Verbs taking à, de, or no preposition
When verbs in French are followed by an infinitive, the first conjugated verb is either followed by the preposition à or the preposition de, or no preposition (i.e. the infinitive comes straight after the conjugated verb).
Unfortunately, like every language, there are certain things which simply need to be memorised, like irregular verb conjugations…and which verbs take à, de, and no preposition! If you have a good paper dictionary (which I definitely suggest - check out the one I have here) the preposition it takes (if any) is usually listed next to the verb in question. But start with the long list of the most commonly used constructions I have at the bottom of this post.
Confused? Here’s some examples to illustrate what I’m saying.
J’ai décidé de rester à la maison aujourd’hui - I decided to stay at home today.
The construction you must learn off-by-heart is décider de, otherwise if you write J’ai décidé rester à la maison or J’ai décidé à rester à la maison, you would be incorrect.
Mes parents ont appris à m’accepter comme je suis - My parents have learnt to accept me as I am.
apprendre à faire qch (or just ‘apprendre à’) is the construction, which means every time we want to use the verb apprendre followed by an infinitive, we must employ the preposition à.
**Don’t confuse yourself though, sentences like J’apprends le français are 100% correct, because a noun and not an infinitive follows our verb. I.e. when we are learning a ‘thing’ we do not need a preposition, but when we are learning to ‘do’ something, we use à.
Il a conseillé à Jean de voir un psychiatre - He advised John to see a psychiatrist.
conseiller à qn de faire qch is our construction here. We have not one, but two prepositions. One that precedes the person to whom we are offering advice, and the second which precedes our infinitive. I ‘advise TO’ someone in French. This means the person who is being given advice becomes the indirect object, because à indicates an indirect object is to follow. Make sure you know your indirect object pronouns! If I want to say “He advised me to see…” I will use the indirect object pronoun “me” to say Il m’a conseillé de voir… If I want to say “He advised them”, it becomes Il leur a conseillé de voir… In all cases, the verb conseiller is followed by the preposition de.
3. CONSTRUCTIONS WITH NO PREPOSITION.
J’espère visiter la France l’année prochaine - I hope to visit France next year.
espérer qch is what we will find on the attached list. We see that no preposition separates it from the infinitive.
Eventually, this will become second nature to you and with enough practise (and reading!) you will know what sounds and looks right and you will cringe when the incorrect preposition is used. It certainly takes time to memorise all the constructions, and I don’t think memorising the attached list in that form is the way to go…I only came across this list once I was familiar with 80% of the constructions, and I think it’s better to learn them as you learn the language. My tips for this grammar point are as follows:
~ When learning verbs for the first time, write out the preposition they take. It is certainly not ideal to just learn the verb in its infinitive form without anything following it (unless, of course, the verb takes no preposition). It’s always best to also write a sample sentence under your vocabulary item. I.e. I would write out:
essayer de – to try to – j’essaie à apprendre le français
~ When composing a piece of writing in French, make sure you check the verbs you’re using, and those which are followed by an infinitive, refer to the attached list to ensure you are using the correct construction.
~ Learn the lists in pieces, not all at once, otherwise they will go straight over your head. Try memorising maybe five constructions a week, by writing five sentences with each verbal construction and committing these sentences to heart, rather than just the construction itself (this will stick better!).
~ Don’t worry about making mistakes! I still do sometimes, after 14 years of learning French! Of all the mistakes you could make, this is a *relatively* small one. Just be aware that this is something you need to learn and don’t be afraid to ask a French speaker if what you said was correct.
Other lists can be found here (for à) and here (for de). Remember no list is complete, but the most common ones are covered. Starting your own list and adding to it each time you come across a new construction is a great idea!
