#Prepositions Help

1 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

atomic dust
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Bonjour tlm, I have a question regarding french prepositions when they are used in set phrases/terms.

Are there any tips or general rules for when to use à vs. de in specific vocabulary? I know the difference between the two when using it in standard sentences, but I often come across them in various verb phrases and expressions and have a hard time remembering which one to use.

I understand prepositions are difficult and some what arbitrary in most languages but any insight someone could share would be greatly appreciated!

misty trellis
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For one, prepositions when it comes to verbs and verbal expressions are inherent to each verb so you'd have to learn them on a case-by-case basis, unfortunately.

atomic dust
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merci !! les prépositions sont si difficiles pour moi à (?) comprendre mais ça m’aide beaucoup

misty trellis
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When you have « être + adjectif + verbe », the preposition preceding that verb depends on what that verb acts upon

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« Le gâteau est délicieux à manger »
—> « manger » refers to the subject (le gâteau) thus it's à
« C'est délicieux de manger le gâteau »
—> « manger » refers to the object (le gâteau) thus it's de

atomic dust
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seems i need some general remediation too lol, to be fair it’s midnight for me so brain is not a full capacity lol. but thank you especially for those links i’ll make sure to brush up on those!

misty trellis
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no worries

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good night!

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Oh and it's flipped because « pour moi » isn't inherent to the structure

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it's more like an addition, something supplementary

atomic dust
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do you know if there’s a lawless french article for that concept? or any other website that covers it really

misty trellis
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like you'll pick it up by just continually talking in French to francophones

atomic dust
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which is why i decided to be more active on this server lol, alright then i’ll try to remember that

misty trellis
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for example, adverbs that modify a verb comes after the verb itself whereas in English it comes before the verb:
« Il veut vraiment te rencontrer. »
'He really wants to meet you.'

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I didn't explicitly learn that, it just something I picked up by talking to Francophones

atomic dust
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wait okay it makes more sense when it’s phrased like that, though in theory if i rearranged that sentence to be « pour moi, les prepositions sont si difficiles à comprendre. » would it be correct?

misty trellis
atomic dust
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would the former sound more natural however?

misty trellis
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it's like an emphatic structure

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As long as it doesn't 'interrupt' the expression, it's fine

atomic dust
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okay got it, but yeah the explanation of it being similar to adverb placement makes sense, thank you for that. if i could leave a good review for you i would lol, i’m gonna call it a night though because my english is starting to fall apart just like my french lol. thanks again!!