# FR: prêt à + infinitif



## GDGB

I know this means ready-to-wear.

But this French phrase brings up something that has always confused me and I can't seem to find any information about online. And that is: à + infinitives. Why is it prêt-à-porter instead of prêt-porter? Do you say J'aime à danser or J'aime danser? *How do you know when and when not to use à before an infinitive when trying to say "to [verb]"?

*Merci d'avance!


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## Lacuzon

Bonjour,

Well, do not think about à + infinitive but about adjective + à and verb + à.

Prêt is an adjective meaning ready. It is always prêt + à + infinitive as it is always ready + to + infinitive.
Nous sommes prêts à partir, il est prêt à t'écouter.

Concerning verbs, it depends on each verb.
Usually aimer does no use à : J'aime danser, j'aime courir, j'aime voyager. Though you may find j'aime à danser, j'aime à courir, j'aime à voyager, j'aime à croire que... which is a literary use.

I'm afraid you have to know which verb uses which preposition. But it is the same in English: Why is it to write to her, not write her? Why _I write you a letter _and _I write to you, and_ _I write a letter to you_?

Have a good learning .


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## GDGB

I'm still not understanding.  I just saw another French sentence: _Il y a deux choses à faire. _Why is it _chose à faire_ instead of _chose faire_?

You say it's specific to the verb or adjective (or noun?). Is there a place where I can see a specific list of these verbs/adjectives?


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## pointvirgule

It seems to me that you are analyzing _prêt[-]à[-]porter_ thusly:



*Adj.**Full infinitive*readyto wearprêtporter


That is not the way it is, imo. The _to _is not the infinitive particle here, I would think, but a real preposition, which is needed to articulate the phrase:



*Adj.
**Preposition
**Bare infinitive
*readytowearprêtàporter


It happens that the structure is identical in both languages. Is it clearer now?


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## Marie3933

GDGB said:


> Is there a place where I can see a specific list of these verbs/adjectives?
> I'm afraid you'll have to consult the dictionary for each word.


As Lacuzon said, it's a question of vocabulary.
Just like in all languages. Why do you say "to talk to" but "to speak with" , why "proud of " and "happy with" ?
 Question of vocabulary !

For _"Il y a deux choses à faire", y_ou should open a new thread.


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## GDGB

It is getting clearer.

I know that verbs + infinitives, certain conjugated verbs must be followed by a preposition and others, not. I was able to find a list some of these.

However, with adjectives and nouns, like _prêt _and _choses_, must I ALWAYS have to use a preposition?

Do I have to open a new thread? It's not a new question, just an example, because my question is about Á + infinitives, with "prêt-à-porter" and "Il y a deux choses à faire" as examples. Although, looking at the current title (which was changed by a mod; the original was "prêt-à-porter (À + Infinitive)") I can see why you might say that.


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## pointvirgule

Marie3933 said:


> As Lacuzon said, it's a question of vocabulary.


 GDGB's question has more to do with syntax. It is about infinitives used as adjective or noun complements and how they need to be preceded with a preposition.


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## Marie3933

Désolée de ne répondre qu'à une chose à la fois, comme on nous le recommande, mais "prêt-à-porter" et "Il y a deux choses à faire" sont deux problèmes différents.


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## Maître Capello

I'm afraid the question "*How do you know when and when not to use à before an infinitive when trying to say "to [verb]"?*" is too generic and cannot be addressed in this thread. Please focus on _prêt à_ + infinitive. If you would like to discuss _X choses à faire_, please open a new thread.

Maître Capello
Moderator


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## GDGB

Oh... well, the bold _is_ what my question is, though... I don't really care specifically about _prêt-__à-porter_ and _choses __à faire_, those were just examples...

So is there not any way I can ask this question?


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## Maître Capello

The real difficulty is that _to_ in English can be either a preposition or part of a to-infinitive.

_I want + to go  _[to-infinitive] _+ swimming_ = Je veux aller nager
_ready + to _[preposition] _+ go_ [bare infinitive] _+ swimming__ = prêt *à* aller nager

_Anyway, after an adjective like _prêt_, you always need a preposition in French: _prêt *à* porter._


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## GDGB

Okay, so basically, when it comes to verbs + infinitives, I should check these lists:

http://french.about.com/library/prepositions/bl_prep_a_verb.htm
http://french.about.com/library/prepositions/bl_prep_de_verb.htm
http://french.about.com/library/prepositions/bl_prep_noprep.htm

And when it comes to nouns and adjectives, such as prêt and choses, I should always use a preposition (for example, to say "It is easy to dance", I would say "Il est facile à danser", while to say "I like to dance", I would say "J'aime danser"). Is that correct?


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## Maître Capello

Well, actually we would say _Il est facile *de* danser_. You definitely need a preposition, but not necessarily _à_…

(As you can see, this topic is way too broad to be discussed in a single thread.)


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## GDGB

You're right, it is broad. And I just looked it up again and found "Many nouns and adjectives are followed by _de_ before an infinitive"

So here's a question that is specifically about prêt-à-porter. Why is it prêt-à-porter instead of prêt de porter? 

And if it's just something that I have to know, do you know any place that has a list of adjectives and nouns that use à or de? Or even a list of rules to determine whether or not to use à or de, if there are any rules?


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## Cedrikuya

It's a very intricate question, in fact, I don't know why use "à" or "de", most of French people don't really know I think, it's a question of feeling. I even don't know if there are rules, maybe it's just idiomatic... Sorry.
I found a link : http://www.francaisfacile.com/exercices/exercice-francais-2/exercice-francais-3219.php
I hope it will help you.


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## lucas-sp

I could see a situation where "être facile à danser" could be employed, for instance if you're discussing a particular step or a piece of choreography: "Cette figure est facile à danser."

Sadly, I don't think there's a general rule to differentiate between "à" and "de." (There isn't one in English, either, which endlessly frustrates non-native speakers trying to figure out the differences between coming "up," "down," and "to," so you're not alone.) However, once you've learned enough French, you do acquire a sense for what's right. You can try to think about motion towards something (à) and motion away from something (de) - which does explain why it should be "pret à porter" and to some extent "choses à faire" (think of translating the infinitive with à as "to be done": ready to be worn, things to be done) - but that's not going to work for you in all situations.

If it helps, this is one of those moments in learning a language where you just have to abandon yourself to memorization and wishing for the best. They're in every language, and everybody has the same trouble!


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## GDGB

That's a very good explanation, thank you very much!

I'm such a rules person. I hate when things are what they are, without rules, and you just have to know & memorize it. But you're right, francophones learning English would have the same issue as well!


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## ogspog89

GDGB, in every reputable French Grammar book, you'll find a list of expressions and verbs which either require _à_, _de_ or nothing before an infinitive. Some books try to categorise it all by their own confusing rules of some sort, but your best bet is to just learn them as particular to each verb or expression. There is no easier way to do it.


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