Summary Chapter 18

Prendre 

present: je prends, tu prends, il/elle prend; nous prenons, vous prenez, ils/elles prennent

past participle: pris

passé simple: je pris, tu pris, il/elle prit; nous prîmes, vous prîtes, ils/elles prirent

subjunctive: (two stems) que je prenne, que tu prennes, qu'il/elle prenne, qu'ils/elles prennent; que nous prenions, que vous preniez

Prendre idioms 

prendre à: to take from

[NB: this is not really an idiom, just an "idiomatic" (unEnglish) use of the preposition à ]

prendre congé de quelqu'un: to take leave of someone

prendre un parti: to come to a decision

s'en prendre à: to find fault with, to blame

s'y prendre: to go about something

prendre figure de:  to take the form of

prendre garde à: to take care to

prendre garde de: to take care not to

en prendre son parti: to resign oneself to

Tenir idioms 

tenir à : to desire, to insist on; (with an abstract subject) to depend on

tenir de : to take after, ressemble

se tenir debout : to stand up

se tenir à: to keep at, to remain

tenir pour: to be in favor of, to consider as

s'en tenir à: to be satisfied with, to confine oneself to

tenir compte de: to take into account

NB: tenir is conjugated just like venir

Possessive Pronouns

As with possessive adjectives (e.g. son, sa, ses ...), the indication of gender is derived from the thing possessed, not from the possessor. 

"Le" and "les" in these expressions elide with "à" and "des."

Conjunctions that Introduce the Indicative

some new expressions:

alors que: at the same time when, while

[tandis que is a synonym of alors que]

maintenant que: now that

tant que: as long as

attendu que, vu que: seeing that, whereas

selon que, suivant que: according to whether

à mesure que: in proportion as,  as

de même que.. de même: just as... so

some conjunctions already seen (introducing the indicative) 

après que: after    [NB: avant que requires the subjunctive]

dès que: as soon as

lorsque, quand: when

jusqu'au moment où: until

[NB: jusqu'à ce que (+ subjunctive) : until]

pendant que: while

tandis que: while, whereas

comme: as, since

parce que: because

puisque: since, because

si: if, whether

Conjunctions followed sometimes by the indicative, sometimes by the subjunctive 

de sorte que 

en sorte que 

de façon que

de manière que

All of these expressions have the same general meanings: 'in such a way that, so that.' When the expression implies particular intent, the subjunctive is used; the indicative is used when the result is considered to follow the normal course of events.

The book also mentions the conjunctions tellement or si + adverb/adj. + que which emphasize and particularize the manner in which something is done:

Si vite qu'elle lût le livre, il ne lui restait pas assez de temps. (Concessive)

Elle lut le livre si vite qu'elle avait le temps de relire des passages importants. (Natural consequence)