French verbs with the preposition de - Lawless French Grammar

French verbs requiring a preposition


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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
déborder de	(informal)	to be bursting with
démunir (qqun) de		to deprive (s.o.) of
dépendre de		to depend on
douter de		to doubt
écrire de (la main gauche)		to write with (the left hand)
s’emparer de		to grab
s’étonner de		to be amazed by
féliciter de		to congratulate
hériter de		to inherit
jouer de		to play (an instrument)
jouir de		to enjoy
manquer de		to lack
se méfier 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
rêver 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 félicité de ma découverte. > Il m’en a félicité.	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’)arrêter 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
blâmer (qqun) de		to blame (someone) for ___-ing
cesser de		to stop, cease ___-ing
choisir de		to choose to
commander (à 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
décider de		to decide to
défendre (à quelqu’un) de		to forbid (someone) to do s.t.
se délecter de		to delight in ___-ing
demander (à quelqu’un) de		to ask (someone) to do something
se dépêcher de		to hurry to
déranger quelqu’un de		to bother someone to
dire (à quelqu’un) de		to tell (someone) to do something
s’efforcer de		to endeavor, try one’s best to
empêcher 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
être (adjective / past participle) de		to be (adj / ___ed) to
s’excuser de		to apologize for ___-ing
féliciter de		to congratulate for ___-ing
finir de		to finish ___-ing
se hâter de		to hurry to
manquer de		to neglect, fail to
mériter 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
rêver 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
tâcher de		to try to
venir de (faire quelque chose)		to have just (done something)