List of French Verbs Followed by the Preposition de & Verb

Author: Camille Chevalier-Karfis

Here is a list of French verbs followed by the preposition “de”. As I mentioned in my list of French verbs followed by “à” , I couldn’t find any rhyme or reason why this is the way it is. I suggest you try to memorize them.

The best way to memorize the right preposition for a French Verb is to copy the list of French verb + preposition onto French flashcards. Then use your French verb + preposition in sentences that make sense to you, connecting them to your own life experiences.

For example, to illustrate “avoir peur de” I could write “j’ai peur des araignées” – I am afraid of spiders, which is true, and a statement that makes sense to me: I would remember this statement longer.

1 – How to Memorize Common French Verbs + De + Verb

  1. Start by making a smaller list of French verbs + prepositions which YOU are likely to use.
  2. Illustrate them with your own sentence and memorize them.
  3. Then come back to this article and add to your list.
  4. Revisit often! Repetition is the key.

2 – List of Common French Verbs Followed by the Preposition de + Verb

To make it clearer, I’ll use “faire quelque chose” as my second verb, but you could replace it with any other infinitive that makes sense.

  1. accepter de faire quelque chose – to accept to do something
  2. accuser (quelqu’un) de faire quelque chose – to accuse (someone) of doing something
  3. arrêter de faire quelque chose – to stop doing something
  4. avoir peur de faire quelque chose – to be afraid of doing something
  5. avoir envie de faire quelque chose – to feel like doing something
  6. avoir besoin de faire quelque chose – to need to do something
  7. avoir l’air de faire quelque chose – to seem to be doing something
  8. avoir l’intention de faire quelque chose – to intend to do something
  9. avoir raison de faire quelque chose – to be right to do something
  10. avoir tort de faire quelque chose – to be wrong to do something
  11. cesser de faire quelque chose – to cease doing something
  12. choisir de faire quelque chose – to choose to do something
  13. commander (à qqun) de faire quelque chose – to order (someone) to do something
  14. conseiller de faire quelque chose – to advise to do something
  15. continuer de faire quelque chose – to keep doing something
  16. craindre de faire quelque chose –   to fear doing something
  17. décider de faire quelque chose – to decide to something
  18. défendre (à quelqu’un) de faire quelque chose – to forbid (someone) to do something
  19. demander (à quelqu’un) de faire quelque chose – to ask (someone) to do something
  20. se dépêcher de faire quelque chose – to hurry to do something
  21. descendre de – to get off/ down from something
  22. dire (à quelqu’un) de faire quelque chose – to tell (someone) to do something
  23. empêcher (quelqu’un) de faire quelque chose – to keep/ prevent (someone) from doing something
  24. essayer de faire quelque chose – to try to do something
  25. s’excuser de faire quelque chose – to apologize for doing something
  26. finir de faire quelque chose – to finish doing something
  27. manquer de faire quelque chose – to neglect doing something
  28. mériter de faire quelque chose – to deserve to do something
  29. offrir de faire quelque chose – to offer to do something
  30. oublier de faire quelque chose – to forget to do something
  31. parler de faire quelque chose – to talk about doing something
  32. (se) permettre de faire quelque chose – to allow (oneself) to do something
  33. se plaindre de faire quelque chose – to complain about doing something
  34. promettre de faire quelque chose – to promise to do something
  35. proposer de faire quelque chose – to suggest to do something
  36. refuser de faire quelque chose – to refuse to do something
  37. regretter de faire quelque chose – to regret doing something
  38. remercier de faire quelque chose – to thank for doing something
  39. rêver de faire quelque chose – to dream of doing something
  40. risquer de faire quelque chose – to risk doing something
  41. s’assurer de faire quelque chose – to make sure of doing something
  42. se souvenir de faire quelque chose – to remember doing something
  43. supplier de faire quelque chose – to beg to do something
  44. venir de faire quelque chose – to have just done something
  45. se contenter de faire quelque chose – to content oneself with doing something
  46. convaincre (quelqu’un) de faire quelque chose – to convince (someone) to do something
  47. s’efforcer de faire quelque chose – to try hard to do something
  48. envisager de faire quelque chose- to contemplate doing something
  49. éviter de faire quelque chose – to avoid doing something
  50. faire semblant de faire quelque chose – to pretend doing something
  51. feindre de faire quelque chose – to feign to, to pretend doing something
  52. interdire (à quelqu’un) de faire quelque chose – to forbid (someone) to do something
  53. jurer de faire quelque chose – to swear to do something
  54. menacer (quelqu’un) de faire quelque chose – to threaten (someone) to do something
  55. persuader (quelqu’un) de faire quelque chose – to convince (someone) to do something
  56. prévoir de faire quelque chose – to plan on doing something
  57. projeter de faire quelque chose – to plan on doing something
  58. reprocher (à quelqu’un) de faire quelque chose – to reproach (someone) for doing something
  59. soupçonner (quelqu’un) de faire quelque chose – to suspect (someone) of doing something
  60. suggérer (à quelqu’un) de faire quelque chose – to suggest doing something
  61. tâcher de faire quelque chose – to try to do something
  62. tenter de faire quelque chose – to try to do something

