take both.
• Je les prends tous les deux. = I take them, both of them.

In the second sentence:

• les is a direct object pronoun meaning them
• tous les deux adds emphasis: both of them

This version is a little more explicit or emphatic.

French often expresses the idea of both with les deux or tous les deux rather than with a single word that works exactly like English both in every situation.

So where English says:

• I’ll take both

French commonly says:

• Je prends les deux

This is just a normal difference in how the two languages package the idea.

You put ne ... pas around the verb:

• Je ne prends pas les deux.

That means:

• I’m not taking both
• or, depending on context, I won’t take both

If spoken casually, many people drop ne in conversation:

• Je prends pas les deux.

But in standard written French, use:

• Je ne prends pas les deux.