Verb drill
French verb prepositions: practise the whole pattern
Practise French verbs with à, de or a direct object. Twelve gaps test people, topics and activities after the verb, with a reference table first.
- A2
- 12 answers
- Checked all at once
- Accents count
- Learn this in the A2 notebook →
In short
Learn the verb with what follows it: inviter quelqu’un, parler à quelqu’un, parler de quelque chose. A noun, a person and an infinitive can use different patterns. Practise rebuilding the whole complement, including its preposition.
Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learn
Study first: who, what or which activity?
| Pattern | Example | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| inviter quelqu’un | J’invite Lina. | I invite Lina. |
| regarder quelque chose | Je regarde ce film. | I watch this film. |
| parler à quelqu’un | Je parle à Lina. | I speak to Lina. |
| parler de quelque chose | Je parle de ce projet. | I speak about this project. |
| téléphoner à quelqu’un | Je téléphone à Marc. | I phone Marc. |
| écrire à quelqu’un | J’écris à Lina. | I write to Lina. |
| penser à quelque chose | Je pense à ce voyage. | I think about this trip. |
| aimer + infinitif | J’aime voyager. | I like travelling. |
| commencer à + infinitif | Je commence à travailler. | I start working. |
| finir de + infinitif | Je finis de travailler. | I finish working. |
The same name can have two roles: Je parle à Lina addresses her; Je parle de Lina discusses her. English also gives different clues, but French keeps its own construction. Inviter Lina and regarder ce film take their objects directly. For an activity, compare J’aime travailler, Je commence à travailler and Je finis de travailler. Keep the infinitive with its own pattern.
Which pronoun replaces a verb’s complement in French?
Je parle à Lina. Je lui parle. Je pense à Lina. Je pense à elle.
I speak to Lina. I speak to her. I think about Lina. I think about her.
Parler à uses lui here. Penser à a person keeps à with a stressed pronoun such as elle.
With a thing, compare Je pense à cette question and J’y pense. The verb pattern tells you what is being replaced. It also helps you separate a location from a complement: in Je regarde ce film dans le salon, ce film is what you watch and dans le salon tells you where.
Rebuild twelve complements
Type the missing complement from the English cue. Include à, de or the contraction when the pattern needs it. Keep the cue’s noun phrase: “this project” is ce projet; “the project” is le projet.
1 · A person or a topic
- Je parle . (to Lina)
- Je parle . (about Lina)
- J’invite . (Marc)
- Je téléphone . (Marc)
- Nous parlons . (about the project)
- Nous parlons . (to the director)
2 · A thing, an activity or another recipient
- Je regarde . (this film)
- J’écris . (to Lina)
- Je pense . (about this trip)
- J’aime . (travelling)
- Je commence . (working)
- Je finis . (working)