How do I know whether a French verb takes à, de, or nothing?

You look it up once and store it with the verb. There is no rule, though there are tendencies: verbs of wishing and ability take a bare infinitive, verbs of beginning and succeeding tend to take à, and verbs of stopping, refusing, and reporting tend to take de.

Which common verbs take no preposition before an infinitive?

Vouloir, pouvoir, devoir, savoir, aller, venir, aimer, adorer, détester, préférer, espérer, falloir, faire, laisser, and the verbs of perception voir, entendre, écouter, sentir, regarder. Je veux partir and je vais partir need nothing between the two verbs.

Why is it j'attends le bus and not j'attends pour le bus?

Because attendre is transitive: what you wait for is its direct object. English needs for, French does not, and the same asymmetry affects chercher, écouter, regarder, payer, and demander.

How does demander work with two complements?

Demander à quelqu'un de faire quelque chose: j'ai demandé à Marie de venir. The person takes à and the action takes de. Dire, permettre, promettre, conseiller, and interdire all follow the same pattern.

French grammar · Intermediate

French Verbs with Prepositions: À, De, and Nothing at All

Written by Camille Laurent, Lead French Curriculum Editor · Reviewed May 2026

French verbs fall into three groups according to what they need before an infinitive: nothing at all (je veux partir), à (je commence à partir), or de (j'essaie de partir). The choice belongs to the individual verb, so the preposition has to be learned as part of the vocabulary item rather than worked out from the meaning.

J'essaie de comprendre, mais je commence à fatiguer.

I'm trying to understand, but I'm starting to flag.

What it is

English has the same problem in miniature: you decide to go but you succeed in going, and no rule explains the difference. French has it on a larger scale, because prepositions also govern the way verbs attach to nouns and to people. The good news is that the number of patterns is small, even though the number of verbs is not.

Je veux partir, j'apprends à partir, j'ai décidé de partir. — I want to leave, I'm learning to leave, I've decided to leave.

How to spot it

Sort the verb into one of three slots before you build the sentence: bare infinitive, à plus infinitive, or de plus infinitive. Then check separately whether its noun complement needs a preposition too.

Elle espère réussir. — She hopes to succeed. (no preposition)
Il hésite à répondre. — He's hesitating over answering. (à)
Nous avons refusé de signer. — We refused to sign. (de)
Je compte sur toi. — I'm counting on you. (a different preposition entirely)

The pronoun you would use is a reliable clue: lui and leur mean the complement was introduced by à, and en means it was introduced by de.

Verbs with Prepositions Quick Reference

The patterns and their typical members

Pattern	Verbs in the group	Example
verb + infinitive	vouloir, pouvoir, devoir, aller, aimer, savoir, espérer, préférer	Je veux partir. — I want to leave.
verb + à + infinitive	commencer, apprendre, réussir, aider, hésiter, se mettre	J'apprends à nager. — I'm learning to swim.
verb + de + infinitive	essayer, oublier, décider, refuser, arrêter, finir	J'ai oublié de fermer. — I forgot to lock up.
verb + à + person	téléphoner, répondre, plaire, obéir, ressembler	Réponds à Paul. — Answer Paul.
verb + de + thing	parler, rêver, se souvenir, changer, manquer	Il parle de son voyage. — He's talking about his trip.
verb + another preposition	compter sur, se marier avec, entrer dans, voter pour	Je compte sur toi. — I'm counting on you.
verb + nothing, English + preposition	attendre, chercher, écouter, regarder, payer	J'attends le bus. — I'm waiting for the bus.

Common Verbs with Prepositions Examples in French

One category at a time, with the verbs you will need first:

Straight to the Infinitive

Je veux rentrer tôt.: I want to get home early.
Elle sait conduire.: She can drive.
Nous espérons vous revoir.: We hope to see you again.
Il préfère rester ici.: He'd rather stay here.

The modals and the verbs of wishing, liking, and perceiving all take a bare infinitive: vouloir, pouvoir, devoir, savoir, aimer, détester, espérer, aller, venir, voir, entendre.

À Before the Infinitive

Il commence à faire nuit.: It's starting to get dark.
Elle a réussi à me convaincre.: She managed to convince me.
Ils se sont mis à courir.: They started running.
Je t'aide à finir.: I'll help you finish.

Many of these describe entering into an activity, which fits the general sense of à as movement towards.

De Before the Infinitive

J'ai essayé de te prévenir.: I tried to warn you.
Elle a décidé de déménager.: She's decided to move.
Arrête de crier.: Stop shouting.
Il a oublié de m'appeler.: He forgot to call me.

This group leans towards stopping, avoiding, refusing, and reporting, which fits de as a preposition of origin and separation.

Prepositions Other Than À and De

Je compte sur ton aide.: I'm counting on your help.
Elle s'est mariée avec un Italien.: She married an Italian.
Il est entré dans la pièce sans frapper.: He came into the room without knocking.
Tout dépend de toi.: It all depends on you.

These are worth noting individually, because English chooses different prepositions in each case: on, to, into, on.

How Verb Prepositions Work

Five points that reduce a long list to something learnable.

Three Slots, One Choice

Every French verb that can be followed by an infinitive belongs to exactly one of three groups. Once you know which, the sentence builds itself, and the choice never changes with the tense or the subject.

Je dois partir, je commence à partir, j'évite de partir.

