piétiner v attendre

Question

In my experience piétiner is often a good translation for "wait", especially where it's an aggravately wait that leaves you walking up and down. A little guidance on this might be helpful..........max

Cécile Janty-Davies · Accepted Answer

The verbs 'attendre' and 'patienter' are not interchangeable.
Attendre can be transitive (it has an object) and intransitive (no object).
Patienter is intransitive only.
J'ai attendu pendant vingt minutes. = I waited for twenty minutes.
Nous attendons Michel à la gare. = We are waiting for Michel at the station.
Patienter is to wait for a certain time with patience.
e.g.
As used on the phone, "Veuillez patienter s'il vous plaît." ("Please wait a moment/Please hold on")
Il faut encore patienter quelques semaines pour avoir une réponse.= You have to wait for a few weeks more to get an answer.
Hope this helps!

Cécile Janty-Davies · Answer

Hi Max,
Do you mean 'patienter' which is often used for 'to wait' ?

Max Kime · Answer

Yes.

Max Kime · Answer

merci bien