Ch 27 · Lesson 9French · Chapter 27 · Lesson 9 · Grammar primer
Je veux partir: verbs with no linker before an infinitive
French joins a verb to an infinitive with nothing, à or , and the first verb decides. Wanting, liking, hoping and going take nothing: , , .
The short version
: no
.
Why?Hide
English puts to before the second verb, so learners add a . , , , , , and take the infinitive straight after them: , . Write and the gives you away.
French joins a verb to an infinitive with nothing, or , and the first verb decides. No rule predicts which one. Learn each verb with its linker, the way you learn a noun with its gender.
| Linker | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| nothing | . | I want to leave. |
| à | . | I'm starting to understand. |
. | I've decided to leave. | |
. | He ended up accepting. |
Clusters make the lists cheaper to learn: wanting and liking take nothing, starting and managing lean to , stopping and deciding lean to . Verb + or + infinitive is on the AQA GCSE French specification at Foundation and Higher.
No linker: vouloir, aimer, espérer
The shortest list, and the one to know cold. English puts to in front of most of these, and French puts nothing.
| Cluster | Verbs | Example |
|---|---|---|
| want, can, must | , , , | . |
| it is necessary | | . |
| go, come | , | . |
| liking | , , , | . |
| hoping, daring | , , | . |
| seeming | , | . |
| seeing, letting | , , , | . |
The glosses: I must leave. We have to wait. I'm going to eat. I like swimming. I hope to come. He seems to be asleep. I can see him arriving.
The last row has its own pages: faire causatif and voir, entendre and laisser.
Going further: à: starting, learning, managing and the rest of the guide, when you want them. This lesson does not need them.
Practice
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10-question session
One question at a time, mixed across the exercises in this lesson. Miss one and it comes back round before the end.
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