When a verb is followed by another verb in the infinitive, the first thing to ask yourself is whether
or not there is a preposition between them. In sentences based on the pattern of j’aime lire (I like to read), this is a question of life and death: many French sentences, which follow the same pat-
tern, insist on inserting a preposition between the two verbs, so the preposition precedes the
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practice makes perfect Complete French All-in-One
infinitive. All this comes naturally to the French, who don’t even wonder why it’s necessary to say,