If you have ever said je cherche pour mes clés or j'écoute à la radio, you have made the most common preposition mistake anglophones make in French. The error is not random — it is systematic. English and French line up the verb-preposition pairs differently, and where English uses a preposition French often uses none, while where English uses none French sometimes demands one. There is no broad rule that predicts the difference. Each verb has to be learned with its preposition (or with its absence of preposition) attached.
This page collects the verbs where transfer from English regularly fails. Master these and you eliminate the bulk of preposition errors in everyday speech.
The core principle: French is not English with French words
A French verb's argument structure — whether it takes a direct object, an indirect object with à, an oblique with de, or no complement at all — is a fact about the verb. It is not derivable from the English translation. The verb écouter means listen and is transitive in French; the English verb listen means écouter and is intransitive in English (you listen to something). The two languages happen to differ on this verb, and there is no logical reason — it just happens to be so.
This means the question "what preposition does this verb take?" must be answered verb by verb. There is no shortcut. The good news is that the verbs where English and French part ways are a finite, learnable set, and most of the trouble comes from a small group of high-frequency verbs.
Group 1: French is transitive where English uses a preposition
The most frequent error pattern. English speakers expect a preposition because English requires one, but French treats the noun as a direct object.
chercher (no pour)
Chercher means to look for / to search for. The for is built into the verb. Adding pour is wrong.
Je cherche mon stylo, tu l'as vu ?
I'm looking for my pen — have you seen it?
Elle cherche un appartement dans le 11e arrondissement.
She's looking for an apartment in the 11th arrondissement.
❌ Je cherche pour mon stylo.
Incorrect — chercher is transitive in French, no preposition.
regarder (no à)
Regarder means to look at / to watch. The at is built in. Regarder à exists but means something completely different (to consider, to mind — as in regarder à la dépense, to watch one's spending), so adding à changes the meaning rather than just sounding wrong.
Tu as regardé le match hier soir ?
Did you watch the match last night?
Regarde-moi quand je te parle.
Look at me when I'm talking to you.
❌ Je regarde à la télé.
Incorrect — *à la télé* means 'on TV' (as in 'a film à la télé'), not 'look at the TV'.
écouter (no à)
Écouter is transitive: you listen to something in English, but you simply écoute it in French.
J'écoute la radio tous les matins en faisant le café.
I listen to the radio every morning while making coffee.
Écoute-moi bien : on n'a qu'une chance.
Listen to me carefully — we only have one shot.
❌ J'écoute à la musique.
Incorrect — écouter takes a direct object.
attendre (no pour)
Attendre means to wait for. The for is in the verb.
J'attends le bus depuis vingt minutes, il est où ?
I've been waiting for the bus for twenty minutes — where is it?
On t'attend au restaurant, dépêche-toi.
We're waiting for you at the restaurant — hurry up.
❌ J'attends pour mon ami.
Incorrect — *attendre pour* sounds like 'I'm waiting in order to (do something)'.
A subtle point: attendre pour is grammatical, but only when pour introduces a purpose: j'attends pour lui parler (I'm waiting in order to talk to him). It is never used to mean waiting for someone.
payer (no pour with the thing bought)
Payer takes the thing you pay for as a direct object: je paie le café (I'm paying for the coffee). You can also pay pour quelqu'un (for someone — paying on their behalf), and that pour is correct because it really means on behalf of. But je paie pour le café sounds like you are paying on the coffee's behalf — comically wrong.
Tu paies les bières et je paie le dîner, ça te va ?
You get the beers and I'll get dinner, sound good?
C'est moi qui paie, range ton portefeuille.
I'm paying — put your wallet away.
J'ai payé pour ma sœur — elle me remboursera.
I paid for my sister — she'll pay me back.
❌ Je paie pour le café.
Incorrect for 'I'm paying for the coffee' — say 'je paie le café'.
habiter (preposition often optional)
Habiter is transitive when followed directly by a place name, optional with the location preposition:
J'habite Paris depuis dix ans.
I've been living in Paris for ten years.
J'habite à Paris depuis dix ans.
I've been living in Paris for ten years.
Both are correct. Without preposition is slightly more literary; with à is more colloquial. Either way you are not literally translating live in — you are using whichever pattern French allows.