3 – List of Common French Verbs + Preposition de + Noun

To make it easier, I’ll use “Pierre” as my noun, but it could be a thing as well, not necessarily a person.

Note that this preposition “de” will contract with an article, hence becoming “du” or “des” if need be.

Note also that many of these expressions will involve the French pronoun en when followed by a thing (if it’s a person, you’ll need a stress pronoun).
Je m’en approche. (de la télévision)
Je m’approche de lui. (de Pierre)

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  1. s’approcher de Pierre – to get closer to Pierre
  2. s’apercevoir de son erreur – to notice one’s mistake
  3. avoir besoin de Pierre – to need Pierre
  4. avoir peur de Pierre – to be afraid of Pierre
  5. avoir l’air de Pierre – to look like Pierre
  6. avoir envie d’une pomme – to feel like (eating) an apple. Watch out “avoir envie de Pierre”, so used with a person, mean to want that person sexually.
  7. changer de chaussure – to change into other shoes
  8. dépendre de Pierre – to depend on Pierre
  9. douter de Pierre – to doubt Pierre
  10. être responsable de Pierre – to be responsible for Pierre
  11. hériter de Pierre – to inherit of Pierre or from Pierre
  12. jouer du piano – to play piano (an instrument)
  13. manquer de temps – to lack time
  14. se méfier de Pierre – to beware of Pierre
  15. se moquer de Pierre – to make fun of Pierre
  16. s’occuper de Pierre – to take care of Pierre
  17. parler de Pierre – to talk about Pierre
  18. partir de France – to leave France
  19. se passer de Pierre – to do without Pierre
  20. Que penses-tu de Pierre ? – what is your opinion about Pierre?
  21. se plaindre de Pierre – to complain about Pierre
  22. profiter de Pierre – to take advantage of Pierre
  23. rêver de Pierre – to dream of Pierre
  24. rire de Pierre – to laugh at Pierre
  25. se servir de Pierre – to use Pierre
  26. se souvenir de Pierre – to remember Pierre
  27. se tromper de livre – to (take/buy…) the wrong book

If you know more COMMON French verbs followed by “de” + verb in the infinitive, please leave a comment below, or contact me, and I’ll add them to the list. Merci!

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Follow this link to access the list of French verbs followed by à

The list of verbs followed by no preposition at all

You may also enjoy learning about French prepositions of place used with countries and regions

Author: Camille Chevalier-Karfis

Camille Chevalier-Karfis

Born and raised in Paris, I have been teaching today's French to adults for 25+ years in the US and France. Based on my students' goals and needs, I've created unique downloadable French audiobooks focussing on French like it's spoken today, for all levels. Come to Paimpol and enjoy an exclusive French immersion homestay with me in Brittany.

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