Verbs with de

French verbs requiring a preposition

French verbs with prepositions
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A number of French verbs require the preposition de in front of a noun or infinitive.

Verb + de + noun

s’agir de   to be a question of
s’apercevoir de   to notice
approcher de   to approach
arriver de (Paris, Canada)   to arrive from (Paris, Canada)
avoir besoin de   to need
avoir envie de   to want
avoir l’habitude de   to be used to, in the habit of
avoir peur de   to be afraid of
changer de (train)   to change (trains)
convaincre de   to convince of
couvrir de   to cover with
dĂ©border de (informal)   to be bursting with
dĂ©munir (qqun) de   to deprive (s.o.) of
dĂ©pendre de   to depend on
douter de   to doubt
Ă©crire de (la main gauche)   to write with (the left hand)
s’emparer de   to grab
s’Ă©tonner de   to be amazed by
fĂ©liciter de   to congratulate
hĂ©riter de   to inherit
jouer de   to play (an instrument)
jouir de   to enjoy
manquer de   to lack
se mĂ©fier de   to distrust, beware of
se moquer de   to make fun of
s’occuper de   to be busy with
partir de   to leave
se passer de   to do without
penser de   to have an opinion about
se plaindre de   to complain about
profiter de   to make the most of
punir de   to punish for
raffoler de   to love, be crazy about
recompenser de   to reward for
remercier de   to thank for
se rendre compte de   to realize
rĂȘver de   to dream of, desire
rire de   to laugh at
servir de   to put to use as
se servir de   to use
se soucier de   to care about
se souvenir de   to remember
tenir de   to take after, resemble
se tromper de   to mistake
vivre de   to live on

  Replacing de + noun

De plus a noun can be replaced by the adverbial pronoun en.
  Je joue de la guitare. > J’en joue.   I play the guitar. > I play it.
  Il m’a fĂ©licitĂ© de ma dĂ©couverte. > Il m’en a fĂ©licitĂ©.   He congratulated me for my discovery. > He congratulated me for it.

Verb + de + infinitive

Note that this construction may be equivalent to an English infinitive (e.g., to do) or a gerund (doing).

accepter de   to accept, agree to
accuser (quelqu’un) de   to accuse (someone) of
achever de   to finish ___-ing
s’agir de   to be a question of ___-ing
(s’)arrĂȘter de   to stop ___-ing
attendre de   to wait to
avertir (qqun) de (ne pas)   to warn (someone) (not) to
avoir peur de   to be afraid of ___-ing
blĂąmer (qqun) de   to blame (someone) for ___-ing
cesser de   to stop, cease ___-ing
choisir de   to choose to
commander (Ă  qqun) de   to order (someone) to
commencer de*   to start to / ___-ing
conseiller de   to advise to
se contenter de   to be happy ___-ing
continuer de*   to continue to / ___-ing
convenir de   to agree to
craindre de   to fear ___-ing
dĂ©cider de   to decide to
dĂ©fendre (Ă  quelqu’un) de   to forbid (someone) to do s.t.
se dĂ©lecter de   to delight in ___-ing
demander (Ă  quelqu’un) de   to ask (someone) to do something
se dĂ©pĂȘcher de   to hurry to
dĂ©ranger quelqu’un de   to bother someone to
dire (Ă  quelqu’un) de   to tell (someone) to do something
s’efforcer de   to endeavor, try one’s best to
empĂȘcher de   to prevent, keep from ___-ing
s’empresser de   to hurry to
ennuyer quelqu’un de   to bother/upset someone to
essayer de   to try to
ĂȘtre (adjective / past participle) de   to be (adj / ___ed) to
s’excuser de   to apologize for ___-ing
fĂ©liciter de   to congratulate for ___-ing
finir de   to finish ___-ing
se hĂąter de   to hurry to
manquer de   to neglect, fail to
mĂ©riter de   to deserve to
offrir de   to offer to
oublier de   to forget to
(se) permettre de   to allow (oneself) to
persuader de   to persuade to
prendre garde de   to be careful not to
prendre le parti de   to decide to
se presser de   to hurry to
prier de   to beg to
promettre de   to promise to
proposer de   to suggest ___-ing
refuser de   to refuse to
regretter de   to regret ___-ing
remercier de   to thank for ___-ing
rĂȘver de   to dream of ___-ing
risquer de   to risk ___-ing
se soucier de   to care about ___-ing
se souvenir de   to remember ___-ing
supplier de   to be / beseech
tĂącher de   to try to
venir de (faire quelque chose)   to have just (done something)

* Can also be followed by Ă  with exactly the same meaning.

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French verbs with de

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1 Response

  1. hari 26 May 2017 / 11:28

    Bonjour! Je me suis toujours servi de vos lecons depuis que j’ai commencĂ© Ă  apprendre le francais. Maintenant Ă©tant Ă©tudiant de C1, prĂ©parant pour DALF C1, je trouve encore votre site beaucoup plus intĂ©ressant et toujours le meilleur. Merci beaucoup de tous vos efforts 🙂 je vous en remercie beaucoup.

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