Attendre means “to wait” or “to wait for”. When it is followed by que and a second verb, that second verb must go into the subjunctive mood, because the event being waited for has not happened yet and is not certain from the speaker’s point of view. This is the same logic behind other French expressions of wish, doubt or emotion, which also take the subjunctive.

Basic structure

Attendre que is followed by a subject and a verb in the subjunctive.

• J’attends que tu finisses. – “I’m waiting for you to finish.”
• Nous attendons qu’il arrive. – “We are waiting for him to arrive.”
• Elle attend que le bus parte. – “She is waiting for the bus to leave.”
• Ils attendent que la pluie s’arrête. – “They are waiting for the rain to stop.”
• Attends que je sois prêt. – “Wait until I’m ready.”
• Attendez qu’on vous appelle. – “Wait until you are called.”

Attendre que versus attendre de

Attendre que is used when the person waiting and the person carrying out the second action are different. When they are the same person, French uses attendre de followed by an infinitive instead, and the subjunctive is not needed.

• J’attends de partir. – “I’m waiting to leave.”
• J’attends qu’il parte. – “I’m waiting for him to leave.”
• Il attend d’avoir son diplôme. – “He is waiting to get his diploma.”
• Elle attend que j’aie mon diplôme. – “She is waiting for me to get my diploma.”

Negative form

The negative is formed in the usual way, with ne and pas around the verb attendre. The subjunctive still follows que.

• Je n’attends pas qu’il vienne. – “I’m not waiting for him to come.”
• N’attends pas qu’il soit trop tard. – “Don’t wait until it’s too late.”
• Nous n’attendons pas que tu sois d’accord. – “We’re not waiting for you to agree.”

Talking about a completed action

When the action being waited for needs to be finished, rather than simply happening, French uses the past subjunctive.

• J’attends qu’il ait terminé. – “I’m waiting for him to have finished.”
• Nous attendrons qu’ils soient arrivés. – “We will wait until they have arrived.”
• Elle attend que nous ayons mangé. – “She is waiting for us to have eaten.”

A common idiom

• Attendre que les poules aient des dents. – “To wait for hens to grow teeth.”

This phrase is used the way English speakers say “to wait for pigs to fly”, for something that will never happen.

Synonyms and alternative expressions

• En attendant que – “while waiting for”
• Jusqu’à ce que – “until”
• Patienter jusqu’à ce que – “to wait patiently until”
• S’attendre à ce que – “to expect that”

Jusqu’à ce que and en attendant que both also take the subjunctive and can often replace attendre que with a small change in emphasis, putting the focus on the point in time rather than the act of waiting.

• Reste ici jusqu’à ce qu’il revienne. – “Stay here until he comes back.”
• Elle a lu un livre en attendant que le train arrive. – “She read a book while waiting for the train to arrive.”

S’attendre à ce que looks similar but means something different. It expresses expectation or anticipation, not the act of waiting itself.

• Je m’attends à ce qu’il pleuve demain. – “I expect it will rain tomorrow.”
• Nous nous attendons à ce qu’elle refuse. – “We expect that she will refuse.”

Summary

Attendre que means “to wait for” something to happen, and the verb that follows que goes into the subjunctive because the outcome is not yet certain. When the person waiting and the person acting are the same, French uses attendre de with an infinitive instead. The past subjunctive is used when the action needs to be complete before the waiting ends. Related expressions such as jusqu’à ce que and en attendant que work in a similar way, while s’attendre à ce que expresses expectation rather than waiting.