Group 2: French requires à where English has no preposition
Now the reverse error. English uses a direct object, French inserts à — and dropping it produces a sentence that sounds like a learner mistake.
téléphoner à (NOT direct object)
Téléphoner never takes a direct object in standard French. You always call to someone, the à is obligatory.
Je téléphone à mon père tous les dimanches.
I call my father every Sunday.
Tu peux téléphoner au médecin pour prendre rendez-vous ?
Can you call the doctor to make an appointment?
❌ Je téléphone mon père.
Incorrect — téléphoner requires *à*.
This works smoothly with the indirect object pronoun lui: je lui téléphone (I call him).
répondre à
You answer to a question or person in French. Forgetting the à is a tell-tale anglophone error.
Réponds à ta mère, elle attend.
Answer your mother — she's waiting.
Personne n'a répondu à ma question.
Nobody answered my question.
❌ Réponds la question.
Incorrect — répondre always takes *à* before its complement.
demander à (for the person asked)
Demander is unusual: when the thing asked is the direct object and the person is the indirect object. Je demande l'heure à mon voisin (I ask my neighbor for the time). Notice English uses for — French does not.
Demande à ton frère s'il veut venir.
Ask your brother if he wants to come.
J'ai demandé l'addition au serveur.
I asked the waiter for the bill.
❌ Je demande pour l'addition.
Incorrect — never *demander pour* in this sense.
The trap is doubled here: anglophones add pour (transferring ask for) AND drop à (transferring ask the waiter). The correct French has neither error.
dire à
You say something to someone in French. The à is obligatory.
Dis à Marie que je serai en retard.
Tell Marie I'll be late.
Il ne m'a rien dit hier soir.
He didn't tell me anything last night.
The pronoun version uses indirect object pronouns: je lui dis, il me dit, elle nous dit.
ressembler à
You resemble to someone in French. Ressembler quelqu'un without à is wrong.
Ta fille te ressemble énormément.
Your daughter looks just like you.
Cette ville ressemble à Lyon par endroits.
This town looks like Lyon in places.
plaire à
The construction plaire à is the standard French way to express liking, with the experiencer as the indirect object: ce film me plaît (I like this film, literally this film pleases to me). It always takes à with its experiencer.
Le cadeau a beaucoup plu à ma mère.
My mother really liked the gift.
Group 3: jouer à vs jouer de — sport vs instrument
The verb jouer makes a clean grammatical distinction that English collapses. With sports and games, jouer takes à. With musical instruments, it takes de. With nothing — bare jouer — it means to play in the general sense.
Mon fils joue au foot le mercredi après-midi.
My son plays football on Wednesday afternoons.
Tu joues aux échecs ?
Do you play chess?
Ma fille joue du piano depuis l'âge de cinq ans.
My daughter has been playing piano since she was five.
Il joue de la guitare dans un groupe de rock.
He plays guitar in a rock band.
The logic, if you want one: jouer à is to play at (engaging in an activity), and jouer de is to play with / make use of (sounding the instrument). It is not a strict rule — French has plenty of à verbs for tools and de verbs for activities — but it works as a memory hook here.
Group 4: parler — flexible and useful
Parler combines with several prepositions, each meaning something different.
- parler à
- person = to speak to someone
- parler avec
- person = to speak with someone (more reciprocal)
- parler de
- topic = to talk about something
- parler
- language (no preposition) = to speak a language
Je voudrais parler au directeur, s'il vous plaît.
I'd like to speak to the manager, please.
On a parlé de toi hier soir.
We were talking about you last night.
Elle parle couramment trois langues.
She speaks three languages fluently.
❌ Je parle de français.
Incorrect — speaking a language takes no preposition.
That last one trips up beginners constantly: parler de français sounds like to talk about French (the subject), not to speak French.
Group 5: penser à vs penser de
Both translate as think about, but they are not interchangeable.
- penser à = to think about, to have on your mind
- penser de = to have an opinion about (used almost exclusively in questions about opinions)
Je pense à toi tous les jours.
I think of you every day.
Qu'est-ce que tu penses de ce film ?
What do you think of this film?
Je pense beaucoup à mes vacances.
I'm thinking a lot about my holiday.
❌ Qu'est-ce que tu penses à ce film ?
Incorrect — opinions take *penser de*.
