# FR: X est / X, c'est (de) + infinitif - préposition ?



## 19sunflower

Hi

I know that I really just need to memorise which verbs take the infinitive, which take à and which take de, but are there any general rules that would work most of the time.

I'm finding that I chose based on what sounds right, but I don't always know why.

For example, in the sentence: le but final est de développer l'innovation, is the preposition de because of etre de faire quelquechose, or is that totally wrong?

*Moderator note:* Multiple threads merged to create this one.


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## Maître Capello

The _de_ is used because of the phrase _être *de* + _<infinitif>.

_Le but final est *de* développer l'innovation.
Son rêve est *de* nager avec des dauphins.
La faiblesse des hommes est *de* céder à la tentation._


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## Riverby

I'm trying to discover the rules for the use of *de* in sentences like these:

A. Mon rêve *est de faire* le tour du monde.
B. Mon rêve *est faire* le tour du monde.

C. L'objectif *est de faire* partir X du pouvoir.
D. L'objectif *est faire* partir X du pouvoir.​Which of these is acceptable? Is there a rule?


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## Meiboombouwer

de faire is the correct form in both exemples. But I couldn't say whether there is a rule.

'rêver de' -> mon rêve est de...
'besoin de' -> les besoins sont de 
'avoir pour objectif de' -> mon objectif est de...
'dans le but de' -> le but est de

Honestly I never examined the question before 

I tried to look in my Becherelle but couldn't find a rule that would  apply to your question.

One thing is sure, we never say être + infinitive (or at least I can't  find any example)
it's either être + à + infinitive or être + de + infinitive.
For instance we say:
  L'objectif est *d'*atteindre les plus hauts sommets
L'objectif est *à* atteindre dans les plus brefs délais

worse:
L'objectif est *de *devenir fou (the objective is to become crazy,  Ok, it's a weird objective but it suits my example).
  L'objectif est *à* devenir fou (the objective is mad-driving)

Sorry that I cannot help you better.


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## Riverby

Thank you Meiboombouwer. Googling finds a lot of examples of "c'est faire qch", as here:

Mon but *c'est faire* le tour du monde!​How does this sound?


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## Meiboombouwer

Sound weird to me: Mon but est de faire le tour du monde.

But maybe, if you write it like this:
Mon but c'est: faire le tour du monde!

[…]


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## Meiboombouwer

I found an example where you would use être+ inf.

Faire ça (quelque chose), c'est faire n'importe quoi!
Dire que (quelque chose), c'est dire que (autre chose)
(ex: 'Dire que tu veux partir, c'est dire que tu ne m'aimes plus!')
"Partir, c'est mourir un peu" (I don't remember who said that, but it's a known quote)

In this case _être _can be replaced by =, it's like an equation
an action = an action.
infinitive c'est infinitive

Again, that's the only case I can think of where _être+infinitive_ would be use without _de_ or _à_

[…]


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## Landazt

Hi! I've seen this sentence in Wiktionnaire and I was wondering:



> La seule chose qui compte pour Jim c'est d'être riche.



Why's that de (d') before être there? Does it mean that the following examples are wrong?

La seule chose qui compte pour Jim est être riche.
La seule chose qui compte pour Jim est d'être riche.
La seule chose qui compte pour Jim c'est être riche.

Thanks!


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## Lacuzon

Bonsoir,

La seule chose qui compte pour Jim est être riche. 
La seule chose qui compte pour Jim est d'être riche. 
La seule chose qui compte pour Jim c'est être riche. 
La seule chose qui compte pour Jim, c'est d'être riche. 

It is due to the structure : est + de + infinitif

L'important (c')est de ne pas être en retard
Ce qui importe, (c')est de pouvoir y arriver avant dimanche.


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## Maître Capello

If you add the missing comma in the 3rd sentence, all 4 sentences are indeed correct, Lacuzon. As a matter of fact, the _de_ is not compulsory but we prefer to add it to avoid the hiatus between _est_ and _être_. You can however make the liaison and pronounce the _t_ of _est_… 

Changing the infinitive _être_ to another verb may help clarify that the preposition is optional:

_La seule chose qui compte est pouvoir faire ce qu'on veut.
La seule chose qui compte est *de* pouvoir faire ce qu'on veut.
La seule chose qui compte*, c'*est pouvoir faire ce qu'on veut.
La seule chose qui compte*, c'*est *de* pouvoir faire ce qu'on veut.
_
That being said, I prefer to include the _de_ and I agree that the first phrase would sound a bit weird.


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## bcd85

My Rosetta stone software has provided me with some confusing sentences.

The sentences are as follows:

'Mon travail est d'enseigner'

'Mon travail est de jouer du piano'

I am confused as to how this sentence makes grammatical sense. I can obviously understand the meaning behind it, but what permits to usage of etre + de + infinitive?

Does anyone have any links as to how the infinitive is able to be used after etre in that way?


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## Marie3933

Bonjour bcd 85,

On utilise le marqueur (vide) « de » devant un infinitif en fonction d'attribut du sujet.
Dans tes exemples, _enseigner et jouer du piano_ sont attributs de « mon travail ».
Autre exemple : _L’essentiel n’est pas *de* gagner, c’est *de* participer._
Ici, _gagner_ est attribut de _L’essentiel_ et _participer_ est attribut de _ce._

Exception : on n'utilise pas « de » devant un infinitif attribut du sujet quand ce sujet est lui-même un infinitif :

_Partir, c’est mourir un peu.
Vouloir, c'est pouvoir._​
Voici deux pages très bien faites sur l'infinitif attribut et l'infinitif sujet réel (devant lequel on emploie « de » également).


