# Question regarding à and de verbs in French

**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-a-and-de-verbs-in-french/727915
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [August 15, 2015, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-a-and-de-verbs-in-french/727915 "2015-08-15T12:56:36Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![davidmich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)
#### Post date: [August 15, 2015, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-a-and-de-verbs-in-french/727915/1 "2015-08-15T12:56:36Z")

</div>

Hi

I’ve made some lists of verbs followed by à and de. I always come across new ones and I’m just wondering:

Will a) good French dictionaries give me all the variations of meanings of verbs followed by" à" or “de”  
or

b)are there just too many variations and nuances to find them in dictionaries? Does the reader have to rely on context to understand the meaning?.

I look forward to your feedback.  
davidmich

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![RadicalPi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/radicalpi/32/9806_2.png) [@RadicalPi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadicalPi)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2015, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-a-and-de-verbs-in-french/727915/2 "2015-08-16T00:42:42Z")

</div>

> [@davidmich](#):
>
> Will a) good French dictionaries give me all the variations of meanings of verbs followed by" à" or “de”

Yes. There is no particular rhyme or reason to which verb gets which preposition, so you just have to know. Plus there are a few verbs that can take both “à” or “de,” with a different meaning in each case.

Here are some examples: [When to Use 'À' vs. 'De' in French](http://french.about.com/library/prepositions/bl_prep_a_vs_de2.htm)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![davidmich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2015, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-a-and-de-verbs-in-french/727915/3 "2015-08-16T02:28:23Z")

</div>

Thanks RadicalPi. Every website I’ve seen suggests that you just memorize the verbs that take à and de as you come across them.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2015, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-regarding-a-and-de-verbs-in-french/727915/4 "2015-08-16T03:17:29Z")

</div>

Those are prepositions, aren’t they? Does the correct preposition depend more on what the preceding verb is, or what the object of the preposition is?

Prepositions are totally idiosyncratic in any language, and there is just as much arbitrariness in English as French.

For example, you might be _at_ the doctor’s office, but _in_ the examination room. You rode _on_ the bus to get there, but _in_ a car to get back home.

(In Hebrew, you would be _in_ the doctor’s office or _in_ the supermarket, but the preposition for “in” can also mean “with” in some cases.)