French has a small group of verbs that talk about the shape of an action over time — when it starts, when it ends, whether it continues, whether it eventually happens. These are the aspectual verbs: commencer, finir, continuer, arrêter, cesser, se mettre. Each of them takes an infinitive complement, but each one requires a particular preposition (à, de, or par) to bridge the two verbs. Pick the wrong preposition and the sentence is either ungrammatical or means something different from what you intended.
This page covers each aspectual verb in turn, then drills the two contrasts that cause the most trouble: commencer à vs. commencer par, and finir de vs. finir par. The choice of preposition is largely arbitrary from an English perspective — there is no rule you can derive — so the page treats memorization as the central skill and gives you the patterns and natural examples you need to internalize them.
A note before we start: this page is about aspectual verbs that take an infinitive. It is not about temporal periphrases like aller + infinitive (futur proche), venir de + infinitive (passé récent), or être en train de + infinitive (progressive). Those structures express tense and live on different pages; see futur proche.
commencer à + infinitive
Commencer à + infinitive means to start doing something. It marks the onset of an action — the action begins.
Je commence à comprendre le français.
I'm starting to understand French.
Il commence à faire froid, prends une veste.
It's starting to get cold, take a jacket.
Les enfants commencent à avoir faim.
The kids are starting to get hungry.
The preposition is à in modern everyday French. Some older texts and certain literary registers use commencer de, but in spoken and standard written French, stick with à.
commencer par + infinitive
Commencer par + infinitive means to start by doing something — as the first step in a sequence. Here you are not announcing the onset of one action; you are listing what comes first in a series.
Commençons par regarder le menu, ensuite on commandera.
Let's start by looking at the menu, then we'll order.
Pour préparer ce gâteau, commence par mélanger les œufs et le sucre.
To make this cake, start by mixing the eggs and sugar.
Je commence toujours par lire le résumé avant de plonger dans le rapport.
I always start by reading the summary before diving into the report.
The key word in the English translation is "by" — commencer par lire means "start by reading," with reading as the first item in a list of actions to come.
The commencer à vs. commencer par contrast
These two structures use the same verb but mean different things. The contrast is one of the most useful drills you can do at A2.
| Structure | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| commencer à + inf | start doing (onset) | Je commence à parler. — I'm starting to speak. |
| commencer par + inf | start by doing (sequence) | Je commence par parler de mon enfance. — I'll start by talking about my childhood. |
In commencer à parler, speech is just getting underway — perhaps the speaker was silent and now begins to talk. In commencer par parler, speech is the first item in a planned sequence — after speaking, the speaker will do something else (probably listen, write, or perform).
Le bébé commence à parler — il a dit « maman » hier.
The baby is starting to talk — he said 'mama' yesterday. (onset of an ability)
Pour ma présentation, je vais commencer par parler des résultats, puis je passerai aux conclusions.
For my presentation, I'll start by talking about the results, then I'll move on to the conclusions. (first step in a sequence)
finir de + infinitive
Finir de + infinitive means to finish doing something — the action reaches its endpoint and stops.
J'ai fini de manger, on peut y aller.
I'm done eating, we can go.
Attends une seconde, je finis de répondre à ce mail.
Wait a second, I'm finishing answering this email.
Quand tu auras fini de te plaindre, on pourra discuter sérieusement.
When you've finished complaining, we can have a serious conversation.
The preposition is de. Note that finir de often appears in time clauses — quand j'ai fini de…, dès que tu as fini de… — to mark the moment one action ends so another can begin.
finir par + infinitive
Finir par + infinitive means to end up doing something — usually after resistance, delay, hesitation, or a long process. The English equivalent is "eventually" or "in the end."
Après deux heures de discussion, il a fini par accepter.
After two hours of discussion, he ended up accepting.
Je cherchais mes clés depuis dix minutes — j'ai fini par les trouver dans la poche de mon manteau.
I had been looking for my keys for ten minutes — I eventually found them in my coat pocket.
Si tu continues à mentir, les gens finiront par s'en rendre compte.
If you keep lying, people will end up noticing.
The structure carries an idea of outcome after a process: something happens, but only after a stretch of resistance, search, or back-and-forth. There is almost always a "finally / eventually / in the end" implied.
