French Verbs Followed by à or de: The Infinitive Lists

French joins a verb to an infinitive with nothing, à or de, 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.

Clusters make the lists cheaper to learn: wanting and liking take nothing, starting and managing lean to à, stopping and deciding lean to de. Verb + à or de + 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.

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.

à: starting, learning, managing

The à verbs lean towards getting something going or getting somewhere with it. A memory aid, not a test.

The glosses: It's starting to rain. She burst out laughing. He carries on working. I'm learning to drive. I managed to sleep. I can't get to sleep. I'm hesitating about leaving. He is trying to understand. Remember to shut the door!

Arriver à is manage to, not arrive. Continuer de is also correct, with no change of meaning.

de: stopping, deciding, trying

The longer list. Stopping, deciding, trying and forgetting lean to de.

The glosses: I decided to stay. He's trying to understand. I forgot to eat. She refuses to answer. He agreed to come. Stop shouting! I've finished eating. She chose to leave. Avoid running. You may well arrive late.

De becomes d' before a vowel: Il a oublié d'appeler. - He forgot to call.

With a person in between

Some verbs put a person between the two verbs. The person can be direct (le, me) or indirect (lui, à quelqu'un), and the linker still belongs to the verb.

Dire, demander, permettre and promettre all work like the last two rows. The full family is on infinitive or subjunctive.

When the linker changes the meaning

A few verbs take two linkers, and the choice changes what you say. À and de point at the action; par points at its place in a sequence.

Finir par is worth stealing: English reaches for ended up or in the end, and French just changes the linker.

Three more pairs change meaning completely:

Venir de is a tense of its own, covered on venir de. Se décider à adds the hesitation that came first.

Mistakes English speakers make

What to do next

1. Write every new verb with its linker: décider de, commencer à, espérer.
2. Learn one short example with each, such as J'ai décidé de partir.
3. Then read adjectives and nouns with à or de: prêt à, le droit de.