A useful test: if the answer is good, bad, interesting — it is penser de. If the answer is yes, often, sometimes — it is penser à.
Group 6: dépendre de, profiter de, manquer de, se souvenir de
A cluster of verbs that take de where English uses on, from, of or nothing. They have to be learned together because the pattern is consistent within French.
Tout dépend de la météo demain.
It all depends on tomorrow's weather.
On a profité du beau temps pour aller à la plage.
We took advantage of the nice weather to go to the beach.
Il manque de patience.
He lacks patience.
Tu te souviens de notre voyage en Italie ?
Do you remember our trip to Italy?
A pronoun trick: when the de-complement is a thing, replace the entire de + thing with en: Tu t'en souviens ? (Do you remember it?).
Common Mistakes
These are the highest-frequency anglophone preposition errors, with their corrections.
❌ Je cherche pour un appartement.
Incorrect — chercher is transitive: 'je cherche un appartement'.
✅ Je cherche un appartement à Bordeaux.
I'm looking for an apartment in Bordeaux.
❌ J'écoute à la radio le matin.
Incorrect — écouter takes a direct object.
✅ J'écoute la radio le matin.
I listen to the radio in the morning.
❌ J'attends pour mon train depuis une heure.
Incorrect — attendre is transitive.
✅ J'attends mon train depuis une heure.
I've been waiting for my train for an hour.
❌ Je vais téléphoner ma mère ce soir.
Incorrect — téléphoner needs *à*.
✅ Je vais téléphoner à ma mère ce soir.
I'll call my mother tonight.
❌ Tu peux répondre la question, s'il te plaît ?
Incorrect — répondre takes *à* before its object.
✅ Tu peux répondre à la question, s'il te plaît ?
Can you answer the question, please?
❌ Mon fils joue le foot tous les week-ends.
Incorrect — sports take *à* with jouer.
✅ Mon fils joue au foot tous les week-ends.
My son plays football every weekend.
❌ Elle joue le piano depuis longtemps.
Incorrect — instruments take *de* with jouer.
✅ Elle joue du piano depuis longtemps.
She has been playing piano for a long time.
Key takeaways
The verbs in this guide are the high-frequency offenders, the ones that produce 80 percent of preposition errors in beginner and intermediate French. There are more — aider à (help), commencer à (begin), finir de (finish), décider de (decide), and dozens of others — covered in the dedicated pages on verbs taking à and verbs taking de.
The deep lesson is: never trust the English preposition. When you learn a new French verb, learn it with whatever preposition (or absence of preposition) follows it. Chercher quelque chose (no preposition), téléphoner à quelqu'un (à), parler de quelque chose (de) — these are atomic units. Pull them apart and you will get the pattern wrong.
A small habit pays off here: when looking up a new verb in a dictionary, do not stop at the gloss. Read the example sentence and notice the structure. Chercher glossed as to look for invites the pour error. Chercher quelque chose in an example sentence shows you the structure directly.
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Start learning French→Related Topics
- Verbes Suivis de ÀB1 — The verbs that obligatorily take à before their noun complement — parler à, téléphoner à, plaire à, manquer à, penser à, and the rest of the family — and how lui/leur and y replace the à + noun depending on whether the complement is a person or a thing.
- Verbes Suivis de DeB1 — The verbs that obligatorily take de before their noun complement — se souvenir de, avoir besoin de, parler de, profiter de, and the rest of the family — and how en and dont replace the de + noun.
- À vs De avec les Verbes + InfinitifA2 — Why French verbs link to a following infinitive with à, with de, or with nothing at all — the verb-by-verb pattern that has no clean rule but a manageable list of frequencies you can memorize.
- Transferring Prepositions from EnglishB1 — English prepositions don't map cleanly to French ones. This page is the source-language reference: for each common English preposition (in, on, to, for, by, with, about, at, of), it lists every French equivalent and the contexts that select each.
- Entendre vs Écouter — Hear vs ListenA2 — French splits auditory perception the same way it splits vision: entendre = passive hearing (sound reaches your ear), écouter = active listening (you direct your attention to it). The grammar trap is écouter, which takes a direct object — French has no equivalent of English 'listen TO.'
- Les Faux AmisB1 — French and English share thousands of cognates, but a famous handful share spelling without sharing meaning — the false friends that trip up confident speakers.