Deverbal Prepositions in English and French

Deverbal prepositions are prepositions that are formed from verbs. In many languages they retain a close semantic link to the original verb, but their grammatical behaviour is that of a preposition. English and French both contain a sizeable set of these constructions, and learning them is essential for achieving nativelike fluency.

1. What are deverbal prepositions?

A deverbal preposition is a preposition that originates from a verb, often through a process of grammaticalization. The original verb loses its finite properties (tense, agreement) and becomes a fixed prepositional element that governs a noun phrase or a clause.

Typical characteristics:

• It can be replaced by a verb phrase in meaning (e.g., instead of in place of).
• It does not take auxiliary verbs or inflection.
• It often appears in idiomatic combinations that cannot be paraphrased wordforword.

2. Deverbal prepositions in English

2.1 Common examples

2.2 Usage notes

Many English deverbal prepositions are lexicalised, meaning they behave like single words in terms of stress and cannot be split by an intervening phrase.

*We will discuss in spite of the heavy rain the match.* (Correct) vs. *We will discuss the match in spite of the heavy rain.* (Both are possible, but the preposition stays together.)

Some can take a gerund after them, reflecting their verbal origin:

We cancelled the trip because of the bad weather. (noun) vs. We cancelled the trip because of being delayed. (gerund)

2.3 Differences from true prepositions

• Many true prepositions can appear without a noun phrase (e.g., He went *up*). Deverbal prepositions almost always need a complement.
• Deverbal forms often carry a more specific meaning that cannot be fully captured by a simple synonym.

3. Deverbal prepositions in French

3.1 Common examples

3.2 Usage nuances

French deverbal prepositions often appear after a noun that is the logical object of the original verb. The preposition itself cannot be split, similarly to English.

Il a chou cause de son manque de prparation.

When followed by an infinitive, the original verbal sense becomes visible:

Nous sommes partis en vue de trouver un meilleur emploi.

3.3 Comparison with English

• Both languages use the pattern preposition + noun + de (English of / French de) to link the complement.
• English often adds to after a verb (e.g., instead of) where French prefers de.
• French has a richer set of + noun + de constructions, reflecting the historical role of as a dative preposition.

4. Teaching tips

1. Contextualise each preposition with a short dialogue. Learners remember instead of better when they hear Instead of going out, we stayed home.
2. Contrast with a synonym that is not deverbal (e.g., because of vs. due to). Highlight subtle meaning differences.
3. Highlight collocations in both languages. A table like the one above is a handy reference.
4. Practice substitution. Give a sentence with the verb phrase and ask students to replace it with the appropriate preposition.
5. Encourage awareness of rigidity. Emphasise that unlike true prepositions, deverbal forms usually cannot accept an intervening element.

5. Common pitfalls

• Confusing in spite of with despite. Both are correct, but in spite of is slightly more informal.
• Translating English by means of literally into French as par moyen de; the idiomatic French form is au moyen de.
• Using grce for negative causes. Grce is positive (thanks to); for negative causes French uses cause de.
• Dropping the de after French prepositions that require it (e.g., cause le retard is wrong; it must be cause du retard).

6. Summary

Deverbal prepositions are a bridge between verbs and prepositional phrases. English and French share many structural similarities, yet each language has its own set of conventionalised forms. Mastery of these prepositions improves lexical precision, helps avoid literaltranslation errors, and adds a nativelike polish to both spoken and written expression.