List Of French Verbs Followed By De

One of the more difficult aspects to learning French is trying to remember which verbs are followed by the preposition à and which ones are followed by the preposition de. Rather than trying to memorize all of the verbs followed by de, here’s a list of the top-10 most commonly used verbs with sample phrases.

Top-10 verbs followed by de

1) Essayer De – To Try

  • J’essaye de faire mon mieux. I try to do my best.

2) Arrêter De – To Stop

  • J’arrête de fumer. I stop smoking.

3) Oublier De – To Forget

  • J’oublie de faire la vaisselle. I forget to do the dishes.

4) Refuser De – To Refuse

  • Je refuse de travailler le week-end. I refuse to work on weekends.

5) Regretter De – To Regret

  • Je regrette de vous informer. I regret to inform you.

6) S’excuser De – To Apologize For

  • Je m’excuse de vous déranger. I’m sorry for bothering you.

7) Faire Semblant De – To Pretend To

  • Je fais semblant de sourire. I pretend to smile.

8) Choisir De – To Choose

  • Je choisis de rester ici. I choose to stay here.

9) Demander De – To Ask

  • Je te demande de me pardonner. I’m asking you to forgive me.

10) Éviter De – To Avoid

  • J’évite de manger trop de bonbons. I avoid eating too much candy.

Verb list: French verbs followed by de

  • accepter de to agree to
  • avoir l’intention de to intend to
  • avoir peur de to be afraid to
  • avoir raison de to be right to
  • avoir tort de to be wrong to
  • brûler de dying to, really want to
  • cesser de to stop
  • choisir de to choose to
  • conseiller de to advise
  • convaincre de to convince
  • craindre de to fear
  • décider de decide to
  • défendre de to forbid
  • demander de to ask to
  • entreprendre de to undertake to
  • envisager de to contemplate
  • essayer de to try to
  • éviter de to avoid
  • faire semblant de to pretend to
  • feindre de to pretend to, feign
  • finir de to finish
  • interdire de to forbid to
  • mériter de to deserve to
  • offrir de to offer to
  • oublier de to forget to
  • parler de to talk about
  • permettre de to allow, permit
  • persuader de to persuade to
  • projeter de to plan to/on
  • promettre de to promise to
  • refuser de to refuse to
  • regretter de to regret
  • remercier de to thank
  • reprocher de to reproach for
  • résourdre de to resolve to
  • risquer de to run the risk of
  • s’abstentir de to refrain from
  • s’arrêter de to stop
  • s’empêcher de to refrain from
  • s’empresser de to rush to, hurry
  • s’enfforcer de to try hard to
  • s’étonner de to marvel at
  • s’excuser de to apologize for
  • se charger de to make sure to, see to it
  • se contenter de be satisfied with
  • se dépêcher de to hurry to
  • se flatter de pride yourself on, be proud of
  • se plaindre de to complain about
  • se proposer de offer to do something
  • se rappeler de to recall to
  • se souvenir de to remember to
  • soupconner de to suspect of
  • tâcher de to try to

Example sentences

The following is a list of example sentences using verbs followed by the preposition “de”.

  • J’évite de faire la meme bêtise deux foix. I avoid making the same mistake two times.
  • Elle n’arrête pas de parler. She doesn’t stop talking.
  • Il cesse de pleuvoir. It stops raining.
  • Je me souviens de payer mon loyer. I remember to pay my rent. 
  • Il refuse de partir. He refuses to leave.
  • J’ai besoin de boire du café. I need to drink coffee.
  • Je décide de faire du ski. I decide to go skiing.
  • J’essaye d’être plus sympa avec les gens. I try to be nicer to people.
  • J’évite de conduire trop vite. I avoid driving too fast. 
  • Je choisis de atteindre mes objectifs. I choose to reach my goals.
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