Lesson 40: Infinitive constructions and the gérondif

Part 1: Three ways to attach an infinitive

A French verb followed by another verb behaves in one of three ways. This is a lexical property of the first verb — you learn it by list, the way you learn that English says depend on but consist of.

Model	Example	Type
V + infinitive (no preposition)	Je veux partir.	modals, perception, motion
V + à + infinitive	J'apprends à conduire.	beginning, learning, effort
V + de + infinitive	J'ai décidé de partir.	ending, emotion, decision

The key insight: the preposition belongs to the first verb, not the second. Apprendre always drags à with it. Décider always drags de with it. The second verb sits in the infinitive and doesn't change.

English-speaker trap: English uses to for almost every infinitive (I want to go, I decided to leave, I started to cry). French splits this single English to across three patterns: nothing, à, de. There's no clean rule for which goes where — but there are tendencies, and the lists are short enough to memorize.

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Part 2: V + infinitive directly (no preposition)

Six families

Family	Verbs
Modals	pouvoir, vouloir, devoir, savoir, falloir (il faut)
Wishing / preferring	aimer, adorer, détester, préférer, espérer, souhaiter
Motion	aller, venir, partir, rentrer, sortir, monter, descendre, courir
Perception	voir, regarder, entendre, écouter, sentir
Intention / opinion	penser, croire, compter, sembler, paraître
Causation	faire, laisser (the faire causative)

Examples

• Je dois partir. — I have to leave.
• Elle aime danser. — She loves to dance.
• Nous allons manger. — We're going to eat. (futur proche)
• J'espère te voir demain. — I hope to see you tomorrow.
• J'entends chanter les oiseaux. — I hear the birds singing.
• Je compte rester ici. — I intend to stay here.
• Il fait réparer sa voiture. — He's having his car repaired. (causative)

Trap! Espérer takes no preposition in French, even though English says "hope to do". J'espère te voir, NOT J'espère de te voir.

Trap 2! Aller + infinitive is the futur proche (je vais manger = "I'm going to eat"), exactly like English. But unlike English, you can't insert to: je vais à manger is wrong.

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Part 3: V + à + infinitive

The idea: direction, beginning, learning, effort, persistence.

Verb	Translation	Example
commencer à	to begin to	Je commence à comprendre.
se mettre à	to start (suddenly)	Il s'est mis à pleurer.
apprendre à	to learn to	J'apprends à nager.
enseigner à qn à	to teach someone to	Elle m'enseigne à jouer.
aider qn à	to help someone	Je t'aide à finir.
inviter qn à	to invite to	Il m'invite à dîner.
réussir à	to manage to	J'ai réussi à ouvrir.
arriver à	to manage to	Je n'arrive pas à dormir.
chercher à	to seek to	Il cherche à plaire.
hésiter à	to hesitate to	N'hésite pas à appeler.
renoncer à	to give up	J'ai renoncé à fumer.
tenir à	to be keen to	Je tiens à te remercier.
continuer à	to continue to	Elle continue à parler.
passer (du temps) à	to spend (time) doing	Je passe la soirée à lire.
s'habituer à	to get used to	Je m'habitue à me lever tôt.
penser à	to think of (doing)	Je pense à partir.

Memory hook: à literally means "to" / "towards". Learning towards something. Starting towards something. Inviting someone to something. If the action has a sense of moving toward a target or being mid-process, it's usually à.

English-speaker pitfall: English succeed in corresponds to French réussir à. English uses in + gerund, French uses à + infinitive. Many such pairs: think of doing → penser à faire, get used to doing → s'habituer à faire.

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Part 4: V + de + infinitive

The idea: ending, emotion, decision, source of the action.

Verb	Translation	Example
finir de	to finish	J'ai fini de manger.
arrêter de	to stop	Arrête de crier !
cesser de	to cease	Il ne cesse de pleuvoir.
essayer de	to try	J'essaie de comprendre.
tenter de	to attempt	Il a tenté de fuir.
décider de	to decide	J'ai décidé de partir.
choisir de	to choose	Il a choisi de rester.
accepter de	to agree	Elle accepte de venir.
refuser de	to refuse	Il refuse de parler.
oublier de	to forget	J'ai oublié de fermer.
se souvenir de	to remember	Je me souviens de l'avoir vu.
regretter de	to regret	Je regrette d'avoir menti.
risquer de	to risk	Tu risques de tomber.
éviter de	to avoid	J'évite de fumer.
promettre de	to promise	Je promets de revenir.
proposer de	to propose	Il propose de sortir.
demander à qn de	to ask someone to	Je te demande de partir.
dire à qn de	to tell someone to	Je lui dis d'attendre.
permettre à qn de	to allow someone to	Il me permet de sortir.
empêcher qn de	to prevent someone from	Le bruit m'empêche de dormir.
venir de	to have just (done)	Je viens de manger.
avoir besoin de	to need	J'ai besoin de dormir.
avoir envie de	to feel like	J'ai envie de chanter.
avoir peur de	to be afraid of	J'ai peur de tomber.
être content de	to be glad to	Je suis content de te voir.

Trap with pronouns! With dire / demander / permettre / promettre / interdire à qn de faire, the indirect object (the person) is lui / leur, not le / la. Je lui ai demandé de partir. (I asked him to leave.) Compare English, which gives no clue: I asked him could be direct or indirect — in French, you must know it's indirect, hence lui.

