verbs with de
The requirement for certain French verbs to be followed by “de” is largely based on historical language development and convention. This preposition often indicates a relationship of origin, separation, or source between the verb and what follows it.
42 most used French verbs requiring “de”:
- Avoir besoin de (to need)
- J’ai besoin d’aide. (I need help.)
- J’en ai besoin. (I need it.)
- Décider de (to decide)
- Il a décidé de partir. (He decided to leave.)
- Il l’a décidé. (He decided it.)
- Essayer de (to try)
- Elle essaie de comprendre. (She tries to understand.)
- Elle l’essaie. (She tries it.)
- Se souvenir de (to remember)
- Je me souviens de cette journée. (I remember that day.)
- Je m’en souviens. (I remember it.)
- Parler de (to talk about)
- Nous parlons de nos vacances. (We talk about our vacation.)
- Nous en parlons. (We talk about it.)
- S’occuper de (to take care of)
- Tu t’occupes des enfants. (You take care of the children.)
- Tu t’en occupes. (You take care of them.)
- Profiter de (to take advantage of)
- Ils profitent du beau temps. (They take advantage of the nice weather.)
- Ils en profitent. (They take advantage of it.)
- Manquer de (to lack)
- Elle manque de patience. (She lacks patience.)
- Elle en manque. (She lacks it.)
- Rêver de (to dream of)
- Je rêve de voyager. (I dream of traveling.)
- J’en rêve. (I dream of it.)
- Douter de (to doubt)
- Il doute de la vérité. (He doubts the truth.)
- Il en doute. (He doubts it.)
- Remercier de (to thank for)
- Je te remercie de ton aide. (I thank you for your help.)
- Je t’en remercie. (I thank you for it.)
- S’approcher de (to approach)
- Il s’approche de la maison. (He approaches the house.)
- Il s’en approche. (He approaches it.)
- Se méfier de (to be wary of)
- Elle se méfie des étrangers. (She is wary of strangers.)
- Elle s’en méfie. (She is wary of them.)
- Dépendre de (to depend on)
- Tout dépend de la météo. (Everything depends on the weather.)
- Tout en dépend. (Everything depends on it.)
- Se passer de (to do without)
- Je peux me passer de sucre. (I can do without sugar.)
- Je peux m’en passer. (I can do without it.)
- S’agir de (to be about)
- Il s’agit de mon avenir. (It’s about my future.)
- Il s’agit de cela. (It’s about it.)
- Se servir de (to use)
- Il se sert d’un couteau. (He uses a knife.)
- Il s’en sert. (He uses it.)
- Finir de (to finish)
- Elle finit de manger. (She finishes eating.)
- Elle le finit. (She finishes it.)
- Changer de (to change)
- Nous changeons de direction. (We change direction.)
- Nous le changeons. (We change it.)
- Se plaindre de (to complain about)
- Ils se plaignent du bruit. (They complain about the noise.)
- Ils s’en plaignent. (They complain about it.)
- Arrêter de (to stop)
- Il arrête de fumer. (He stops smoking.)
- Il arrête de le faire. (He stops doing it.)
- Se souvenir de (to remember)
- Elle se souvient de son enfance. (She remembers her childhood.)
- Elle s’en souvient. (She remembers it.)
- Accepter de (to accept to)
- Ils acceptent de participer. (They accept to participate.)
- Ils acceptent de le faire. (They accept to do it.)
- Refuser de (to refuse to)
- Je refuse d’obéir. (I refuse to obey.)
- Je refuse de le faire. (I refuse to do it.)
- Cesser de (to cease)
- La pluie cesse de tomber. (The rain ceases to fall.)
- Il le cesse. (He ceases it.)
- Promettre de (to promise to)
- Il promet de revenir. (He promises to return.)
- Il promet de le faire. (He promises to do it.)
- Oublier de (to forget to)
- Tu oublies de fermer la porte. (You forget to close the door.)
- Tu oublies de le faire. (You forget to do it.)
- Venir de (to have just/to come from)
- Je viens de Paris. (I come from Paris.)
- Je viens de là-bas. (I come from there.)
