French Verbs without Prepositions - Lawless French Grammar

French verbs that do not require a preposition


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While many French verbs require a specific preposition in front of a noun or infinitive, others don’t – even when a preposition is needed in the English equivalent.

Verb + noun

apercevoir		to catch sight of
appeler qqun		to call someone
approuver		to approve of
attendre		to wait for
chercher		to look for
côtoyer		to be next to
craindre		to fear
demander		to ask for
descendre		to go down
devoir		to owe (money)
écouter		to listen to
emmener		to take
entendre		to hear
envoyer qqch		to send something
essayer		to try on
estimer		to assess, estimate
grignoter		to nibble on
habiter (optional à)		to live in
ignorer		to be unaware of
inviter qqun		to invite someone
mettre		to put on
monter		to go up, climb
motiver qqun		to motivate someone
payer		to pay for
pleurer		to cry about
préférer		to prefer
prier		to pray to
puer		to stink of
regarder		to look at
reprocher qqch		to criticize (s.o.) for s.t.
réussir		to succeed at, pull off
risquer		to risk
sentir		to smell of, to feel
soigner		to take care of
subir		to be subjected to
voir		to see
vouloir		to want

Verb + infinitive

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

adorer	to love to
aimer	to like to
aller	to go, to be going to	(learn more)
avoir beau	despite doing, however much (one) does
compter	to expect, intend to
croire	to think that	(learn more)
daigner	to deign, condescend to
désirer	to want to
détester	to hate ___-ing
devoir	must, to have to, be obliged to	(learn more)
écouter	to listen to
entendre	to hear ___-ing	(verbs of perception)
espérer	to hope to
être censé	to be supposed to
faillir	to almost do something	(learn more)
faire	to make (s.o.) do	(causative construction)
falloir	to be necessary to	(learn more)
se figurer	to imagine, picture ___-ing
s’imaginer	to imagine ___-ing
laisser	to allow/let (s.o.) do
nier	to deny ___-ing
oser	to dare to
paraître	to appear to
penser	to plan on, intend to
pouvoir	to be able to	(learn more)
préférer	to prefer to
prétendre	to claim to
regarder	to watch (s.o.) ___-ing	(verbs of perception)
savoir	to know how to	(learn more)
sembler	to seem to
sentir	to feel (s.o.) ___-ing	(verbs of perception)
souhaiter	to wish to
valoir mieux	to be preferable to
voir	to see (s.o.) ___-ing	(verbs of perception)
vouloir	to want to