Verbs Followed by à or de
Understand Verbs Followed by à or de for GCSE French with this free worksheet and full mark scheme — Foundation and Higher exam-style practice with worked answers for AQA GCSE French (8652). Some verbs need à or de before a noun or a second verb, such as finir de or arriver à.
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These worksheets and mark schemes are original, written for Virtus Academy and checked against the current AQA specification. Every worksheet comes with a full mark scheme.
Topic overview
Some verbs require à or de before a following infinitive, and which one is needed must be learned with the verb.
Verbs taking à include commencer à, apprendre à, aider à, réussir à and continuer à. So je commence à comprendre means I am beginning to understand.
Verbs taking de include décider de, essayer de, oublier de, refuser de, arrêter de and finir de. So j'essaie de comprendre. A third group takes nothing at all — the modals, plus aimer, aller, préférer and espérer: j'aime nager, j'espère venir. Three groups, and the only reliable method is to learn each verb with its preposition attached.
Revision notes
Verbs taking à
Commencer à, apprendre à, aider à, réussir à, continuer à, hésiter à, arriver à.
Je commence à comprendre. Il apprend à nager. Elle m'aide à travailler. The à is compulsory and cannot be dropped.
Verbs taking de
Décider de, essayer de, oublier de, refuser de, arrêter de, finir de, choisir de.
J'essaie de comprendre. Il a décidé de partir. Elle a oublié de venir. Again the preposition is compulsory.
Verbs taking nothing
The modals — pouvoir, vouloir, devoir, savoir — plus aimer, aller, préférer, espérer, détester.
J'aime nager. Je veux partir. J'espère venir. Adding a preposition to these is as much an error as omitting one elsewhere.
Key points
- Some verbs need à before an infinitive.
- Commencer à and apprendre à take à.
- Some verbs need de instead.
- Décider de and essayer de take de.
- Modals and aimer take no preposition.
- Learn each verb with its preposition.
Worked examples
Example 1
Complete: Je commence ___ comprendre. [2 marks]
Working
Example 2
Complete: J'ai décidé ___ partir. [2 marks]
Working
Example 3
Complete: J'aime ___ nager. [2 marks]
Working
Common mistakes
Guessing the preposition.
It must be learned with each verb.
Adding a preposition after a modal.
Je veux partir, not je veux à partir.
Using à where de is needed.
Essayer de, not essayer à.
Assuming English gives the answer.
English prepositions do not match French ones.
Exam tips
- Learn every verb with its preposition attached.
- Group the verbs into the three categories.
- Never add a preposition after a modal.
- Check the verb rather than translating from English.
Key terms
- Preposition
- A word such as à or de linking a verb to an infinitive.
- Direct infinitive
- An infinitive following a verb with no preposition.
- Commencer à
- An example of a verb requiring à.
- Essayer de
- An example of a verb requiring de.
Related topics
Written and reviewed against the current AQA specification. Spotted an error? Let us know.