Same-meaning contrast: à vs de

À (beginning, direction)	DE (end, decision)
commencer à parler (to start)	finir de parler (to finish)
se mettre à lire (to take up)	cesser de lire (to stop)
apprendre à conduire (to learn)	apprendre de qn (to learn from someone — rare)
continuer à travailler	continuer de travailler (both fine, à more common)

English-speaker pitfall: English stop doing X and stop to do X mean different things (stop smoking vs stop to smoke). French uses arrêter de + infinitive only for the first meaning — to cease an activity. For "stop in order to do X", say s'arrêter pour + infinitif: Il s'est arrêté pour fumer.

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Part 5: Infinitif passé (the past infinitive)

Form: avoir / être + past participle. Used when the infinitive action precedes the main verb.

Main verb	Past infinitive
Je suis content	d'avoir réussi. (glad to have succeeded)
Il regrette	d'être parti si tôt. (regrets having left so early)
Merci	de m'avoir aidé. (thanks for having helped me)
Je m'excuse	d'avoir oublié. (sorry for having forgotten)

The après + infinitif passé construction

After après, you always use the past infinitive — never the present infinitive.

• Après avoir mangé, je sors. — After eating, I go out.
• Après être arrivée, elle a téléphoné. — After arriving, she called.
• Après nous être levés, nous avons déjeuné. — After getting up, we had breakfast.

Agreement rule works the same as in the passé composé: être verbs and reflexives agree with the subject. Après être partie, après s'être lavés.

Asymmetry alert! English uses the same form for both: before leaving / after leaving. French splits: avant de partir (present infinitive) but après être parti (past infinitive). There's no symmetry — memorize them as a pair.

English-speaker note: English freely says after eating, I left (English gerund, no auxiliary). French CANNOT use just après mangeant — you must say après avoir mangé. The auxiliary is required.

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Part 6: The present participle (participe présent)

Form: nous-stem of the present tense + -ant.

Verb	Nous form	Present participle
parler	nous parl-ons	parlant
finir	nous finiss-ons	finissant
prendre	nous pren-ons	prenant
faire	nous fais-ons	faisant
écrire	nous écriv-ons	écrivant

Three exceptions

Infinitive	Present participle
être	étant
avoir	ayant
savoir	sachant

Two uses

1. As a verbal participle (invariable). Replaces a relative clause with qui, or a clause with parce que / comme.

• Les gens vivant ici sont heureux. = qui vivent ici
• Étant malade, il est resté chez lui. = Since he was sick
• Ayant fini son travail, elle est partie. (compound participle = "having finished") = Après avoir fini

2. As an adjective (adjectif verbal). Agrees in gender and number. Often spelled differently from the verbal form.

Verbal (invariable)	Adjective (agrees)
en fatiguant les enfants	une journée fatigante
en différant la décision	des opinions différentes
en provoquant la colère	une attitude provocante
en équivalant à zéro	une somme équivalente

Quick test: if the form expresses an action (with an object or adverb), it's verbal and invariable. If it expresses a quality (like an adjective), it agrees.

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Part 7: The gérondif — en + -ant

The most useful non-finite form. Expresses simultaneity, manner / means, condition, or cause.

The one-subject rule: the gérondif and the main verb must have the same subject. Otherwise it's wrong.

Four meanings

Meaning	Example	Translation
Simultaneity	Il chante en travaillant.	He sings while working.
Manner / means	J'apprends en écoutant.	I learn by listening.
Condition	En partant maintenant, tu arriveras à temps.	By leaving now, you'll arrive on time.
Cause (rare)	Il s'est blessé en tombant.	He hurt himself by falling.

Crucial: French gérondif vs English "-ing"

This is the single biggest source of beginner errors. English "-ing" forms map to several different French structures, not just the gérondif.

English	French	NOT
I like swimming.	J'aime nager. (infinitive)	J'aime nageant.
Swimming is fun.	Nager, c'est amusant. (infinitive as noun)	Nageant est amusant.
He stopped smoking.	Il a arrêté de fumer. (de + inf.)	Il a arrêté fumant.
Before leaving, call me.	Avant de partir, appelle-moi. (de + inf.)	Avant partant…
I learn by listening.	J'apprends en écoutant. ✓ gérondif
Upon arriving, I saw her.	En arrivant, je l'ai vue. ✓ gérondif
While working, he sings.	En travaillant, il chante. ✓ gérondif

Rule of thumb: the French gérondif is right ONLY when English "-ing" means "by doing", "while doing", or "upon doing" — and the subject of both verbs is the same. Otherwise, French wants an infinitive.

Intensification: tout en + -ant

Emphasizes simultaneity, often with a flavor of contrast / concession.

• Il sourit tout en pleurant. — He smiles while crying. (paradox)
• Tout en étant fatigué, il a continué. — Even though he was tired, he kept going.

Participe présent vs Gérondif — the key contrast

Form	Describes	Attaches to
participe présent (no en)	a noun	a noun, like a relative clause
gérondif (with en)	a verb	a verb, like an adverb

• J'ai vu Marie sortant du magasin. — I saw Marie coming out of the store. (Marie was coming out)
• J'ai vu Marie en sortant du magasin. — I saw Marie as I was coming out of the store. (I was coming out)

Translator's trap! English "coming out" is ambiguous between the two readings above. French resolves the ambiguity grammatically. Always ask: who is performing the second action?

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