These eight verbs have different meanings depending on which preposition follows.
| *décider qqun à* | to persuade, convince | décider de | to decide (to do) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| *demander à qqun* | to ask (for permission) | demander de | to ask (to do) | |
| *jouer à* | to play a game or sport | jouer de | to play an instrument | |
| *manquer à qqun* | to miss (someone) | manquer de | to neglect (to do) | |
| *parler à qqun* | to talk to | parler de | to talk about | |
| *penser à* | to think about (imagine) | penser de | to think about (opinion) | |
| *profiter à* | to benefit | profiter de | to make the most of | |
| *venir à* | to happen to | venir de | to have just (done) |
Par exemple…
| J’ai décidé de voyager. | I decided to travel. | |
|---|---|---|
| J’ai décidé ma sœur à me rejoindre. | I convinced my sister to join me. |
Nine verbs can use à and de together in the following construction:
verb + à + quelqu’un + de + infinitive
For eight of these verbs, à indicates who is to do something, while de precedes whatever that something is.
| à qqun | de faire | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| commander | to order | someone | to do | something |
| conseiller | to advise | " | " | |
| défendre | to forbid | " | " | |
| demander | to ask | " | " | |
| dire | to tell | " | " | |
| interdire | to forbid | " | " | |
| ordonner | to order | " | " | |
| permettre | to allow | " | " |
So for the above verbs, the "someone" after à (or replaced by an indirect object pronoun) is the person who is supposed to perform the action after de.
| Il a conseillé à Ana de partir immédiatement. | He advised Ana to leave immediately. | |
|---|---|---|
| Je te dis de manger les épinards. | I’m telling you to eat the spinach. |
The ninth verb, promettre, is a little different: the person doing the action after de is the same as the subject. À precedes the person who is promised that action.
| Elle a promis à Paul de dire la vérité. | She promised Paul that she’d tell the truth. | |
|---|---|---|
| Je te promets de finir mes devoirs. | I promise you I’ll finish my homework. |
After these verbs, either preposition can be used with no real difference in meaning.
| *commencer à/ commencer de* | to start (doing) | |
|---|---|---|
| *continuer à/ continuer de* | to continue (doing) | |
| *prendre garde à/ prendre garde de* | to be careful to | |
| *rêver à/ rêver de* | to dream of, about |
A few phrases look similar but have different meanings depending on the preposition.
| à côté | nearby, next to | de côté | sideways | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| à côté de | next to, beside | du côté de | from (direction) | |
| à la hauteur | at the level | [un mètre] de hauteur | [one meter] tall |