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The infinitive is the verb form generally used after a preposition in French. À (to) and de (from, about) are the most common prepositions in French. In many expressions, the choice of the preposition à or de before an infinitive is purely idiomatic; that is, it is unrelated to meaning. So generally you need to memorize which preposition is used.
When the following verbs are followed by an infinitive, the preposition à is required.
aider à, to help to
s'amuser à, to have fun at
apprendre à, to learn to arriver à, to succeed in,to manage to
s'attendre à, to expect to avoir du mal à, to find it difficult to
chercher à, to try to, to attempt to
commencer à, to start to
continuer à/ de, to continue to (either à or de)
se décider à, to make up one's mind to
encourager à, to encourage
s'habituer à, to get used to
hésiter à, to hesitate to
inviter à, to invite to
se mettre à, to start to
se préparer à, to prepare to
renoncer à, to give up
réussir à, to succeed at
servir à, to be used for
tenir à, to be anxious to, to be eager to
When the following verbs are followed by an infinitive, the preposition de is required.
(s')arrêter de, to stop
choisir de, to choose to
conseiller de, to advise to
se contenter de, to content oneself with continuer à/ de, to continue to (either à or de)
décider de, to decide to
s'efforcer de to try hard to, to endeavor to
essayer de, to try to
s'excuser de, to apologize for
finir de, to finish
mériter de, to deserve, to be worth
oublier de, to forget to
permettre (à quelqu'un) de, to permit someone to
persuader de, to persuade to
se presser de, to hurry to
promettre de, to promise to
proposer de, to propose to
refuser de, to refuse
rêver de to dream of
se souvenir de, to remember to
Most idiomatic expressions with avoir also require de + infinitive:
The infinitive may be used to complete the sense of an adjective or a pronoun. Generally infinitives following a noun or adjective are preceded by the preposition de. (Le président est content de pouvoir aider les pauvres. The president is happy to be able to help poor people).
However, adjectives and nouns are followed by the preposition à + infinitive to indicate a passive sense or a function: "cette eau est bonne à boire" (this is drinking water), "ce livre est amusant à lire" (this book is fun to read), "c'est triste à voir" (it's a sorry sight), "c'est difficile à dire" (this is difficult to say).
pour, afin de, avant de, sans, par + infinitive
pour, afin de, avant de, sans, par + infinitive
The infinitive expresses purpose when it is used after pour or afin de (in order to).
In the case of avant de (before) and sans (without), the English translation is often a conjugated verb (before they left), or a present participle (without speaking), rather than the English infinitive.
The infinitive follows the preposition par (by) after the verbs commencer (to start) and finir (to finish).
après (past infinitive constructions)
après (past infinitive constructions)
The infinitive of avoir or être plus the past participle of a verb is used after the preposition après (after) to describe a preceding action in the past. Note the past participle agreement in past constructions with être.
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