vs De

French prepositions
The French prepositions and de cause constant problems for French students. Generally
speaking, means to, at, or in, while de means of or from. Both prepositions have numerous
uses - this summary table compares them.

Location or destination

v
s

De

v
s

Starting point or origin (Learn more)

Je vais Rome

I'm going to Rome

partir de Nice

to leave from (out of) Nice

Je suis la banque

I'm at the bank

Je suis de
Bruxelles

I'm from Brussels

Distance in time or space (note that is used in front of the distance, while de indicates the
starting point/origin)
Il habite 10
mtres...

He lives 10 meters...

...d'ici

...from here

C'est 5 minutes...

It's 5 minutes...

...de moi

...from me

Possession

v
s

Possession / belonging (Learn more)

un ami moi

a friend of mine

le livre de Paul

Paul's book

Ce livre est Jean

This is Jean's book

le caf de
l'universit

the university caf

Purpose or use

v
s

Contents / description

une tasse th

teacup (cup for tea)

une tasse de
th

cup of tea

une bote
allumettes

matchbox (box for

matches)

une bote
d'allumettes

box (full) of matches

un sac dos

backpack (pack for the

back)

un roman
d'amour

love story (story about

love)

Manner, style, or characteristic

v
s

Defining feature

fait la main

made by hand

le march de
gros

wholesale market

Il habite la
franaise

He lives in the French

style

une salle de
classe

classroom

un enfant aux yeux

bleus

blue-eyed child

un livre
d'histoire

history book

Defining ingredient

Indispensible ingredient

Use when the food is made with something

that can be taken away without destroying it as a general rule, you can translate it as "with."
If you take out the ham or onion, you still have
a sandwich or soup.

Use de when the food is made primarily

of something - generally speaking, you
can translate it as "of" or "from." If you
take away the blackcurrants or tomatoes,
you're left with not much at all.

un sandwich au
jambon

ham sandwich

la crme de cassis

blackcurrant
liqueur

la soupe l'oignon

onion soup

la soupe de tomates

tomato soup

une tarte aux

pommes

apple pie

le jus d'orange

orange juice

Impersonal expressions: Real subject

Impersonal expressions: Dummy

subject

C'est bon savoir.

That's good to know.

Il est bon d'tudier.

It's good to study.

(Studying is
good)

C'est facile faire.

That's easy to do.

Il est facile de le
trouver.

It's easy to find

it. (Finding it is
easy)

Additional uses of

Additional uses of de

Measurement

Cause

acheter au kilo

to buy by the kilogram

mourir de faim

to die of / from
hunger

payer la semaine

to pay by the week

fatigu du voyage

tired from the trip

Point in time

Means / manner of doing something

Nous arrivons
5h00

We arrive at 5:00

crire de la main
gauche

Il est mort 92 ans

He died at the age of 92

rpter de mmoire

to write with the

left hand

Verbs with different meanings with and de

dcider

to persuade, convince

dcider de

to decide to

demander

to ask (for permission)

demander
de

to ask (s.o. to do s.t.*)

jouer

to play a game or sport

jouer de

to play an instrument

manquer

to miss someone

manquer
de

to neglect (to do s.t.)

(more about manquer)

parler

to talk to

parler de

to talk about

penser

to think about (imagine)

penser de

to think about (opinion)

(more about penser)

profiter

to benefit

profiter de

to make the most of

venir

to happen to

venir de

to have just (done s.t.)

(more about venir)

Verbs that use both and de in the same sentence

conseiller qqun de faire

qqch

advise s.o. to do
s.t.

dfendre qqun de faire qqch

forbid s.o. to do s.t.

demander qqun de faire

qqch

ask s.o. to do s.t.

dire qqun de faire qqch

tell s.o. to do s.t.

interdire qqun de faire qqch

forbid s.o. to do s.t.

ordonner qqun de faire qqch

order s.o. to do s.t.

permettre qqun de faire

qqch

allow s.o. to do s.t.

promettre qqun de faire

qqch

promise s.o. to do
s.t.

tlphoner qqun de faire

qqch

call s.o. to do s.t.

qqu
n

quelqu'un

s.
o.

someon
e

qqc
h

quelque
chose

s.t somethi
.
ng

Expressions with and de

ct

nearby, next to

de ct

sideways

ct de

next to, beside

du ct de

from (direction)

la hauteur

at the level

de hauteur

[5 feet] tall

il est Paris he's in Paris

il est de
Paris

he's from Paris

prt* +
inf.

prepared to

prs* de +
inf.

near, on the verge

of

tasse th

teacup (cup for

tea)

tasse de th

cup of tea

* These are two different words, but because they are homophones I think it makes sense to
include them.
Verbs with or de
There are a couple of French verbs that can take or de with little or no difference in meaning
commencer /
de

to start

continuer / de

to
continue

De
is a very important and versatile preposition with many different meanings and
uses in French. As a preposition, it can express or indicate all of the following:
I. Possession or belonging ( learn more )
le livre de Paul - Paul's book
la bibliothque de l'universit - the university library
II. Starting point or origin ( learn more )
partir de Nice - to leave from (out of) Nice
Je suis de Bruxelles - I'm from Brussels
III. Contents / description of something
une tasse de th - cup of tea
un roman d'amour - love story (story of/about love)
IV. Defining feature
le march de gros - wholesale market
une salle de classe - classroom
le jus d'orange - orange juice
V. Cause
mourir de faim - to die of / from hunger
fatigu du voyage - tired from the trip
VI. Means / manner of doing something
crire de la main gauche - to write with one's left hand
rpter de mmoire - to recite from memory

