VERBS PRECEDED BY PREPOSITIONS Study the following : 1. I`m

VERBS PRECEDED BY PREPOSITIONS
Study the following :
1. I'm used to gettING up very early.
2. He left without sayING goodbye.
3. She hesitated before replyING.
4. After buyING a computer, he worked much more quickly.
5. These CDs are excellent for improvING one's pronunciation.
6. He began by criticizING the managing director.
You will notice that, in English, verbs preceded by a preposition end in '-ING'. In French, the
infinitive is used :
1. Je suis habitué à me lever très tôt.
2. Il est parti sans dire au revoir.
3. Elle a hésité avant de répondre.
4. Après avoir acheté un ordinateur, il a travaillé beaucoup plus vite.
5. Ces CD sont excellents pour améliorer sa prononciation.
6. Il a commencé par critiquer le président-directeur-général.
There is one exception to the above rule, namely the preposition en, which is followed by the
present participle. This will be dealt with later on.
NOTE also that, although the English is usually 'after buying' etc., the French has to be 'after having
bought', après avoir acheté or, in the case of those verbs which use être as their auxiliary verb in
compound past tenses, après être ...
VOCABULARY :
le mot - the word;
la lampe - the lamp;
tout le monde - everyone.
le ménage - the housework;
partir - to leave;
l'électricien - the electrician;
quitter - to leave [with object];
Translate :
1. He left the house without saying a word.
2. She is used to listening to the radio in her bedroom.
3. Before repairing the lamp, he telephoned the electrician.
4. After preparing breakfast, he did the housework.
5. My mother began by saying that the family was in good health and finished by wishing everyone a
happy New Year.
6. These CDs are excellent for learning French.
TRANSLATION OF 'TO' BEFORE AN INFINITIVE
Compare the following French and English sentences :
1. Je dois apprendre le français.
2. J'ai décidé d'apprendre le français.
3. J'ai commencé à apprendre le français.
4. J'ai acheté ce livre pour apprendre le français.
I have to learn French.
I have decided to learn French.
I have started to learn French.
I have bought this book to learn French.
You will see from the above sentences that when 'to' comes before an infinitive, it is sometimes :
1. not translated.
2. translated by de (d').
3. translated by à.
4. translated by pour.
Unfortunately, there is only one rule to help us decide which preposition to use and it is this : when
'to' means 'in order to', use pour.
The rest of the time it is simply a question of learning by heart which verbs take no preposition,
which take de and which take à.
Here are some lists for reference, followed by a few model sentences as examples.
'To' IS NOT TRANSLATED BEFORE ANOTHER INFINITIVE COMING AFTER THESE VERBS :
aimer - to like, to love;
préférer - to prefer;
vouloir - to want;
désirer - to wish;
aller - to go;
venir - to come;
devoir - to have to;
espérer - to hope;
pouvoir - to be able;
savoir - to know how; falloir (il faut) - to be necessary.
'To' IS TRANSLATED BY de BEFORE ANOTHER INFINITIVE COMING AFTER THESE VERBS :
cesser - to stop;
conseiller - to advise;
décider - to decide;
demander -to ask;
dire de-to tell;
empêcher - to prevent;
essayer - to try;
éviter - to avoid;
finir - to finish;
oublier - to forget;
permettre - to allow;
persuader - to persuade;
promettre - to promise;
proposer - to propose;
refuser - to refuse;
regretter - to regret.
NOTE also :
être content de - to be pleased to;
être ravi de - to be delighted to;
être désolé de - to be sorry to;
être heureux de - to be happy to;
être triste de - to be sad to;
avoir l'intention de - to intend to;
avoir le temps de - to have the time to;
avoir l'occasion de - to have the opportunity to;
avoir le plaisir de - to have the pleasure to;
il est facile de - it is easy to;
il est possible de - it is possible to;
il est permis de - it is permitted to;
il est temps de - it is time to.
il est difficile de - it is difficult to;
il est impossible de - it is impossible to;
il est défendu de - it is forbidden to;
'To' IS TRANSLATED BY à BEFORE ANOTHER INFINITIVE COMING AFTER THESE VERBS :
aider - to help;
apprendre - to learn;
avoir - to have;
commencer - to begin;
continuer - to continue;
encourager - to encourage;
enseigner - to teach;
hésiter - to hesitate;
inviter - to invite;
réussir - to succeed.
NOTE also :
être prêt à - to be ready to;
avoir de la difficulté à - to have difficulty in;
être disposé à - to be willing to;
avoir du mal à - to have difficulty in.
Examples :
Je préfère aller me baigner.
Nous espérons aller à la plage cet après-midi.
Ils ont décidé de louer un pédalo.
Je vous conseille de faire une promenade en bateau.
Nous sommes contents de voir le soleil.
Avez-vous réussi à trouver des chaises longues?
Nous l'avons aidée à chercher des coquillages.
Il est temps de rentrer à l'hôtel.
I prefer to go for a swim.
We hope to go to the beach this afternoon.
They have decided to hire a pedal boat.
I advise you to go on a boat trip.
We are pleased to see the sun.
Did you succeed in finding some deckchairs?
We helped her to look for some shells.
It is time to return to the hotel.
VOCABULARY :
l'excursion[f.] - the excursion;
faire du ski nautique - to go water-skiing;
Complete the following :
1. (I intend to) acheter des lunettes de soleil.
2. (Will it be possible to) faire des excursions?
3. (We prefer to) louer un appartement.
les lunettes de soleil - the sunglasses;
faire de la planche à voile – to go wind-surfing.
4. (They [m.] invited me [f.] to) aller à la pêche.
5. (I hesitate to) faire du ski nautique.
6. (Will you have the opportunity to) faire de la planche à voile?
ORDER OF PRONOUNS ('HE GAVE IT TO ME')
In sentences such as 'he gave it to him' or 'I am sending them to you', French uses a different word
order from English.
Notice that le, la, l', les follow me, vous, nous :
Paul me le donne. Paul gives it to me.
Nicole nous la vend. Nicole sells it to us.
Je vous les enverrai. I will send them to you.
But le, la, l', les precede lui and leur :
Nous le lui avons déjà montré. We have already shown it to him (OR: to her).
Vous la leur avez donné? Did you give it to them?
Je ne les lui ai pas vendus. I did not sell them to him (OR: to her).
VOCABULARY :
le dossier - the file;
la moto - the motorbike;
le/la collègue - the colleague;
la facture - the invoice.
Replace all nouns with pronouns (and make any necessary changes) :
1. Est-ce que vous m'avez donné le dossier?
2. Notre directeur nous a promis les deux voitures.
3. Mon collègue a l'intention de me vendre ses livres.
4. J'ai envoyé le fax à Paul.
5. Pierre montre sa nouvelle moto à Monique.
6. Nous avons donné les factures aux clients.
le fax - the fax;