Verbs without Prepositions

French verbs that do not require a preposition

French verbs w/o prepositions
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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

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French verbs that do not require prepositions

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