Je prends des espèces au distributeur de billets.

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Breakdown of Je prends des espèces au distributeur de billets.

• prendre: to take
• au: at the (masculine singular)
• les espèces: cash

Questions & Answers about Je prends des espèces au distributeur de billets.

Why is it je prends and not je prend?

Because prendre is an irregular verb.

With je, the present-tense form is je prends:

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

So the -s in prends is just the correct je form.

What does prendre mean here? I thought it meant to take.

It usually does mean to take, but in French it can also be used in situations where English would use a different verb.

In this sentence, prendre des espèces means something like to get cash or to take out cash.

That said, in very natural modern French, people often say:

• retirer de l’argent
• retirer des espèces

So prendre works, but retirer is often more idiomatic for withdrawing money from an ATM.

Why does it say des espèces?