I must leave, I'm starting to leave, I avoid leaving.

Nothing, à, or de.

The Preposition Is Lexical, Not Logical

Décider de and se décider à mean almost the same thing. Continuer accepts both. Nothing about the meaning predicts the preposition, which is why guessing from English fails so consistently.

Il a décidé de partir et il s'est décidé à le dire.

He decided to leave and he brought himself to say so.

Learn the verb and the preposition as one word.

Two Complements Reorder the Sentence

Verbs of asking, telling, and allowing take the person with à and the action with de. English puts the person first and uses to for the action, so the two languages arrange the same idea differently.

J'ai demandé à Paul de venir.

I asked Paul to come.

demander à qqn de faire qqch.

Pronouns Reveal the Preposition

If the complement is replaced by lui or leur, the verb governs à. If it becomes en, the verb governs de. If it becomes le, la, or les, the verb takes a direct object and needs no preposition at all.

Je lui parle, j'en parle, je le connais.

I'm talking to him, I'm talking about it, I know him.

lui/leur = à, en = de, le/la/les = nothing.

The Two Languages Disagree in Both Directions

Some French verbs take a preposition where English takes none, and some take none where English needs one. Neither list is long, but both are frequent enough to matter from the first week.

J'écoute la radio et j'obéis à mes parents.

I listen to the radio and I obey my parents.

Check both directions, not just one.

Common Mistakes with Verbs with Prepositions

Incorrect: J'attends pour le bus. — I'm waiting for the bus.

Correct: J'attends le bus. — I'm waiting for the bus.

Attendre is transitive in French: the thing awaited is a direct object. Attendre pour exists only in the sense of waiting in order to do something later.

Incorrect: J'écoute à la musique. — I'm listening to the music.

Correct: J'écoute la musique. — I'm listening to the music.

Écouter already contains the idea of directed attention, so no preposition is added. The same applies to regarder, which never takes à.

Incorrect: Il m'a demandé venir plus tôt. — He asked me to come earlier.

Correct: Il m'a demandé de venir plus tôt. — He asked me to come earlier.

Demander takes the person with à and the action with de. The person can become an object pronoun, but the de before the infinitive stays.

Incorrect: Je cherche pour un appartement. — I'm looking for a flat.

Correct: Je cherche un appartement. — I'm looking for a flat.

The idea of searching for is already inside chercher. Adding pour is a direct translation of the English particle and is never right here.

Where French and English Disagree

Three short lists that between them account for most preposition errors.

French takes nothing, English takes a preposition

These verbs are transitive in French. Adding the English preposition produces a sentence that no French speaker would write.

J'attends le bus depuis vingt minutes.: I've been waiting for the bus for twenty minutes.
Je cherche mes clés.: I'm looking for my keys.
Elle écoute la radio le matin.: She listens to the radio in the morning.
Nous regardons les photos.: We're looking at the photos.
Il a payé le repas.: He paid for the meal.

Because these are direct objects, they become le, la, or les as pronouns: je l'attends, je les cherche.

French takes a preposition, English takes none

The mirror image, and the more persistent of the two problems, because nothing in the English sentence suggests anything is missing.

Obéis à ta grand-mère.: Obey your grandmother.
Elle ressemble à son père.: She looks like her father.
J'ai téléphoné à ma banque.: I phoned my bank.
Il faut changer de train à Lyon.: You have to change trains in Lyon.
Elle se méfie de lui.: She doesn't trust him.

Changer de and manquer de are especially easy to miss, since the de looks like it could be dropped without loss.

Verbs whose preposition changes the meaning

A handful of verbs accept both à and de, and the two versions are not stylistic variants: they mean different things.

Je pense à mon frère.: I'm thinking about my brother.
Que penses-tu de mon frère ?: What do you think of my brother?
Il joue au tennis, elle joue du piano.: He plays tennis, she plays the piano.
Il a commencé par une blague et a fini par partir.: He started with a joke and ended up leaving.

Parler à is who you speak to; parler de is what you speak about. Both can appear in one sentence: je parle à Paul de mes projets.

Verbs with Prepositions FAQs

How do I know whether a French verb takes à, de, or nothing?: You look it up once and store it with the verb. There is no rule, though there are tendencies: verbs of wishing and ability take a bare infinitive, verbs of beginning and succeeding tend to take à, and verbs of stopping, refusing, and reporting tend to take de.
Which common verbs take no preposition before an infinitive?: Vouloir, pouvoir, devoir, savoir, aller, venir, aimer, adorer, détester, préférer, espérer, falloir, faire, laisser, and the verbs of perception voir, entendre, écouter, sentir, regarder. Je veux partir and je vais partir need nothing between the two verbs.
Why is it j'attends le bus and not j'attends pour le bus?: Because attendre is transitive: what you wait for is its direct object. English needs for, French does not, and the same asymmetry affects chercher, écouter, regarder, payer, and demander.
How does demander work with two complements?: Demander à quelqu'un de faire quelque chose: j'ai demandé à Marie de venir. The person takes à and the action takes de. Dire, permettre, promettre, conseiller, and interdire all follow the same pattern.
Can the pronoun tell me which preposition a verb takes?: Yes, and it is the most practical test available. If the complement becomes lui or leur, the verb governs à. If it becomes en, the verb governs de. If it becomes le, la, or les, the verb takes a direct object with no preposition.