Those mean ol’ prepositions are back! In a previous post, I discussed how prepositions were a problem for me and many others when starting to learn a language. There’s no rhyme or reason as to why certain prepositions are used, and if you use the wrong one, the whole meaning can change. Think about it – does une pom-pom girl (cheerleader) cheer her team ON or cheer her team UP?

French’s 2 big prepositions with verbs are de and à (and yes, some verbs can take either one, but that’s for another day). In the last post, I wrote about using de with verbs.  Today we’re going to explore verbs that require à. Again…no real rules as to why it’s this way. Just gotta memorize them!

Verb + à + infinitive
It’s very common in French that if you want to use verbs in a row, they may need to be separated with a preposition.

Malgré ses problèmes de santé, il continue à fumer.
Despite his health problems, he continues to smoke.

Notice that à is slapped between continuer and fumer. Why? Continuer requires the preposition à to be placed before an infinitive (quoi?? an unconjugated verb) that follows it. Below I’ve listed some common verbs that require à. Please note that qqch is shorthand for “quelque chose” (something)  and qqn is shorthand for “quelqu’un” (someone).

Verb + à + indirect object
Un complement d’objet indirect (an  indirect object) is the person or thing that to or for whom something is done.

       J’ai envoyé une carte à ma mère.
       I sent my mother a card.

Who received the card? Ma mère. This is the indirect object.

       J’ai envoyé un texto à Marc, mais il n’a pas répondu.
       I sent a text to Marc, but he didn’t respond.

Who got my text message? Marc. This is the indirect object.

This example is pretty easy for English speakers since we also say “to send to someone,” but some of these verbs in the list below can be a bit problematic. À, we’re taught, means to or at. Why on earth do you borrow a book TO someone? Or taste TO something? It’s natural to wonder these things when you’re first starting to learn a language because it’s what we’re used to. However, we have to keep in mind that French and English aren’t the same thing. Take a look at the list below and commencez à la mémoriser (start to memorize it)!