oofingbad | French - Learn French in a friendly community! | Page 1

teal plinthBOT May 4, 2025, 3:19 PM

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Please be patient

Our volunteers look into many questions every day; sometimes it takes them a little while to answer.

Pro tip: you can rename the thread title with `.tr <thread name>`

Make it descriptive, including relevant context, but also to the point. This way you improve your chances of getting a more relevant and specific answer.

shadow ginkgo May 4, 2025, 3:29 PM

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@full iris it depends on the verb before, not the infinitive after.

j'ai commencé à m'entraîner
il parle de toi (he's speaking about you)
il parle à toi (he's speaking to you)

« pour » just means "for, so that, in order to, etc."
pour être clair → (in order) to be clear
pour partir plus tôt → in order to leave sooner

full iris May 4, 2025, 4:07 PM

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interesting

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thank you!

cosmic stone May 4, 2025, 6:28 PM

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tu sembles d'être confiant
That de should not be there

molten iron May 4, 2025, 10:06 PM

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some verbs need à after them, some need de, some don't need anything, and you pretty just need to memorize it. Personally I found that I didn't have to do anything in particular to memorize them though, I learned it passively through immersion (reading stuff etc.)

il essaye de comprendre
il commence à comprendre
il semble comprendre

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or you just say the wrong one and some nice person corrects you and you learn that way

full iris May 5, 2025, 4:01 AM

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yknow maybe it's on me for looking to find a case where it's always one thing for X case and another for Y case

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but these responses have been helpful!

twin raptor May 5, 2025, 10:03 AM

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@full iris Find a reference book that can teach you the correct prepositions to use for verbs ☺️

molten iron May 5, 2025, 2:03 PM

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Also there's at least one verb where the meaning changes depending on which one you use -

il pense devenir policier - he thinks he's going to join the police/he thinks he'll become police
il pense à devenir policier - he's thinking of/considering becoming police
il pense [qqch] de devenir policier - he thinks [something] about/of becoming police (ex: il pense mal de devenir policier - he thinks poorly of becoming police/he thinks joining the police is wrong)

molten iron May 5, 2025, 2:19 PM

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also for some reason my brain is telling me that first first one is sometimes said in ridicule/doubt like "he thinks to become police? him?" kind of vibe. idk tho

shadow ginkgo May 5, 2025, 2:34 PM

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molten iron also for some reason my brain is telling me that first first one is sometimes sa...

yes you're right, it can have a sarcastic tone, but not always

molten iron May 5, 2025, 2:38 PM

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shadow ginkgo yes you're right, it can have a sarcastic tone, but not always

thanks for confirming that, it's hard for me to trust my intuition sometimes 😅 blobheart

shadow ginkgo May 5, 2025, 2:40 PM

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hah, il a raté tous ses examens et il pense devenir policier? le pauvre petit con!

#oofingbad