Verbs without Prepositions

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		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		to send
essayer		to try on
estimer		to assess, estimate
grignoter		to nibble on
habiter (optional à)		to live in
ignorer		to be unaware of
inviter		to invite (someone)
mettre		to put on
monter		to go up, climb
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

 Related lessons

• Infinitives
• Nouns
• Prepositions
• Verbs
• Verbs with prepositions

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