Verbs that lose their prepositions with an object

Glen L.C1Kwiziq community member

Verbs that lose their prepositions with an object

I see that some verbs that take de or à and the infinitive drop the preposition when an object follows the verb.  As an example, choisir de drops the preposition when referring to an object as follows:

Je choisis de partir

Je choisis la cérise

As opposed to rêver that keeps its preposition in both cases:

Je rêve de partir

Je rêve du paradis

Is there a rule for this?

Asked 1 year ago
CécileKwiziq team memberCorrect answer

Hi Glen,

The difference is the way the verbs are -

choisir quelque chose = to choose something

choisir de faire quelque chose = to choose to do something

In the second instance, it is -

rêver de quelque chose to dream of something

and

rêver de faire quelque chose to dream of doing something

Bonne Continuation !

Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

A transitive verb, i.e., one that requires a direct object, will never use a preposition before that object. The preposition would, by definition, change the direct into an indirect object, yet the verb requires a direct object. But I can't think of a transitive verb that doesn't have a preposition before the infinitive.

Verbs that lose their prepositions with an object

I see that some verbs that take de or à and the infinitive drop the preposition when an object follows the verb.  As an example, choisir de drops the preposition when referring to an object as follows:

Je choisis de partir

Je choisis la cérise

As opposed to rêver that keeps its preposition in both cases:

Je rêve de partir

Je rêve du paradis

Is there a rule for this?

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