The finir de vs. finir par contrast
This is the second contrast the page is built around. The two structures look similar but mean very different things.
| Structure | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| finir de + inf | finish doing (the action stops) | J'ai fini de parler. — I've finished speaking. (I'm done now.) |
| finir par + inf | end up doing (the action eventually happens) | J'ai fini par parler. — I eventually spoke. (After hesitating.) |
Finir de parler says the speech is over — you were talking and now you're not. Finir par parler says you eventually got around to speaking — perhaps you were resisting, but in the end you said something.
Quand le professeur a fini de parler, les étudiants ont applaudi.
When the teacher finished speaking, the students applauded. (the speech ended)
Il était timide, mais il a fini par parler à son voisin.
He was shy, but he eventually spoke to his neighbor. (he eventually did it)
continuer à + infinitive (and continuer de)
Continuer à + infinitive means to keep doing something — the action that was already underway carries on. In modern everyday French, continuer à is the standard choice.
Continue à travailler, ne te laisse pas distraire.
Keep working, don't let yourself get distracted.
Malgré la pluie, ils continuent à jouer dans le jardin.
Despite the rain, they keep playing in the garden.
Si tu continues à parler comme ça, je m'en vais.
If you keep talking like that, I'm leaving.
You will also see continuer de + infinitive, which means the same thing. Continuer de is slightly more formal or literary; you'll find it in newspapers, essays, and older novels. In conversation, continuer à dominates by a wide margin. Both are correct.
Le journal continue de paraître chaque semaine.
The newspaper continues to appear every week. (formal/written register)
Les prix continuent de grimper.
Prices keep climbing. (formal/journalistic register)
For practical purposes at A2: use continuer à in speech and informal writing. Recognize continuer de when you see it in print.
arrêter de + infinitive
Arrêter de + infinitive means to stop doing something. It's the everyday way of telling someone (or yourself) to cease an action.
Arrête de parler, j'essaie de me concentrer !
Stop talking, I'm trying to concentrate!
J'ai arrêté de fumer il y a trois ans.
I quit smoking three years ago.
Les enfants, arrêtez de vous disputer pour la télécommande.
Kids, stop fighting over the remote.
The preposition is de and there is no alternative — arrêter à and arrêter par don't exist with this meaning. Note also that arrêter de is the everyday register; in slightly more formal speech, you can also use cesser de.
cesser de + infinitive (formal)
Cesser de + infinitive also means to stop doing, but it belongs to a more formal or literary register. In everyday conversation, French speakers say arrêter de; cesser de shows up in writing, official notices, news headlines, and slightly elevated speech.
Il ne cesse de pleuvoir depuis trois jours.
It hasn't stopped raining for three days. (formal/literary)
L'entreprise a cessé de produire ce modèle en 2018.
The company stopped producing this model in 2018. (formal)
Cessez de vous inquiéter — tout va bien se passer.
Stop worrying — everything will be fine. (formal)
A peculiarity worth noting: cesser in literary French sometimes drops the pas in negation, leaving just ne ... cesser de. Il ne cesse de pleuvoir is a stylistic option that means the same as il n'arrête pas de pleuvoir — but using cesser without pas in casual speech sounds bookish or even pretentious.
se mettre à + infinitive
Se mettre à + infinitive means to start doing something, but with a sharper, more dynamic feel than commencer à. It often suggests a sudden or unexpected onset — the action breaks in.
Il s'est mis à pleurer sans raison apparente.
He started crying for no apparent reason.
Soudain, le ciel s'est assombri et il s'est mis à pleuvoir.
Suddenly the sky darkened and it started pouring.
Quand elle a entendu la nouvelle, elle s'est mise à rire.
When she heard the news, she burst out laughing.
The preposition is à. The verb is pronominal (reflexive), so all the usual reflexive structure applies: je me mets à, tu te mets à, il se met à, nous nous mettons à, etc. Compare:
| Structure | Connotation |
|---|---|
| commencer à + inf | neutral onset — the action is beginning, gradually or steadily |
| se mettre à + inf | dynamic onset — the action breaks in, often suddenly or with energy |
You can usually swap commencer à for se mettre à, and the sentence stays grammatical, but you lose the snap. Il a commencé à pleurer describes a gradual welling up; il s'est mis à pleurer sounds like the tears burst out.
Vers la fin de la conférence, il a commencé à s'ennuyer.
Toward the end of the lecture, he started to get bored. (gradual)
Dès qu'elle a vu le clown, elle s'est mise à hurler de peur.
