Leçon 7.4 - Why d'aller and not just aller?

In lesson 7.4, they state: “”Ils me permettent d'aller à Nice" to mean they are allowing (permitting) me to go to Nice. What is the rule that requires it to be d'aller instead of aller? Thanks!

Bonjour Paula.

There isn't any real rule that you can use to know when to use the preposition, de, after a verb because there really isn't any 'reason' why certain verbs require it. They just do. There is quite a large number of such verbs, so all you can really do is memorize them as you encounter them.

** Keep in mind though, that what we're actually talking about here is verb +de + infinitive, and that many verbs require the preposition, à, instead, in this case. Many require no preposition. Learning which is which is not unlike learning which nouns are preceded by le and which are preceded by la. FYI, there are also nouns and adjectives that are necessarily followed by de before an infinitive.

Examples of lists of such verbs can be found here:

https://www.frenchlearner.com/verbs/verbs-followed-by-de/

https://www.frenchtoday.com/blog/french-verb-conjugation/why-french-verbs-followed-preposition-de-infinitive/

Robert

Thank you very much for the thorough answer. I appreciate it.

Bonjour,

Yes, Robert that is true. Unfortunately, there isn’t really a rule for whether a verb takes no preposition, de, or à, and it just requires memorisation. It is best just to try to learn which preposition goes with which verb, particularly given the following rule.

@Paula-D However, there are some verbs that change meaning based on the preposition used. For example:

• Venir de + infinitive means “to have just done something”, while
• Venir à + infinitive means “to end up doing something”.

FYI there are also some verbs that change their preposition ( de or à ) for reasons of euphony. This is less common but can happen, particularly in literature where the sentence structure is played with a bit more.

Keep up the good work!

   -   Mitchell