List of common French verbs that are followed by no preposition

List of common French verbs that are followed by no preposition

May 2013 Grammar Lesson: No Preposition + Verb in the infinitive
We already studied common French verbs followed by the prepositions ‘à’ and “de”. Now, here is a
list of common French verbs which are not followed by any preposition when followed by a verb in
the infinitive. The second verbs comes directly after the first verb, as in “Paul adore jouer au ballon”
(Paul loves to play with a ball). Of course, these verbs may or may not take a preposition in English, so
you need to really link the meaning of the verb to the action being described, not the English words.
List of common French verbs that are followed by
no preposition (nothing) + infinitive
To make it clearer, I’ll use “faire quelque chose” as my second verb, but you could replace it by any
other infinitive that makes sense.
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adorer faire quelque chose - to love doing something
aimer faire quelque chose - to like/enjoy doing something
aimer mieux faire quelque chose - to rather do something
aller faire quelque chose - to be going to do something
compter faire quelque chose - to intend to do something
courir faire quelque chose - to run to do something
désirer faire quelque chose - to want to do something
détester faire quelque chose - to hate to do something
devoir faire quelque chose - to have to do something
emmener (qq’un) faire quelque chose - to take (someone) to do something
envoyer (qq’un) faire quelque chose - to send (someone) to do something
espérer faire quelque chose - to hope to do something
être censé faire quelque chose - to be supposed to do something
faire faire quelque chose - to have something done
il faut faire quelque chose - one must do something about it
laisser faire quelque chose - to allow/let something to be done
oser faire quelque chose - to dare to do something
penser faire quelque chose - to think you are doing something
pouvoir faire quelque chose - to be able to do something
préférer faire quelque chose - to prefer to do something
prétendre faire quelque chose - to pretend to do something
regarder (qq’un) faire quelque chose - to watch someone do something
savoir faire quelque chose - to know HOW TO do something
sembler faire quelque chose - to seem to be doing something
souhaiter faire quelque chose - to wish to do something
vouloir faire quelque chose - to want to do something
Note also that most verbs of motion are followed by an infinitive ; monter (to go upstairs), descendre
(to go downstairs), renter (to go home/inside), aller (to go), retourner (to go back), sortir (to go
outside), venir (to come)... faire quelque chose.
Th i n k French - mai 2013