In English, some verbs take a preposition, but in French, they don’t

apercevoir to catch sight of
*appeler qqun* to call someone
approuver to approve of
attendre to wait for
chercher to look for
côtoyer to be next to
craindre to fear
demander to ask for
descendre to go down
devoir to owe (money)
écouter to listen to
emmener to take
entendre to hear
envoyer to send
essayer to try on
estimer to assess, estimate
grignoter to nibble on
habiter (optional à) to live in
ignorer to be unaware of
*inviter qqun* to invite someone
mettre to put on
monter to go up, climb
*motiver qqun* to motivate someone
payer to pay for
pleurer to cry about
préférer to prefer
prier to pray to
puer to stink of
regarder to look at
*reprocher qqch* to criticize (s.o.) for s.t.
réussir to succeed at, pull off
risquer to risk
sentir to smell of, to feel
soigner to take care of
subir to be subjected to
voir to see
vouloir to want
adorer to love to
aimer to like to
aller to go, to be going to (learn more)
avoir beau despite doing, however much (one) does
compter to expect, intend to
croire to think that (learn more)
daigner to deign, condescend to
désirer to want to
détester to hate ___-ing
devoir must, to have to, be obliged to (learn more)
écouter to listen to
entendre to hear ___-ing (verbs of perception)
espérer to hope to
*être censé* to be supposed to
faillir to almost do something (learn more)
faire to make (s.o.) do (causative construction)
falloir to be necessary to (learn more)
se figurer to imagine, picture ___-ing
s’imaginer to imagine ___-ing
laisser to allow/let (s.o.) do
nier to deny ___-ing
oser to dare to
paraître to appear to
penser to plan on, intend to
pouvoir to be able to (learn more)
préférer to prefer to
prétendre to claim to
regarder to watch (s.o.) ___-ing (verbs of perception)
savoir to know how to (learn more)
sembler to seem to
sentir to feel (s.o.) ___-ing (verbs of perception)
souhaiter to wish to
*valoir mieux* to be preferable to
voir to see (s.o.) ___-ing (verbs of perception)
vouloir to want to