# FR: prête à/de/pour



## sleepymarmot

Hi everybody. 
I’ve got a doubt about this sentence: Je ne suis pas prête de oublier cette grande frayeur. 
I was convinced that the correct conjunction to use with “prête” was “à” and not “de”. Was I into error?
Thanks in advance
Marmot

*Moderator note: *multiple threads merged to create this one


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## marget

I believe that _être prêt à_ is the correct expression.


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## buttle

there's something different between the two :

"je ne suis pas prête *d'*oublier" would rather mean "i'm really far from forgetting that(word to word) / i'm not gonna get past it so soon"

but you can't use "je ne suis pas prête *à* oublier..." because it doesn't make sense in this sense but you can use "prêt à" when you talk about something in relation to "be ready" like

"je suis prêt à partir" "i'm ready to go"
"je suis prêt à manger" "i'm ready to eat"

i know it is tricky and i hope you understand.if not i'll explain in a different way if you want.


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## buttle

but you have to say "*d'*oublier" and not "de oublier" as there's an "O" after "de" because "o" is a consonant


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## sleepymarmot

Thank you Buttle, 
your explaination is really clear. Now I've got it. 
Thank you Marget too.
Marmot


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## buttle

however (and i'm sorry) you can say "je ne suis pas prêt *à* oublier" if there's nothing after because in that sense you could say something like 
"i can't / am not ready to forget". I hope it's not too tricky for you.

but it would still not mean the same as 

"je ne suis pas prêt d'oublier"

because that would not mean that you are ready, that would rather mean that you resent the one who did something that you're not gonna get past.you could use this sentence in

"je ne suis pas prêt d'oublier ce que tu m'as fais"

"je ne suis pas prêt d'oublier"   "i'm not gonna get past it"
"je ne suis pas prêt à oublier"   "i can't forget for now"


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## sleepymarmot

Thanks a lot, Buttle, you explained really clearly to me all the shades of the meaning! 
Marmot


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## codemaker

Salut à toutes et tous!

I would like to know the difference between the two sentences:-
Je suis prêt *à* coloniser la ville.
Je suis prêt *pour* coloniser la ville.

I also would like to know if there is a rule for using* à/de + infinitive* or *pour + infinitive*. Whenever we use *pour + infinitive*, pour gives the meaning of *in order to* in English, is that correct?

Thanks in advance guys!


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## jann

Both are acceptable, and the TLFi doesn't make any real distinction between them.  Perhaps some native speakers will be able to let us know if they sense any difference in nuance or usage. 

As for your second question, I'm afraid there's no easy answer... and the topic is too broad for a forum thread. You'll find some general information at the links we have collected here in our Resources subforum.  And no, _pour +_ _inf_ does not always mean "in order to"... as you can see from your own example with _prêt pour + inf_.


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## Oddmania

Hi,

I would tend to say _prêt à_ + infinitive but _prêt pour_ + noun.

_Je suis prêt à partir.
Je suis prêt pour le départ._


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## codemaker

First of all, thanks guys for the quick response! Well, I'm sure that we  can use prêt pour/de/à + infinitive but what's the difference? It's confusing to be  honest!!


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## Oddmania

_Prêt de_ + infinitive is always used in the negative, but it doesn't have the same meaning as _prêt à_ + infinitive.

Il n'est pas prêt à coloniser la ville : he is not prepared enough.
Il n'est pas prêt de coloniser la ville*!* (sarcastic tone) : he's very unlikely to take over the city! It's very unlikely to happen.

For instance, if you're attending a meeting at about 12 o'clock, and it's dragging on forever and nothing is getting done, you could say : _On n'est pas prêt *d'*aller manger! (le repas de Midi)_ because you know you're most likely to stay here for a long time.


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## codemaker

Thanks Oddmania for the explanation!! Now, the prêt à/de is a little bit less confusing


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## CapnPrep

Oddmania said:


> _Prêt de_ + infinitive is always used in the negative, but it doesn't have the same meaning as _prêt à_ + infinitive.


I would avoid using_ prêt de_ in favor of either _prêt *à*_ or_ *près* de_, whose meanings overlap quite a lot.

From the _Dictionnaire de l'Académie _(9th ed.), s.v. _prêt_:


> 2. Qui est sur le point de. _Elle était prête à fondre en larmes. Cet arbre est prêt à tomber_. Vieilli. Suivi de la préposition _de_. _L'ennemi est prêt d'attaquer _(on recommande plutôt aujourd'hui l'emploi de la locution prépositive _Près de_).



See also:
il n'est pas près de / il n'est pas prêt de (sic)
Prêt à/Prêt de
FR: prêt d'oublier
près / prêt


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