In French, some verbs are followed by the prepositions "" (je
cherche comprendre) or "de" (J'vite de comprendre), others by nothing (je veux comprendre). I looked all over the place for an explanation, some sort of rule or logic, but couldn't find anything, and couldn't figure it out myself (if you do know something, please don't hesitate to share it with all of us and post a comment, or contact me). So, there seems to be no other way than to learn them by heart. And its not simple, because the same way prepositions can change the meaning of a verb in English (to look at, for, forward to something, down on someone, up to someone etc), the same verb can sometimes be followed by or de and change meaning. And then there is the possible reflexive form Furthermore, you cannot translate from English, so these verbs need to be memorized in French. So needless to say that this a bit of a headhache, actually, even listing them is complicated!! Today, Ill list common verbs (there are more) followed by + infinitive in French, and verbs followed by + noun. Soon, Ill list the verbs followed by de, and the verbs followed by nothing.
List of common French verbs that
are followed by the preposition + infinitive To make it clearer, Ill use faire quelque chose as my second verb, but you could replace it by any other infinitive that makes sense. aider faire quelque chose to help to do something apprendre faire quelque chose to learn how to do something
arriver faire quelque chose to manage / succeed in doing something
sautoriser faire quelque chose to allow oneself to do something avoir faire quelque chose to have to / be obliged to do something chercher faire quelque chose to attempt to do something commencer faire quelque chose to begin to do something continuer faire quelque chose to continue to do something se dcider faire quelque chose to make up ones mind to do something encourager quelquun faire quelque chose to encourage someone to do something shabituer faire quelque chose to get used to doing something hsiter faire quelque chose to hesitate to do something inviter (quelquun) faire quelque chose to invite (someone) to do something se mettre faire quelque chose to start doing something obliger (quelquun) faire quelque chose to force (someone) to do something parvenir faire quelque chose to succeed in doing something passer du temps faire quelque chose to spend time doing perdre du temps faire quelque chose to waste time doing persister faire quelque chose to persist in doing pousser (quelquun) faire quelque chose to push someone to do something se prparer faire quelque chose to prepare oneself to do something recommencer faire quelque chose to begin doing something again renoncer faire quelque chose to give up doing something rsister faire quelque chose to resist doing russir faire quelque chose to succeed in doing servir faire quelque chose to be used to do something tenir faire quelque chose to insist on doing something samuser faire quelque chose to have fun doing something shabituer faire quelque chose to get used to doing something
List of common French verbs that
are followed by the preposition + noun To make it easier, Ill use Pierre as my noun, Pierre standing for a any person. Note that these verbs will be followed by a indirect object ( Pierre), so its a good idea to drill, do flash cards with these verbs and indirect object (je lui achte, nous leur conseillons etc) acheter Pierre to buy from Pierre arracher to tear away from Pierre conseiller Pierre to advise Pierre demander Pierre to ask Pierre dfendre Pierre to forbid Pierre dsobir Pierre to disobey Pierre dire Pierre to tell Pierre donner Pierre to give (to) Pierre crire Pierre to write to Pierre emprunter Pierre to borrow from Pierre envoyer Pierre to send (to) Pierre tre to belong to Pierre faire attention Pierre to pay attention to Pierre/ be careful with Pierre goter la confiture to taste the jam shabituer Pierre to get used to Pierre interdire Pierre to forbid Pierre sintresser Pierre to be interested by Pierre jouer to play (a game or sport), example jouer au tennis obir Pierre to obey Pierre sopposer Pierre to oppose Pierre ordonner Pierre to order Pierre
pardonner Pierre to forgive Pierre
parler Pierre to talk to Pierre penser Pierre to think about Pierre permettre Pierre to allow Pierre plaire Pierre to please Pierre profiter Pierre to benefit Pierre promettre Pierre to promise Pierre rflchir to consider / reflect upon, example rflchir au problme rpondre Pierre to answer Pierre rsister Pierre to resist Pierre ressembler Pierre to look like Pierre russir lexamen to pass the test serrer la main Pierre to shake hands with Pierre servir Pierre to be useful for Pierre tlphoner Pierre to call Pierre voler (quelque chose) Pierre to steal (something) from Pierre