How to Conjugate "Emmener" (to Take)

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Similar to the verb, amener (to take or bring)emmener also means "to take" in French. This may be a simple verb, but conjugating it to the past, present, or future tense can be a little complicated. There are a few things to watch out for, which we'll examine in a short French lesson.

Conjugating the French Verb Emmener

When a verb ends with -e_er like emmener, the spelling needs to be changed for some of the conjugations. These are called stem-changing verbs and in many cases, the second 'E' changes to an accented è. While this may not make much difference in the pronunciation, it certainly does when you're writing it.

If you pay attention to that small detail, the rest of the conjugations are easy. The infinitive endings that are attached to the verb stem are similar to those found in regular -er verbs, which make up the majority in the French language. If you have a few of those memorized, simply apply those endings to emmener.

To conjugate emmener to mean "taking," "will take," or "took,match the subject pronoun to the appropriate tense. For instance, "I am taking" is "j'emmène" while "we will take" is "nous emmènerons." Practicing each of these in sample sentences will help you memorize them.

Subject Present Future Imperfect
j' emmène emmènerai emmenais
tu emmènes emmèneras emmenais
il emmène emmènera emmenait
nous emmenons emmènerons emmenions
vous emmenez emmènerez emmeniez
ils emmènent emmèneront emmenaient

The Present Participle of Emmener

For emmener, the present participle is emmenant. There is no change to the verb stem, instead we simply add the ending -ant. Not only is this a verb, it may be used as an adjective, gerund, or noun as well.

The Past Participle and Passé Composé

The past tense can be formed using either the imperfect or the passé composé. To construct the latter, conjugate the auxiliary verb avoir, then attach the past participle emmené. As an example, "I took" is "j'ai emmené" and "we took" is "nous avons emmené."

More Simple Emmener Conjugations

There are a few more common conjugations of emmener that you may need to know. However, those discussed above should be a priority in your studies.

When the verb's action is not guaranteed, you might use the subjunctive verb mood. Similarly, the conditional verb mood is used when something else needs to occur in order for the "taking" to happen. In formal writing, you might also encounter the passé simple or the imperfect subjunctive.

Subject Subjunctive Conditional Passé Simple Imperfect Subjunctive
j' emmène emmènerais emmenai emmenasse
tu emmènes emmènerais emmenas emmenasses
il emmène emmènerait emmena emmenât
nous emmenions emmènerions emmenâmes emmenassions
vous emmeniez emmèneriez emmenâtes emmenassiez
ils emmènent emmèneraient emmenèrent emmenassent

The imperative verb form is used for requests and demands. When using it, keep things short and sweet and drop the subject pronoun: use "emmène" rather than "tu emmène."

Imperative
(tu) emmène
(nous) emmenons
(vous) emmenez
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Team, ThoughtCo. "How to Conjugate "Emmener" (to Take)." ThoughtCo, Dec. 6, 2021, thoughtco.com/emmener-to-take-1370209. Team, ThoughtCo. (2021, December 6). How to Conjugate "Emmener" (to Take). Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/emmener-to-take-1370209 Team, ThoughtCo. "How to Conjugate "Emmener" (to Take)." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/emmener-to-take-1370209 (accessed March 28, 2024).