Many French adjectives need a preposition before whatever follows them — a noun, a pronoun, or an infinitive — and the preposition is not always the one English speakers expect. I'm happy with you is content de toi, not content avec toi. Ready to leave is prêt à partir, not prêt pour partir (which means something different). The choice between de, à, pour, avec, and contre is built into the adjective itself: there is no rule that derives it from meaning, so you have to learn each adjective with its preposition welded on. This page groups the high-frequency cases by preposition, explains the few patterns that do exist, and shows what changes when the complement is a clause introduced by que — at which point the subjunctive often enters the picture.
Why French uses a preposition where English does not
In English, I'm proud of my parents uses of, but I'm proud to be here uses no preposition at all (the infinitive to be attaches directly). French is more uniform: the same preposition de introduces both fier de mes parents and fier d'être ici. Whatever the adjective demands, it demands all the time. This is actually easier than English once you accept the constraint — you only need one piece of information per adjective.
The real difficulty is that the choice of preposition does not follow English. Nice to (someone) is gentil avec in French, literally nice with. Important to me is important pour moi, literally important for me. Angry at him is fâché contre lui, literally angry against him. Translating word-for-word will fail constantly; you have to learn the French preposition as part of the adjective.
Adjectives that take de
This is by far the largest group. De introduces a noun, a pronoun, or an infinitive. The pattern covers most adjectives expressing emotion, attitude, capacity, or fullness.
Emotion and attitude: content, fier, fou, désolé, sûr
Je suis très content de toi.
I'm really happy with you.
Elle est fière de ses parents — ils ont travaillé toute leur vie.
She's proud of her parents — they worked their whole lives.
Je suis fou de toi, tu le sais.
I'm crazy about you, you know that.
Désolé d'arriver en retard, le métro était bloqué.
Sorry to be late, the metro was stuck.
T'es sûr de toi ? Parce qu'on n'aura pas de seconde chance.
Are you sure of yourself? Because we won't get a second chance. (informal)
Notice the elision: désolé de + arriver becomes désolé d'arriver, and the same happens with any vowel-initial verb or pronoun (fier d'être, content d'avoir, sûr d'elle).
Capacity: capable, incapable
Mon chien est capable de tout — il a déjà ouvert le frigo.
My dog is capable of anything — he's already opened the fridge.
Je suis incapable de comprendre cette phrase, relis-la-moi.
I'm incapable of understanding this sentence, read it to me again.
Capable and incapable behave like a matched pair, and both take de plus a noun or infinitive.
Fullness: plein, rempli, couvert
These adjectives carry the meaning of full of or covered in, and they all take de.
Cette chanson est pleine de bonheur, je l'écoute en boucle.
This song is full of joy, I have it on repeat.
Le tapis était couvert de poils de chat — j'ai mis une heure à passer l'aspirateur.
The rug was covered in cat hair — it took me an hour to vacuum.
Adjectives that take à
The à group is smaller but very high-frequency. It tends to involve readiness, usefulness, or some kind of orientation toward a target.
Prêt à + infinitive (ready to)
Tu es prêt à partir ? Le taxi est en bas.
Are you ready to leave? The taxi is downstairs.
Je ne suis pas prête à entendre ça, donne-moi cinq minutes.
I'm not ready to hear that, give me five minutes.
Prêt is a perfect contrast case for the preposition trap, because the same English word corresponds to two different French prepositions depending on what follows.
Prêt pour + noun (ready for)
On est prêts pour la fête — j'ai même acheté des ballons.
We're ready for the party — I even bought balloons.
Tu es prêt pour ton examen demain ?
Are you ready for your exam tomorrow?
So: prêt à when an action follows, prêt pour when a noun follows. Prêt à un examen would sound odd because an exam is a thing, not an action.
Utile à (useful to)
Ce dictionnaire est utile à tous les étudiants débutants.
This dictionary is useful to all beginning students.
Les conseils que tu m'as donnés m'ont été très utiles.
The advice you gave me was really useful to me.
Note that the indirect object pronoun (me, te, lui) replaces à + person: utile à moi becomes m'est utile.
Adjectives that take pour
Pour signals that someone or something is the beneficiary or the target.
Ce travail est important pour moi, ne le minimise pas.
This job is important to me, don't dismiss it.
Les épinards, c'est bon pour la santé, mais je n'aime pas ça.
Spinach is good for your health, but I don't like it.
Cette robe est trop grande pour elle.
This dress is too big for her.
The English important to maps cleanly onto important pour — but never to important à, which is reserved for entirely different constructions (like the impersonal il est important de + INF).
Adjectives that take avec
Avec introduces the person on the receiving end of a behavior — usually nice, mean, patient, strict, or honest.
Il est toujours gentil avec sa mère, même quand elle l'énerve.
He's always nice to his mother, even when she annoys him.
Sois patient avec elle, elle apprend encore.
Be patient with her, she's still learning.
Mon prof de maths était sévère avec nous, mais juste.
My math teacher was strict with us, but fair.
English speakers reach for to here (nice to, patient with, strict with) — French uniformly uses avec. The mental shortcut: think of the adjective as describing how the subject acts toward the other person, and avec marks the person on the receiving end of that behavior.
Adjectives that take contre
Only one common pattern, but it traps every English speaker: anger.
Elle est fâchée contre lui depuis la dispute d'hier.
