Today we are going to talk about verbs that are built with the prepositions “à” or “de” in French.
Some verbs are often followed by another verb. When this is the case we use a preposition.
Some of these verbs are always built with “à” and others always with “de”. It is therefore important to learn the infinitive verb with its preposition. I will give you a list of the most common verbs with preposition. But first let’s look at an important rule:
After a preposition the verb goes to the infinitive.
Example:
with a noun: “j’ai envie de voyager en France”
With a verb with a preposition: “J’ai oublié de fermer la porte.”
Here are the main verbs that are built with “de”:
Arrêter de (To stop)
Essayer de (To try to)
Finir de (To finish)
Oublier de (To forget)
Refuser de (Refuse to)
Rêver de (Dream of)
s’arrêter de (stop to)
se dépêcher de (hurry to)
regretter de (regret to)
Here are the main verbs that are built with “à”
Apprendre à (To learn to)
Aider quelqu’un à (Help someone to)
Arriver à (To arrive at)
Chercher à (Seek to)
Commencer à (Begin to)
Continuer à (Continue to)
Hésiter à (Hesitate to)
Réussir à (Succeed in)
Some examples:
Pour apprendre à parler le français il faut prendre des leçons
To learn to speak French you need to take lessons
Pour commencer à étudier il faut de la passion
To start studying you need passion
To go further and boost your French I recommend you check my video course, or if you want me as your teacher ( My advice: 2+ lessons a week for optimal learning) contact me for a private lesson
Other Resources: http://www.columbia.edu/~ab410/drills.html
