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French prepositions
The prepositions à and de are found in many verbal constructions that look very similar, but the choice of preposition makes all the difference.
À and de with verbs
The prepositions à and de can be particularly challenging when it comes to using them with verbs.
1) à ≠ de
These nine verbs have different meanings depending on which preposition follows.
| décider qqun à | to persuade, convince | décider de | to decide (to do) | |
| demander à qqun | to ask (for permission) | demander de | to ask (to do) | |
| jouer à | to play a game or sport | jouer de | to play an instrument | |
| manquer à qqun | to miss (someone) | manquer de | to neglect (to do) | |
| parler à qqun | to talk to | parler de | to talk about | |
| penser à | to think about (imagine) | penser de | to think about (opinion) | |
| profiter à | to benefit | profiter de | to make the most of | |
| tenir à | to care about | tenir de | to take after (someone) | |
| venir à | to happen to | venir de | to have just (done) |
Par exemple…
| J’ai décidé de voyager. | I decided to travel. | |
| J’ai décidé ma sœur à me rejoindre. | I convinced my sister to join me. |
2) à + de
Nine verbs can use à and de together in the following construction:
verb + à + quelqu’un + de + infinitive
For eight of these verbs, à indicates who is to do something, while de precedes whatever that something is.
| à qqun | de faire | ||||
| commander | to order | someone | to do | something | |
| conseiller | to advise | " | " | ||
| défendre | to forbid | " | " | ||
| demander | to ask | " | " | ||
| dire | to tell | " | " | ||
| interdire | to forbid | " | " | ||
| ordonner | to order | " | " | ||
| permettre | to allow | " | " | ||
So for the above verbs, the "someone" after à (or replaced by an indirect object pronoun) is the person who is supposed to perform the action after de.
Par exemple…
| Il a conseillé à Ana de partir immédiatement. | He advised Ana to leave immediately. | |
| Je te dis de manger les épinards. | I’m telling you to eat the spinach. |
The ninth verb, promettre, is a little different: the person doing the action after de is the same as the subject. À precedes the person who is promised that action.
Par exemple…
| Elle a promis à Paul de dire la vérité. | She promised Paul that she’d tell the truth. | |
| Je te promets de finir mes devoirs. | I promise you I’ll finish my homework. |
3) à = de
After these verbs, either preposition can be used with no real difference in meaning.
| commencer à commencer de |
to start (doing) | |
| continuer à continuer de |
to continue (doing) | |
| prendre garde à prendre garde de |
to be careful to | |
| rêver à rêver de |
to dream of, about |
À and de in phrases
A few phrases look similar but have different meanings depending on the preposition.
| à côté | nearby, next to | de côté | sideways | |
| à côté de | next to, beside | du côté de | from (direction) | |
| à la hauteur | at the level | [un mètre] de hauteur | [one meter] tall |
À vs de Quizzes
Think you’ve got it? Test yourself on verbs with à and de with these fill-in-the-blanks exercises:
Note: You must be logged into your Progress with Lawless French account to take these tests. If you don’t have one, sign up – it’s free!
Related lessons
- All about à | Verbs that require à
- All about de | Verbs that require de
- À vs de after adjectives
- Infinitives
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