BUT for temporal use: - Je viens de manger. (I have just eaten.)
- No pronoun replacement possible for this usage
- Craindre de (to fear)
- Elle craint de perdre. (She fears losing.)
- Elle craint de le faire. (She fears doing it.)
- Se rappeler de (to recall)
- Il se rappelle de cette histoire. (He recalls this story.)
- Il s’en rappelle. (He recalls it.)
- Risquer de (to risk)
- Nous risquons de rater le train. (We risk missing the train.)
- Nous risquons de le faire. (We risk doing it.)
- Tenter de (to attempt)
- Ils tentent de résoudre le problème. (They attempt to solve the problem.)
- Ils tentent de le faire. (They attempt to do it.)
- S’efforcer de (to strive to)
- Je m’efforce de comprendre. (I strive to understand.)
- Je m’efforce de le faire. (I strive to do it.)
- Se charger de (to take charge of)
- Elle se charge du projet. (She takes charge of the project.)
- Elle s’en charge. (She takes charge of it.)
- Profiter de (to take advantage of)
- Tu profites de l’occasion. (You take advantage of the opportunity.)
- Tu en profites. (You take advantage of it.)
- Se contenter de (to be content with)
- Ils se contentent de peu. (They are content with little.)
- Ils s’en contentent. (They are content with it.)
- Hériter de (to inherit)
- Elle hérite de la maison. (She inherits the house.)
- Elle en hérite. (She inherits it.)
- Disposer de (to have at one’s disposal)
- Nous disposons de temps. (We have time at our disposal.)
- Nous en disposons. (We have it at our disposal.)
- S’inquiéter de (to worry about)
- Je m’inquiète de son absence. (I worry about his absence.)
- Je m’en inquiète. (I worry about it.)
- Provenir de (to come from)
- Cette odeur provient de la cuisine. (This smell comes from the kitchen.)
- Elle en provient. (It comes from there.)
- Demander de (to ask someone to)
- Je lui demande de le faire (I ask him to do it)
- Pierre demande à Marie d’aller au magasin (Pierre asks Marie to go to the shop)
- Dire de (to tell someone to)
- Nous leur disons d’arrêter de parler (We tell them to stop talking)
- Je lui dis de ne pas s’inquiéter (I tell her not to worry)
General Rule:
The pronoun “en” typically replaces “de + noun” but not “de + infinitive.” This is a crucial distinction in French grammar. Here’s how it works:
- When “de” is followed by a noun:
- Je parle de mon travail → J’en parle
- Il s’occupe des enfants → Il s’en occupe
- Elle a besoin d’argent → Elle en a besoin
- When “de” is followed by an infinitive:
- Je refuse de partir → Je refuse de le faire
- Il essaie de comprendre → Il essaie de le faire
- Elle promet de venir → Elle promet de le faire
- Verbs that consistently and correctly use “en” typically involve:
- Speaking about something (parler de → en parler)
- Remembering something (se souvenir de → s’en souvenir)
- Taking care of something (s’occuper de → s’en occuper)
- Needing something (avoir besoin de → en avoir besoin)
- Being wary of something (se méfier de → s’en méfier)
- Coming from somewhere (provenir de → en provenir)
- Being satisfied with something (se contenter de → s’en contenter)
- Having something at one’s disposal (disposer de → en disposer)
This distinction helps maintain clarity in French expression and follows the logical structure of the language, where “en” primarily represents a noun complement rather than an action.
Why Some Verbs Require “de”
The requirement for certain verbs to be followed by “de” stems from several factors:
- Historical Evolution: Many of these constructions evolved from Latin, where similar prepositions were used to indicate source or origin.
- Semantic Relationship: “De” often implies a relationship of source, origin, or separation between the verb and its object.
- Grammar Convention: Over time, these constructions became fixed in French grammar, much like how certain English verbs require specific prepositions (e.g., “to consist of,” “to depend on”).
- Meaning Distinction: In some cases, the preposition helps distinguish between different meanings of the same verb (e.g., “penser à” means “to think about” while “penser de” means “to have an opinion about”).