Note: When followed by the definite articles le and les, de contracts with them into
a single word:
For example
de + le

du

du salon

de + les

des

des villes

But de does not contract with la or l'

de + la

de la

de la femme

de + l'

de l'

de l'homme

In addition, de does not contract with le and les when they are direct objects.
The French preposition de is required after certain verbs and phrases when they
are followed by an infinitive. Note that the English translation may take an
infinitive (to agree to do something) or a gerund (to be afraid of flying).
accepter de to accept, agree to
achever de to finish ___-ing
accuser (quelqu'un) de to accuse (someone) of
s'agir de to be a question of ___-ing
(s')arrter de to stop ___-ing
avertir (qqun) de (ne pas) to warn (someone) (not) to
avoir peur de to be afraid of ___-ing
blmer (qqun) de to blame (someone) for ___-ing
cesser de to stop, cease ___-ing
choisir de to choose to
commander ( qqun) de to order (someone) to
conseiller de to advise to
se contenter de to be happy ___-ing
continuer de to continue ___-ing
convenir de to agree to
craindre de to fear ___-ing
dcider de to decide to
dfendre ( quelqu'un) de to forbid (someone) to do s.t.
demander ( quelqu'un) de to ask (someone) to do something
se dpcher de to hurry to
dranger quelqu'un de to bother someone to
dire ( quelqu'un) de to tell (someone) to do something
s'efforcer de to endeavor to
empcher de to prevent, keep from ___-ing

s'empresser de to hurry to
ennuyer quelqu'un de to bother/upset someone to
essayer de to try to
s'excuser de to apologize for ___-ing
fliciter de to congratulate for ___-ing
finir de to finish ___-ing
gronder de to scold for ___-ing
se hter de to hurry to
manquer de to neglect, fail to
mriter de to deserve to
offrir de to offer to
oublier de to forget to
(se) permettre de to allow (oneself) to
persuader de to persuade to
prendre garde de to be careful not to
prendre le parti de to decide to
se presser de to hurry to
prier de to beg to
promettre de to promise to
proposer de to suggest ___-ing
refuser de to refuse to
regretter de to regret ___-ing
remercier de to thank for ___-ing
rver de to dream of ___-ing
risquer de to risk ___-ing
se soucier de to care about ___-ing
se souvenir de to remember ___-ing

supplier de to be / beseech
tcher de to try to
venir de (faire quelque chose) to have just (done something)

The French preposition de is required after many French verbs and phrases that
need an indirect object, but there is often a completely different preposition in
English or none at all.
s'agir de to be a question of
s'approcher de to approach
s'apercevoir de to notice
arriver de (Paris, Canada) to arrive from (Paris, Canada)o
avoir besoin de to need
avoir envie de to want
changer de (train) to change (trains)
dpendre de to depend on
douter de to doubt
s'emparer de to grab
s'tonner de to be amazed by
fliciter de to congratulate
hriter de to inherit
jouer de to play (an instrument)
jouir de to enjoy
manquer de to lack
se mfier de to distrust, beware of
se moquer de to make fun of
s'occuper de to be busy with
partir de to leave
se passer de to do without
penser de to have an opinion about

se plaindre de to complain about

profiter de to make the most of
punir de to punish for
recompenser de to reward for
remercier de to thank
se rendre compte de to realize
rire de to laugh at
servir de to put to use as
se servir de to use
se soucier de to care about
se souvenir de to remember
tenir de to take after, resemble
se tromper de to mistake
vivre de to live on
Notes:
Remember that de plus a noun can be replaced by the adverbial pronoun en. For example, j'en
ai besoin - I need it.

Comme il y a peu de places de parking dans le centre-ville, je me suis gar dans le

parking souterrain.
J'essaie toujours de lire un peu dans le train
Au feu rouge, tournez gauche.

Je fais tous mes petits dplacements vlo.

Si tu viens en bus, tu dois descendre l'arrt de l'glise Saint-Pierre.
Excuse-moi d'tre en retard, mais j'ai t pris dans un emboutaillage monstre.
Tu pars en train ?
J'vite les autoroutes aux heures de pointe.
Tu peux te garer sur le parking du centre commercial.
Ce village est vraiment mal desservi par les transports publics.
Il est tomb en panne sur l'autoroute.
cause de la circulation de plus en plus dense, les enfants ne peuvent plus jouer
dans les rues.
En France, chaque infraction au code de la route, un certain nombre de points est
retir du permis de conduire.
Au feu rouge, tournez gauche.
Je fais tous mes petits dplacements vlo.