Language/French/Grammar/Ditransitive-verbs

French Ditransitive Verbs Examples

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Ditransitive verbs - Definition

Ditransitive verbs and the question of attribution complement Certain linguistic theories breaking with traditional grammar consider that a verb, then qualified as ditransitive, can accept 2 object complements, called direct object complement, “complément d'objet direct” in French (COD) and second object complement, "complément d'objet second" in French (COS).

• Elle donne une pomme à son frère

She gives an apple to her brother

→ Ditransitif, because "une pomme" (an apple) is COD and "son frère" (her brother) is COS.

• More information about French Ditransitive Verbs.

French ditransitive verbs take a direct object complement and an object introduced by a preposition.

à corresponds to English "to"

French	Translation
admettre un ami à la soirée	admit a friend to the party
accoutumer un stagiaire au métier	get an trainee used to a job
appeler son père au téléphone	call one's father on the phone
avouer un crime à la police	confess a crime to the police
apprendre l'anglais à des enfants	teach English to children
condamner un délinquant à une peine de prison	sentence an offender to prison
contraindre les opposants à l'obéissance	compel opponents to obey
conduire les hôtes à leur hôtel	take guests to their hotel
convier des amis à une fête	invite friends to a party
dire ses quatre vérités à quelqu'un	shout the bare truth at somebody
dire des mensonges à ses amis	tell lies to one's friends
destiner sa fille à une belle carrière	arrange a great career for one's daughter
emmener les invités à leur chambre	take guests to their room
exposer la population à des dangers	expose the population to danger
forcer les citoyens à la révolution	drive the citizens to revolution
habituer les gens au port du masque	get people used to wearing a masks
inciter les citoyens à la révolte	incite citizens to revolt
inviter les grevistes à une manifestation	invite the strikers to a demonstration
jurer l'amour éternel à sa femme	to swear eternal love to one's husband
obliger ses créanciers au remboursement	to force one's debtors to pay up
louer un camping-car à un touriste	rent a motorhome to a tourist
ordonner la retraite à ses troupes	to order one's troops to retreat
provoquer quelqu'un à une réaction trop vive	to provoke somebody into a hasty reaction
réduire quelqu'un à la mendicité	to reduce somebody to beggary
rendre l'ordinateur à son voisin	return the computer to one's neighbor
suggérer une nouvelle idée à son patron	suggest a new idea to one's boss

• NB: "louer une voiture à un garagiste" is likely to mean: "to hire a car from a garage owner".

à corresonds to English "from" or "for"

French	Translation
acheter une voiture d'occasion à son voisin	buy a used car from one's neighbor
arracher de l'argent à un avare	to prise money from a miser
cacher son licenciement à sa femme	hide one's dismissal from one's wife
emprunter cinq cents euros à un ami	borrow five hundred euros from a friend
dérober de l'argent à ses parents	steal money from one's parents
enlever le couteau au voleur	take the knife away from the thief
ôter une écharde à quelqu'un	remove a splinter from somebody's flesh
louer une voiture au garagiste	hire a car from the garage owner
reprocher une liaison à sa femme	be angry with one's wife for having had an affair
préparer sa famille à de tristes nouvelles	prepare one's family for sad news
réserver des sièges aux invités	to reserve some seats for the guests
retirer son permis à l'automobiliste	to take the driver's licence away from the car driver
soustraire une grosse somme d'argent à une personne agée	to swindle an elderly person out of a large sum
voler un bijou à une passante	to steal a jewel from a passerby

de corresponds to English 'with' or 'in' (& 'from' or 'on')

French	Translation
accompagner son discourt d'ironie	bring irony into one's speech
armer les soldats de fusils	arm soldiers with guns
affranchir une population de l'esclavage	free a population from slavery
coiffer un enfant d'un chapeau	to put a hat on a child's head
charger un voisin d'une tâche	to entrust a task to a neighbor
combler ses invités de gentillesses	to cover one's guests in kindness
cribler un corps de balles	to riddle a body with bullets
couvrir sa petite amie de cadeaux	to drown one's girl friend in presents
encombrer le coffre de la voiture de valises	clutter up the trunk of the car with suitcases
éloigner la star de ses fans	keep the star away from his fans
entourer la famille de bons amis	to surround the family with good friends
envelopper le cadeau d'un papier	to wrap the present in paper
menacer le personnel de l'entreprise d'une réduction de salaire	threaten company staff with a pay cut
habiller sa femme de jolis vêtements	dress his wife with nice clothes
munir les étudiants du savoir nécessaire	provide students with the necessary knowledge
orner le coffre de la voiture d'autocollants	decorate the trunk of the car with stickers
pourvoir un réfugié d'un faux passeport	provide a refugee with a false passport
planter le jardin de fleurs	plant the garden with flowers
remplir l'auditoire d'admiration	fill the audience with admiration
semer un champ de blé	sow a field with wheat
souiller un drap de sang	soil a sheet with blood
tacher un pantalon de peinture	to stain pants with paint
vêtir un cardinal d'une robe de pourpre	dress a cardinal in a purple robe
tapisser le salon d'un papier peint bleu	line the living room with blue wallpaper

Table of Contents

Nouns

• Types
• Gender
• Plural

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Determiners

• Articles
• Typical use of the definite article
• Typical use of the indefinite article
• The partitive article: du, de l', de la, des
• Use of indefinite and partitive articles after the negative forms ne... pas, ne... jamais, ne... plus, ne... guère
• Omission of the article
• Demonstrative determiners
• Possessive determiners

