3 VERBS WITH TWO DIFFERENT USAGESa The verb continuer is found with both à and de. The use of de avoids hiatus after a verb form
ending in ‘-a’, e.g. il continue à le fairebut il continua de le faire. The same thing also occurs, but
more rarely, with the verb commencer.
e.g. Il commença de pleuvoir
b Note the difference in meaning between:
- il commence àapprendre = he is beginning to... and il a commencé parlui demander
pardon = he began by... - il a fini depréparer le repas = he has finished preparing... and il a fini parles remercier de
leur attention = he finished by... (and idiomatically ‘at long last/finally he.. .’). Similarly,
achever and terminer.
c Note also the difference in meaning between the following:
- Il a décidé de partir = He has decided to leave and Il s’est décidé à partir = He has made up
his mind to leave. Similarly, résoudre de/se résoudre à. - Il a essayé de le comprendre = He tried to understand it and Il s’est essayé à faire de la
peinture = He tried his hand at painting.
d Note also the following:
- Active: on m’a forcé/obligé àpasser l’examen
- Passive: je suis forcé/obligé depasser l’examen.
See for further information: Coffman Crocker, pp. 227–9
Ferrar, Appendix A, pp. 272–6
Hawkins and Towell, pp. 292–304, 310–16
Judge and Healey, pp. 326–7
L’Huillier, pp. 205–6
Price, pp. 402–26
Turk and Vandaele, pp. 175–86
EXERCISES1 Fill in the gaps in the following sentences with the appropriate preposition à or de. In many of
the sentences a pair or a group of verbsof similar meaning is given. Each verb in the
pair/group takes the same preposition. As you work through the exercise, try to categorize
each group for your own reference, e.g. verbs of ‘fearing’ + de + infinitive, etc. This should
help you to remember them more easily and use them more confidently.
a Arrivé en 6e ou en 4e, l’enfant a appris __ manier sa propre langue.
a réussi
excelle
Verbs with àand de 153