4.23 The infinitive after verbs — à, de, or nothing — Epoché
What you will be able to do Join a verb to a following infinitive with à , with de , or with nothing, for forty-eight common verbs. Tell apart commencer à , finir de and aimer with no preposition, the three patterns in their simplest form. Use the pairs whose meaning changes with the preposition: venir and venir de , penser and penser à . Choose between il est facile de dire and c'est facile à dire . See where English to and -ing correspond to the French patterns, and where they do not. Sentences from this lesson, before the explanation. Read the French aloud; all of them come back below. French English Cela semble devenir difficile de trouver un bon emploi. [1] It seems to be becoming hard to get a good job. J'hésite à mettre le sujet sur la table avec elle. [2] I hesitate to broach the subject with her. Il semble qu'il ait quelque chose à voir avec le sujet. [3] It seems that he has something to do with the matter. Il s'est arrêté de neiger. [4] It's stopped snowing. J'ai décidé de ne pas déménager en Australie. [5] I've decided not to move to Australia. Prerequisites : 4.22 — the last part of 4.22 Grammar showed that English -ing is very often a French infinitive. This lesson is about what goes between a verb and that infinitive. You also need the prepositions à and de from 4.7 Grammar . When one verb is followed by another, English chooses between to and -ing : I want to leave , I stopped smoking , I began to cry or I began crying . When one verb is followed directly by another, French always uses the infinitive; the choice is whether to put à , de or nothing between them. Je veux partir , j'ai arrêté de fumer , je commence à comprendre . There is no rule that predicts the choice reliably, though there are tendencies, and this lesson points them out. In the end the preposition is part of the verb, like the particle of an English phrasal verb, and has to be learned with it. That is why this lesson gives a list and asks you to learn it: forty-eight verbs, all of them common. How English does it English to does not tell you which French preposition to use. I want to is je veux with nothing; I'm learning to is j'apprends à ; I forgot to is j'ai oublié de . Three English sentences with to , three French patterns. English -ing after a verb does not tell you either. I stopped laughing is j'ai arrêté de rire ; I hate dancing is je déteste danser ; I'm used to doing is je suis habitué à faire . Again three patterns. English modal verbs correspond to French verbs with nothing. I can and I must are followed by a bare infinitive in English, and their French equivalents pouvoir and devoir take a bare infinitive too; so does vouloir , although English want needs to . This is the one place where English is a reliable guide. English come and see and go and get are a bare infinitive in French. Viens voir , va chercher : verbs of movement take the infinitive directly, with no and and no preposition. English to have just done is venir de . Je viens de manger means I've just eaten , not I come from eating . Without de , je viens manger means I'm coming to eat . The preposition changes the meaning completely. The forty-eight verbs Learn this list in three columns. The tendencies are given after each group. Nothing between the verbs Verb Meaning with an infinitive vouloir , pouvoir , devoir , savoir to want to, can, must, to know how to aimer , adorer , détester , préférer to like, love, hate, prefer doing espérer , compter , oser , sembler to hope to, intend to, dare to, seem to aller , venir , falloir , laisser to go and, come and, be necessary to, let Modal verbs, verbs of liking, verbs of intending and verbs of movement. If a verb expresses a wish, an ability or an attitude towards the action, it is likely to be in this group. À between the verbs Verb Meaning with an infinitive commencer à , se mettre à , continuer à to begin to, start to, go on doing apprendre à , réussir à , chercher à to learn to, manage to, try to aider à , inviter à , hésiter à to help to, invite to, hesitate to tenir à , penser à , passer son temps à to be keen to, think of doing, spend one's time doing s'habituer à , avoir du mal à to get used to doing, have trouble doing The à verbs often point towards an aim or describe an effort in progress: beginning, learning, managing, trying, helping. The preposition keeps something of its meaning of direction. De between the verbs Verb Meaning with an infinitive finir de , arrêter de , venir de to finish doing, stop doing, have just done essayer de , décider de , choisir de to try to, decide to, choose to oublier de , refuser de , accepter de to forget to, refuse to, agree to éviter de , mériter de , rêver de to avoid doing, deserve to, dream of doing promettre de , demander (à quelqu'un) de , se dépêcher de to promise to, ask (someone) to, hurry to avoir besoin de , avoir envie de , avoir peur de to need to, feel like doing, be afraid of doing The largest group. The de verbs often express stopping, finishing or moving away from something, and the three phrases with avoir and a noun all take de , because a noun is joined to what follows by de : le besoin de , l'envie de . When you meet a new verb and do not know, de is the better guess. The three patterns in corpus sentences With nothing French English J'espère participer. [6] I hope to participate. Je préfère lire. [7] I prefer to read. Je déteste voler. [8] I hate flying. Je compte aller là-bas. [9] I intend to go there. Je n'ose pas regarder. [10] I daren't look. Il semble être riche. [11] It seems that he is rich. Viens voir ça. [12] Come and see this. The English glosses here use to three times, -ing once, a bare verb once, and once and that once. The French uses the bare infinitive every time. With à French English Je commence à comprendre. [13] I am beginning to understand. Il commence à neiger. [14] It's starting to snow. Il se mit à pleurer. [15] He started to cry. J'apprends à chanter. [16] I'm learning to sing. J'ai réussi à