You’ve mastered the passé composé. You can distinguish between c’est and il est. You might even be rolling your ‘r’s with a certain Parisian flair. You’re feeling confident. And then, you hit the wall. The infamous, seemingly random, and utterly maddening question: should this verb be followed by à, de, or nothing at all?
Is it j’essaie de comprendre or j’essaie à comprendre? Why do you commence à parler but arrête de parler? If you’ve ever stared at a sentence, frozen in a state of prepositional panic, you are not alone. This is one of the most persistent hurdles for French learners, a nuance that separates the beginner from the advanced speaker. But don’t despair! While there’s no single magic formula, we can demystify this grammatical gremlin. Let’s break down the verbs, provide some handy cheat sheets, and offer a few memory tricks to finally put this ghost to rest.
Let’s start with the good news. A significant group of common French verbs requires no preposition at all before a following infinitive. These are your best friends. They are often verbs that express a desire, a feeling, a preference, or a sense of obligation (modal-like verbs). They also include verbs of perception.
The structure is simple: [conjugated verb] + [infinitive].
Je veux manger une crêpe. (I want to eat a crêpe.)
Elle préfère rester à la maison. (She prefers to stay home.)
Nous devons partir maintenant. (We must leave now.)
Now we enter the realm of prepositions. The first team is sponsored by à. While there’s no foolproof rule, you can think of à as representing a movement or orientation towards a goal or action. Many of these verbs involve starting, helping, succeeding, or encouraging an action.
The structure is: [conjugated verb] + à + [infinitive].
Le bébé apprend à marcher. (The baby is learning to walk.)
Elle m’aide à peindre le mur. (She is helping me to paint the wall.)
J’ai enfin réussi à ouvrir le bocal. (I finally succeeded in opening the jar.)
Our second prepositional team is led by de. Conceptually, you can think of de as expressing a separation, origin, or source. Many of these verbs involve stopping, finishing, deciding, or advising *about* an action. It’s the “of” or “from” of verb constructions.
The structure is: [conjugated verb] + de + [infinitive].
S’il vous plaît, arrêtez de parler. (Please, stop talking.)
J’ai décidé de changer de travail. (I’ve decided to change jobs.)
Il a promis de m’appeler. (He promised to call me.)
This is where things get truly French. Some verbs can take either à or de, and sometimes this changes the meaning, while other times it’s a subtle matter of style.
Rule of thumb: When in doubt with these three, à is usually your safest bet for modern, spoken French.
This is where your attention to detail really pays off. The preposition can completely alter the sentence.
If your head is spinning, take a deep breath. You are not expected to memorize these lists overnight. The conceptual links—à for “towards” and de for “from/of”—can be a helpful guide, but they aren’t strict laws.
The real secret? Massive input and active use.
Ultimately, don’t let the fear of choosing the wrong preposition haunt you or stop you from speaking. A French speaker will almost always understand you whether you say j’hésite de partir or j’hésite à partir. Getting it right is a sign of polish and fluency, and with time and practice, you’ll get there. Bon courage !
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