📖LearnModule 14 · Lesson 11 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C2, continuedUnit 3 · La syntaxe complexe
L'infinitif complément
Module 14 of the free French course (CEFR C2, continued), lesson 11 of 30: Which preposition a verb takes before an infinitive is pure memory. On this page: 8 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line, the conjugation table and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's lesson 11.
The words
French
English
Say it
j'apprends à nager
I am learning to swim
zhah-prah(n) zah nah-ZHAY
je décide de partir
I decide to leave
zhuh day-seed duh pahr-TEER
nager
to swim
nah-ZHAY
la mémoire
memory
lah may-MWAHR
la famille de verbes
the family of verbs
lah fah-mee duh VEHRB
chercher une fois
to look up once
shehr-shay ewn FWAH
sans règle
with no rule
sah(n) REHGL
par habitude
by habit
pahr ah-bee-TEWD
Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.
Hear the words
Each word is read twice — say it back in the gap. Computer-generated voice; credits on the course page.
La règle · The rule
Which preposition a verb takes before an infinitive is pure memory, and French has three answers: nothing (je veux partir), à (j'apprends à nager), de (je décide de partir).
Et aussi · And also
There is no rule, only families. Verbs of wanting and being able take nothing; verbs of starting and learning take à; verbs of finishing and deciding take de. Everything else you look up once and keep.
Attention · Watch out
apprendre takes à (j'apprends à nager), décider takes de (je décide de partir), vouloir and pouvoir take nothing. There is no rule to derive it from: look the verb up once and write it down.
apprendre — the table
je apprends · tu apprends · il/elle apprend · nous apprenons · vous apprenez · ils/elles apprennent
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with j'apprends à nager.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the French.
Write out apprendre in full from memory, every person, and check each form against the table above.
This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The French Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.
Keep these words
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.