French Verbs with Prepositions

Many French verbs require a certain preposition in order for their meaning to be complete. Here is an alphabetical list of French verbs and the prepositions they need (if any).

jeter (qqch) à - to throw (s-t) to
se jeter sur qqun - to throw oneself upon someone
jouer à - to play (a game or a sport)
jouer de - to play (an instrument)
jouir de - to enjoy
jurer par - to swear by
laisser - to allow
laisser pour (mort) - to leave for (dead)
lire dans (le journal) - to read in (the paper)
loucher sur - to ogle
manger dans la main à qqun - to eat out of one's hand
manger dans l'assiette - to eat off of a plate
manquer à - to miss someone
manquer de - to neglect, fail to (do s-t), to lack
se méfier de - to distrust, beware of
mêler à - to mingle with / to join in
mériter de - to deserve to
mésurer en (mètres) - to measure in (meters)
mettre - to put on
mettre son espoir dans - to pin one's hopes on
se mettre à - to start, set about ___-ing
se mettre contre le mur - to stand against the wall
se mettre en colère - to get mad
se mettre en route - to set out
monter - to go up, climb
se moquer de - to make fun of
nier - to deny
nuire à - to harm
obéir à - to obey
obtenir qqch par - to obtain something by
s'occuper de - to be busy with
offrir de - to offer to
ordonner à qqun de faire qqch - to order s-o to do s-t
oser - to dare
oublier de - to forget to
paraître - to appear
parler à - to talk to
parler de - to talk about
parler pour - to speak on behalf of
partir dans (10 minutes) - to leave in (10 minutes)
partir dans (les montagnes) - to leave for (the mountains)
partir de - to leave
partir pour - to leave for/be off to
parvenir à - to succeed in ___-ing
se passer de - to do without
payer (le repas) - to pay for (the meal)
payer pour (qqun) - to pay for (someone)
se pencher pour - to bend down in order to
penser - to plan on, intend
penser à - to think about (imagine)
penser de - to think about (opinion)
permettre à - to permit
(se) permettre de - to allow (oneself) to
permettre à qqun de faire qqch - to allow s-o to do s-t
persister à - to persist in ___-ing
persuader de - to persuade to
se plaindre de - to complain about
plaire à - to please / be pleasing to
se plaire à - to take pleasure in ___-ing
pleurer - to cry about
pleuvoir dans (la France) - to rain in (France)
pouvoir - to be able to
préférer - to prefer
préférer ___ à ___ - to prefer ___ to/over ___, to like ___ more than ___
prendre garde de - to be careful not to
prendre le parti de - to decide to
prendre modèle sur qqun - to model oneself on someone
prendre qqch dans (une boîte) - to take s-t from (a box)
prendre qqun par (la main) - to take s-o by (the hand)
se préparer à - to prepare oneself to
se presser de - to hurry to
prétendre - to claim
prier - to pray to
prier de - to beg to
profiter à - to benefit / be profitable to
profiter de - to make the most of
promettre à qqun de faire qqch - to promise s-o to do s-t
promettre de - to promise to
proposer de - to suggest ___-ing
puer - to stink of

Key:

qqch - quelque chose / s-t - something
qqun - quelqu'un / s-o - someone


More of this lesson:

A-C (s'abriter-croire) | D-I (décider-inviter) | J-P | Q-V (questionner - voyager)