Continuing with the verbs and prepositions series (miss the previous posts? here you go!), this week I’m going to be discussing an aspect that is right up the alley of those who translate word for word. Translating word for word can be dangerous, especially if you’re trying to use an idiom, but with verb phrases, your sentence might sound a little wacky (but generally comprehensible) if you don’t use the correct preposition.
In my previous posts, I discussed using à and de with certain verbs. They’re often needed after the verb but before either an infinitive, indirect object, or direct object. Certain verbs in French, however, don’t have a preposition where we would have one in English. For example:
J’aime regarder à la lune.
I like to look at the moon.
A person translating word for word from English would throw in the preposition à (at) after the verb to create a ‘French equivalent’ of our “to look at.” However, the verb regarder means to look at. Adding the à is useless and incorrect. The correct form of the sentence above, then, is simply J’aime regarder la lune.
To avoid making these mistakes, I’m providing you with 2 different lists. Bonne mémorisation !
Verb with no preposition + noun
The verbs listed below do not require a preposition before the noun that follows it. It’s the opposite of the English equivalents below.
Vincent a soigné son chat malade.
Vincent took care of/cared for his sick cat.
You’ll note that the French sentence doesn’t have a preposition with soigner while the English sentence does.
| approuver |
to approve of |
| attendre |
to wait for |
| chercher |
to look for |
| demander |
to ask for |
| devoir |
to owe (something) to |
| écouter (la radio) |
to listen to (the radio…) |
| envoyer chercher |
to send for |
| essayer |
to try on |
| grignoter |
to snack on |
| inviter |
to invite (someone) to |
| mettre |
to put on |
| payer |
to pay for |
| préférer |
to prefer |
| prier |
to pray to |
| puer |
to stink of |
| regarder |
to look at |
| sentir |
to smell of |
| soigner |
to take care of |
| subir |
to be subjected to |
| vouloir |
to want to |
Verb with no preposition + infinitive
The list below contains verbs that do not require a preposition when followed by an infinitive. Keep in mind that this list is a bit different from the previous list – not all of these verbs require a preposition in English!
| adorer |
to adore |
| aimer |
to like |
| aller |
to go, to be going to |
| compter |
to expect to / intend to |
| croire |
to think |
| courir |
to run |
| descendre |
to go down/get off something |
| désirer |
to want |
| détester |
to hate |
| devoir |
to have to, be obliged to |
| écouter |
to listen to |
| entendre |
to hear |
| entrer |
to enter |
| envoyer |
to send |
| espérer |
to hope |
| être censé |
to be supposed to |
| faillir |
to almost do something |
| falloir |
to be necessary to |
| s’imaginer |
to imagine |
| laisser |
to allow |
| monter |
to go up, climb |
| nier |
to deny |
| oser |
to dare |
| paraître |
to appear |
| partir |
to leave |
| penser |
to plan on |
| pouvoir |
to be able to |
| préférer |
to prefer |
| regarder |
to watch |
| retourner |
to return, go back |
| revenir |
to come back |
| savoir |
to know how |
| sentir |
to feel; to smell |
| sortir |
to go out |
| souhaiter |
to wish |
| voir |
to see |
| vouloir |
to want |