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Personal and impersonal pronouns

• Subject pronouns
• Object pronouns
• Stressed pronouns
• Demonstrative pronouns
• Possessive pronouns

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Adjectives

• Adjectives modifying the noun
• Adjectives which follow verbs or verbal expressions
• Adjectives with complements
• Indefinite and negative noun phrases with adjective complements
• Adjectives used as nouns
• Adjectives used as adverbs
• Masculine and feminine forms of adjectives
• Plural forms of adjectives
• Adjective agreement with nouns
• Invariable adjectives
• Compound adjectives
• Comparative and superlative forms of adjectives
• Subjunctive versus indicative in clauses dependent on a superlative adjective
• Absolute use of the superlative

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Adverbs

• Function of adverbs
• Formation of adverbs with the ending -ment
• Adjectives used as adverbs without addition of -ment
• Phrases used as adverbs
• English and French adverb formation
• Types of adverbs
• Location of adverbs

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Numbers, measurements, time and quantifiers

• Cardinal numbers
• Ordinal numbers
• Fractions
• Some differences in the use of cardinal and ordinal numbers in French and English
• Measurements and comparisons
• Dates, days, years
• Clock time
• Money
• Quantifiers

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Verb forms

• Conjugations
• Easy ways of generating some parts of the paradigms
• Changes in the stem form of some -er conjugation verbs
• Verbs whose stems end in c- or g-
• Verb paradigms

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Verb constructions

• Relations between verbs and their complements
• Intransitive constructions
• Directly transitive verbs
• Indirectly transitive verbs
• Ditransitive verbs
• The passive
• Pronominal verbs
• Impersonal verbs
• Verbs which take noun + adjective or noun + noun complements

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Verb and participle agreement

• Subject-verb agreement
• Agreement of the past participle with the subject of être
• Agreement of the past participle of verbs conjugated with avoir with a preceding direct object
• Agreement of the past participle of pronominal verbs in compound tenses

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Tense

• The present
• The past
• The future
• Other tenses indicating the time at which events occur relative to other events
• Combining tenses
• Tenses in direct and reported descriptions of events
• Tenses with si

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The subjunctive, modal verbs, exclamatives and imperatives

• The attitude of the subject to events: the subjunctive
• The use of devoir, pouvoir, savoir, falloir
• The French equivalents of the English modal verbs: 'would', 'should', 'could', 'may', 'might', 'ought to', and 'must'
• Exclamatives
• Imperatives

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The infinitive

• Introduction: what are infinitives?
• Infinitives as complements to other verbs
• Verbs which take infinitive complements without a linking preposition
• Verbs which take infinitive complements preceded by the preposition à
• Verbs which take an infinitive complement preceded by de
• Omission of objects before infinitives
• Infinitives as complements to adjectives
• Infinitives as complements to nouns
• Infinitives in subordinate clauses
• Infinitives as polite commands
• Quick-reference index to verbs taking infinitive complements

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Prepositions

• Introduction
• Prepositions listed alphabetically from à to vers
• French translations for common English prepositions

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Question formation

• Introduction
• Yes/no questions
• Information questions
• Order of object pronouns in questions involving inversion
• Order of negative particles in questions involving inversion
• Use of question words and phrases: qui?, que?, quoi?, quel?, de qui?, avec combien de? etc.
• Indirect questions

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Relative clauses

• Introduction
• Use of relative qui
• Use of relative que
• Preposition plus qui
• Use of lequel in relative clauses
• Use of dont, de qui, duquel/de laquelle/desquels/desquelles
• The use of où as a relative pronoun
• Use of relative quoi
• Free relative clauses and the use of ce qui, ce que, ce dont, ce à quoi, ce sur quoi, etc.
• Translating 'whoever', 'whatever', 'wherever', 'whenever', 'however'
• Indicative and subjunctive in relative clauses

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Negation

• Introduction
• Location of sentence negators
• Order of negators in multiple negation
• Omission of ne in sentence negation
• Order of negative elements in questions and imperatives
• ne... pas
• ne... que
• ne... aucun(e), ne... nul(le)
• ne... jamais
• ne... plus
• ne... guère
• ne... rien
• ne... personne
• ne... ni... ni
• sans used with other negators
• ne used alone

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Conjunctions and other linking constructions

• Introduction
• Coordinating conjunctions
• Subordinating conjunctions
• Conjunctions sometimes confused by English speakers
• Repeated subordinating conjunctions
• Subordinating conjunctions used with infinitive clauses
• après avoir/ être + past participle linking an infinitive clause to a main clause
• Past participle phrases used as linkers
• Present participles and gerunds

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Sources

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZGJltC1QR4
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxlsIfvf3LE

Other Lessons

• Use of y
• The irregular verb être
• Agreement of past participles with direct objects placed before in relative clauses
• « de » or « du », « de la », « des » after quantifiers
• Conditional Mood and Future Tense
• Nouns that are only masculine or only feminine But may refer to both men and women
• Adjectives preceded by de
• Position of object pronouns with imperatives
• Object pronouns in coordinated clauses
• il or ça alternating with noun phrase subjects
• Easy way of generating the present tense
• Homophones
• Easy way of generating the simple past
• Position of direct and indirect object pronouns
• il or ça alternating with clauses or infinitives as subjects