She's angry at him since yesterday's argument.
Je suis en colère contre moi-même d'avoir oublié ton anniversaire.
I'm angry at myself for having forgotten your birthday.
Contre literally means against, and the metaphor is that anger is directed against a target. Notice that en colère (a fixed expression with a noun, not strictly an adjective) takes the same preposition.
When the complement is a clause: que + subjunctive
So far the preposition has been followed by a noun, a pronoun, or an infinitive. But what happens when the complement is a full sentence — I'm happy that you're here? French drops the preposition and uses que instead, and almost always demands the subjunctive in the embedded clause.
Content que, désolé que, fier que, heureux que
Je suis content que tu sois là — ça fait des mois qu'on ne s'est pas vus.
I'm happy that you're here — we haven't seen each other in months.
Je suis désolé qu'il parte si tôt.
I'm sorry that he's leaving so early.
Elle est fière que ses enfants aient réussi leurs examens.
She's proud that her children passed their exams.
Nous sommes heureux que vous puissiez nous rejoindre.
We're happy that you can join us.
The subjunctive (sois, parte, aient réussi, puissiez) appears because emotion adjectives express a subjective stance toward a fact rather than asserting the fact itself. Even when the embedded event is undeniably real (the friend really is there), the subjunctive marks that the speaker is reacting emotionally to it. This is a foundational logic of the French subjunctive that you will see again with verbs like vouloir que, douter que, avoir peur que.
When the subject of the embedded clause matches
If the speaker and the embedded subject are the same person, French uses de + infinitive, not que + subjunctive.
Je suis content de partir — j'ai besoin de vacances.
I'm happy to leave — I need a vacation.
Je suis content que tu partes — tu as besoin de vacances.
I'm happy that you're leaving — you need a vacation.
Same adjective, two structures. Use de + INF when one subject does it all; use que + SUBJ when there are two different subjects.
How to memorize: groups, not lists
Trying to memorize twenty adjective+preposition pairs at once does not work. What works is memorizing them by the preposition they take, because each preposition has a semantic logic.
- De = reaction, possession, capacity, fullness. (content de, fier de, fou de, plein de, capable de, sûr de, désolé de, incapable de.)
- À = readiness, usefulness, suitability for a task. (prêt à + INF, utile à, propre à, apte à.)
- Pour = the beneficiary or target. (important pour, bon pour, prêt pour + nom.)
- Avec = the person on the receiving end of behavior. (gentil avec, sévère avec, patient avec, méchant avec.)
- Contre = the target of anger. (fâché contre, en colère contre.)
These groupings are not exceptionless, but they capture about 90% of the cases you will hit in conversation. When in doubt, default to the prediction the group makes, then double-check.
Common Mistakes
❌ Je suis content avec toi.
Incorrect — uses English 'with' instead of de
✅ Je suis content de toi.
I'm happy with you.
❌ Il est gentil à sa mère.
Incorrect — gentil takes avec, not à
✅ Il est gentil avec sa mère.
He's nice to his mother.
❌ Je suis prêt pour partir.
Incorrect — pour + INF here, but prêt + INF wants à
✅ Je suis prêt à partir.
I'm ready to leave.
❌ Elle est fâchée à lui.
Incorrect — anger uses contre, not à
✅ Elle est fâchée contre lui.
She's angry at him.
❌ Je suis content que tu es là.
Incorrect — content que requires the subjunctive
✅ Je suis content que tu sois là.
I'm happy that you're here.
❌ Je suis désolé que partir si tôt.
Incorrect — same-subject case needs de + INF
✅ Je suis désolé de partir si tôt.
I'm sorry to leave so early.
Key takeaways
The preposition is part of the adjective. De is the default and covers the majority of cases — emotion, capacity, fullness. À specializes in readiness and usefulness. Pour marks beneficiaries. Avec marks the person you are nice or harsh toward. Contre marks the target of anger. When the complement is a full clause, drop the preposition, switch to que, and use the subjunctive — unless the two subjects coincide, in which case go back to the preposition plus an infinitive. Get into the habit of writing each new adjective in your notes with its preposition attached, and these patterns will become second nature.
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Start learning French→Related Topics
- Les Adjectifs en Français: OverviewA1 — How French adjectives work — the four-form agreement system, the after-the-noun default position, the small set that goes before, and the irregular forms every learner needs from day one.
- Prépositions après AdjectifsB1 — French adjectives demand specific prepositions before their complements — content de, prêt à, gentil avec, fier de — and the choice is largely arbitrary. This page groups the high-frequency pairings so you can memorize them in clusters rather than one by one.
- The Preposition DeA1 — De is the second great workhorse of French — covering origin, possession, composition, partitives, verb complements, and more.
- The Preposition ÀA1 — À is the most polyvalent preposition in French — covering location, direction, time, manner, possession, indirect objects, and more.
- L'Infinitif après les PrépositionsA2 — French uses the infinitive — not the gerund — after almost every preposition. 'Without eating' is sans manger, not sans mangeant. Master the half-dozen high-frequency prepositional templates and the verb-plus-de pattern that English speakers most often get wrong.
- L'Accord: cas particuliersB2 — The corner cases of French adjective agreement — mixed-gender subjects, multi-noun phrases, compound color adjectives, avoir l'air, demi, tout, and the few invariable adjectives — laid out so you know which traditional rule applies and what modern usage actually accepts.