The moment she saw the clown, she started screaming in fear. (sudden)
Why memorize? The preposition isn't predictable
Once you've gone through the list, you'll notice something uncomfortable: the preposition each verb takes is not predictable from English. Commencer à and se mettre à both mean "start," but the first uses à by tradition while the second uses à because it's a movement metaphor (literally "put oneself to"). Arrêter de uses de, but so does finir de — and yet commencer uses à in the same kind of structure. There is no rule.
Other Romance languages have different choices. Spanish says empezar a hablar and terminar de hablar (matching French), but acabar por hacer maps onto finir par faire — close, but not always identical. Italian uses cominciare a, smettere di, continuare a — also close but not identical. The lesson: don't try to derive these prepositions; learn each verb with its preposition as a single unit, like you'd learn an English phrasal verb (pick up, pick out, pick on — different particles, no logic).
Quick reference table
| Verb + prep | Meaning | Register |
|---|---|---|
| commencer à + inf | start doing (onset) | standard |
| commencer par + inf | start by doing (sequence) | standard |
| finir de + inf | finish doing (action ends) | standard |
| finir par + inf | end up doing (eventual outcome) | standard |
| continuer à + inf | keep doing | standard (everyday) |
| continuer de + inf | keep doing | formal / literary |
| arrêter de + inf | stop doing | standard (everyday) |
| cesser de + inf | stop doing | formal / written |
| se mettre à + inf | start doing (suddenly) | standard |
Common Mistakes
Mistake 1: Using the wrong preposition with commencer.
❌ Je commence de comprendre.
Incorrect — *commencer de* is archaic. Modern French uses *commencer à*.
✅ Je commence à comprendre.
I'm starting to understand.
Mistake 2: Confusing commencer à and commencer par.
❌ Pour le dîner, je commence à préparer la salade. (meaning: I'll start with the salad, then make other dishes)
Incorrect for the intended meaning — *commencer à préparer* says the act of preparation is starting, not that the salad is the first step in a sequence.
✅ Pour le dîner, je commence par préparer la salade.
For dinner, I'll start by preparing the salad. (the salad is step one)
Mistake 3: Using à with finir.
❌ J'ai fini à manger.
Incorrect — *finir* takes *de* (to finish doing) or *par* (to end up doing), never *à*.
✅ J'ai fini de manger.
I'm done eating.
Mistake 4: Confusing finir de and finir par.
❌ Après des heures d'hésitation, il a fini de accepter.
Incorrect — the meaning here is 'eventually agreed,' which requires *finir par*. *Finir de* would mean 'finish accepting,' which doesn't make sense here.
✅ Après des heures d'hésitation, il a fini par accepter.
After hours of hesitation, he eventually accepted.
Mistake 5: Using à with arrêter.
❌ Arrête à parler !
Incorrect — *arrêter* takes *de*. The form *arrête à parler* doesn't exist.
✅ Arrête de parler !
Stop talking!
Mistake 6: Using cesser de in casual speech.
❌ (To a friend at a party) Cesse de me parler de ton ex !
Stylistically off — *cesser de* sounds bookish in casual conversation. Use *arrêter de* with friends.
✅ Arrête de me parler de ton ex !
Stop talking to me about your ex!
Mistake 7: Forgetting that se mettre is reflexive.
❌ Il a mis à pleurer.
Incorrect — *se mettre* is reflexive; the reflexive pronoun is required. The auxiliary becomes *être* in the passé composé.
✅ Il s'est mis à pleurer.
He started crying.
Key takeaways
The aspectual verbs commencer, finir, continuer, arrêter, cesser, se mettre take an infinitive complement through a preposition. The preposition is fixed for each verb and you must memorize it: commencer à, finir de, arrêter de, cesser de, continuer à (or de in formal style), se mettre à.
Two contrasts deserve special attention:
- commencer à vs. commencer par — onset of an action vs. first step in a sequence.
- finir de vs. finir par — completion of an action vs. eventual outcome after a process.
In both cases, the preposition par marks sequence or final outcome, while à and de mark onset and completion of a single action.
Match register to context: arrêter de and commencer à are everyday speech; cesser de and continuer de lean formal or literary. Se mettre à is everyday but adds a sense of sudden onset that commencer à lacks.
This page is about aspectual verbs. For the temporal periphrases that French uses to express tense — aller + infinitive (futur proche), venir de + infinitive (passé récent), être en train de + infinitive (progressive), être sur le point de + infinitive (imminent future) — see the dedicated pages in the future and present-aspect sections.
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