115 - 10 French Verbs + The Preposition 'De' [Part I]

Bonjour à tous! Welcome back to the French Made Easy podcast. This is episode number 115, numéro 115!

Last episode, we've talked about verbs that were often paired with the preposition 'à', and today, we'll talk about verbs that often pair with the preposition 'de'.  

The preposition 'de' can be translated into several English words like 'of', 'from', 'about', 'by' or 'to'. But you’ll also see that sometimes there are no equivalent translations at all in English. We might use a preposition in French and none in English. It’s all depending on the context. 

Now, as I said last time, prepositions can be a bit tricky, because their use can change a lot depending on the context. But don't stress too much about it—the more you practice with prepositions, the more you'll get the hang of it. But it’s good to learn some common pairing like what we’re about to do today, so you can start getting used to what preposition is more likely to go with certain verbs.

As always, make sure you have your lesson's cheat sheet handy, so you can see the words as you listen. And after you've listened to the lesson, head over to the FME Exercise Library to access today's exercises and practice your new vocabulary. You can find the links in the episode notes on your podcast platform.

Let's jump into our list of 10 easy and commonly-used French verbs that are often followed by 'de'.

Just a reminder that there can be other prepositions following these verbs. It's more commonly followed by 'de', but not always.

parler de (to talk about.) Nous parlons de notre projet. (We're talking about our project.)avoir besoin de (to need.) J'ai besoin de repos. (I need rest.)rêver de (to dream of.) Il rêve de vacances. (He dreams of holidays.)essayer de (to try to.) Je vais essayer de gagner. (I'll try to win.)décider de (to decide to.) Nous avons décidé de déménager. (We decided to move out.)finir de (to finish.) Ils ont fini de manger. (They finished eating.)se souvenir de (to remember.) Est-ce que tu te souviens de cette chanson ? (Do you remember this song?)arrêter de (to stop.) Arrête de fumer ! (Stop smoking!)venir de (to come from.) Je viens de Londres. (I come from London.)oublier de (to forget to.) J'ai oublié de l'appeler. (I forgot to call him.)

Now let's do a quick recap of the verbs we covered today:

parler de - to talk aboutavoir besoin de - to needrêver de - to dream ofessayer de - to try todécider de - to decide tofinir de - to finishse souvenir de - to rememberarrêter de - to stopvenir de - to come fromoublier de - to forget to

Voilà! That's it for today's episode. Make sure to head over to the French Made Easy Library to download your free exercises to practice. 

À bientôt!