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## jann

I'm just guessing, but perhaps your grammatical confusion comes from trying to draw a parallel with English?

My job is to teach.
My job is to play the piano.
etc.

Since "to teach" is the infinitive in English, I can see how you might be expecting [subject] + _être_ + [infinitive] in French.  But French and English are not exactly parallel.  French needs the preposition _de_ when using a verb (like "to be") to connect a nominal subject (my job) with an infinitive (to teach) as its attribute.  

Two further observations:

1. English actually has two forms of the infinitive:  the to-infinitive (I have to teach), and the bare infinitive (I must teach).  But French has only one.  Don't let the presence or absence of a "to" from the English infinitive confuse you when you're looking at the structure of the French version of the sentence.

2. English would let us use a gerund ("My job is teaching/playing/etc.") to describe the action, but French requires an infinitive.

Does that help?


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## FreddieFirebird

Can someone please help me understand why the de is present in the following examples?

ce qui m'ennuie, c'est *d'*aller à la pêche.
ce qui me plaît, c'est* de* danser.

Why does it exist there, and not here :  Ce que j'adore, c'est danser.

Is it because of the verb choice?  

Thanks!


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## Maître Capello

The _de_ is actually optional in all those examples but it is more common to include it.


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## jxi1827

Why is it more common to include it here than to not include it?  I'm confused because you would say "Danser me plaït" and not "De danser", so why is it more common to put it here?


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## Maître Capello

Why? Well, that's just the way it is! 

Your other example is quite different as the infinitive is used as subject, not as predicate…

_De danser me plaît_.  (infinitive = subject)
_Danser me plaît_.  (infinitive = subject)

_Ce qui me plaît, c'est *de* danser._  (infinitive = predicate)
_Ce qui me plaît, c'est danser._  (infinitive = predicate)


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## jxi1827

Okay thank you!  Is this in general the same, like most people would say, "Tout ce que je veux, c'est de manger" and not "Tour ce que je veux, c'est manger"?


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## Maître Capello

Using or not using _de_ is a matter of style and context. It is hard to give a general rule… In the example you just gave, I prefer to omit it.

_Tout ce que je veux, c'est manger._


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## FreddieFirebird

My textbook teaches the expressions "Ce qui me plaît" and "Ce qui m'ennuie".  When those expressions are followed by a verb, they use the prposition "De"  "Ce qui me plaît, c'est DE faire du sport"

Can someone help me understand why the "de" is there?  Is it because of the verb choice (plaire) or the fact that I am using "ce qui" as the subject?  If it's because of the verb, are there other verbs that would require the "de" there?

Thanks


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## Maître Capello

Actually, _c'est_ is the part that triggers the _de_. That word is optional but it is more common to include it. It is often found after relative clauses such as _ce qui/que/dont_, etc.

See also X, c'est (de) + infinitif in the Français Seulement forum.


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## FreddieFirebird

Thank you for the reply.  But then, I don't understand why "Ce que j'aime c'est + inf" doesn't use the "de".  Or, could my resource be wrong?


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## Maître Capello

_Ce que j'aime / Ce qui me plaît, c'est *de* faire ce que je veux._ 
_Ce que j'aime / Ce qui me plaît, c'est faire ce que je veux._


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## kirakuni8

Bonjour,

Quand on parle son activité préférée, est-ce qu'on dit « Mon activité préférée est + infinitif » ou bien est-ce qu'on dit « Mon activité préférée est *de* + infinitif » ?
Peut-être que les deux se disent ? 

Par exemple :
Mon activité préférée est sortir.  / Mon activité préférée est *de* sortir.
Mon activité préférée est skier.  / Mon activité préférée est *de* skier. 

Je vous saurais gré de bien vouloir m'aider !


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## Oddmania

Hi,

I don't think either is incorrect, but it really sounds much better to me with "_de_". I don't think I would ever put it that way, though. I'd be more likely to say:

_Mon activité préférée, c'est skier.
Skier est mon activité préférée / Skier, c'est mon activité préférée.
Ce que je préfère (faire), c'est skier._​


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## Coffeemachtspass

There are many good sample sentences here, but I thought that the mysterious *'de'* (and by extension, any preposition in this position) could be explained more simply.

Here are some lovely sentences from our cher ami, Maître Capello:



Maître Capello said:


> _Le but final est *de* développer l'innovation.
> Son rêve est *de* nager avec des dauphins.
> La faiblesse des hommes est *de* céder à la tentation._



If the *être* were eliminated, we would immediately see that the *de* joins_ the head noun_ to its descriptive words, *either another noun or an infinitive*.

Le _but_ final *de développer *l'innovation...
Son _rêve_ *de* *nager *avec des dauphins...
La faiblesse *de céder* à la tentation...

When you consider the original versions of these sentences, you should appreciate that there are hidden words. Here is one of the sentences with those hidden words reinstated.

Son rêve est *un rêve de nager* avec des dauphins. [Her dream is a dream of swimming with dolphins.]

Obviously, we eliminate the repetitions, yet that hidden repeated noun calls out for a preposition that should not be eliminated. A final point. A true adjective comes directly after the noun it describes, or directly after the verb être.

So, we say

Le but *final*...
Le but est *final*
not,
Le but est *de final *

If you return to the many examples in this thread, it should be much clearer now why some are acceptable and others are not to the native speakers.


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