"I am waiting for my children."

Translation: J'attends mes enfants.

[chelseasupafly]

Why isn't it "J'attends pour mes enfants"?

[Sitesurf]

Because the vrb "attendre" does not construct as the English "wait".
In English, "you wait for someone" (intransitive verb with preposition "for").
In French "vous attendez quelqu'un " (transitive verb)

[carlide]

As in the english "await"?

I await my children. However i cannot await FOR my children.

[Carolfontao]

But in the other example: le tigre attend POUR le repas, why in that case we use the pour and here we don't?

[Sitesurf]

"wait for something/someone" is an indirect verb whereas "attendre quelque chose/quelqu'un" is directly transitive.

Therefore you do not have to translate "for".

[MarianneSt4]

How do I know if a verb in the first form of the present tense should end in -s or not? e.g. j'attends or j'attend I feel that I'm just guessing all the time.

[Sitesurf]

You have to learn conjugations, which are extensive in French:

j'attends, tu attends, il/elle/on attend, nous attendons, vous attendez, ils/elles attendent.

[OmariC.]

But most words seem to add the s for "tu". For example, "J'ai/tu as", "J'aime/tu aimes"..

[Sitesurf]

All verbs at all tenses and moods have an -s when the subject is "tu".

The only exception is in imperative, for verbs of which infinitive ends in -er (1st group)

For "je" all verbs from the 1st group end in -e in indicative present. All other verbs end in -s except "avoir" (j'ai).

[sunchild81]

What is the context is a woman who's expecting twins?
Would that be: "ma femme attend mes enfants", "ma femme attend les enfants".
or "ma femme attend des enfants".
Maybe the first and second convey that message?

[Sitesurf]

She is probably, more simply, waiting for them to come out of school. To avoid any ambiguity, if you mean that your wife is "expecting" your children, you will use: "ma femme est enceinte de (nos) jumeaux"

[KaroonNair]

So is the example given about pregnancy incorrect?

[Sitesurf]

It is not incorrect in absolute, since indeed "expect a child" is "attendre un enfant". But in this sentence, this specific meaning would not work.

Remember that when you hover on words and get a glossary, you are given several translations that can work in a number of instances, but not necessarily the right translation for the sentence you are working on.

[Kwakwerk]

Why is there no preposition des? As in "J'attends des mes enfants". Is there a built in preposition in attendre as in "to wait for"?

[Sitesurf]

Attendre is directly transitive (no preposition)

[imjjill]

How is "I like all my children" the same as "I am waiting for my children?"

[Sitesurf]

Who said so?

[Estefanyo10]

¿why j'attends and not je attends?

[Sitesurf]

EUH-A is quite ugly.

Hence the elision of "je" in front of a verb starting with a vowel or a non aspirate H

[sisonju]

why not je suis attendre pour mes enfants?

[Sitesurf]

I am waiting is a continous present tense.
French does not have continuous tenses.
Therefore "I am waiting" and "I wait" can translate to a simple present tense "j'attends".

Besides, unlike "to wait for someone/something" the verb "attendre" does not need a preposition to introduce its object, so "attendre quelqu'un/quelque chose".

[srivz]

it says mark all correct answers and even underlined all so when i saw that option two and three were both J'attends mes enfants. i selected both two and three and it says i'm wrong cuz the real answer is J'attends mes enfants.

[Kyra198619]

What is the difference between 'mes'& -mon'

[Sitesurf]

Please read the rest of the thread.

[LeeIzickov]

It supposed to be j'attend, wihhout rhe s on the ebd couse the s is only for second person - tu attends.

[Sitesurf]

"Je" also adds an -s at the end of all regular verbs of which infinitive does not end in -er

• je finis
• j'attends
• je dors

[TiaD13]

How do you know when to use mon and mes?

[Lumieris]

why not J'attends mes enfants.= i am expecting my children=i am bearing my children?