French help

[theholygideons]

how do you translate 'de' in french? as in before an infinitive. I am confused..

[kevin69]

'Of'

[dima_76557]

how do you translate 'de' in french? as in before an infinitive. I am confused..

'Of'

More context is needed to answer this question correctly. I think that in some cases, it could also be translated as "with" or "to" or with an English "ing"-form of the verb in question. Examples:
J'ai fini de manger = I have finished eating.
Il décida de construire une maison. He decided to build a house.

There is also an expression "venir de" which is translated as "X has/have just (done something that is clarified with the rest of the sentence)":
Je viens de manger = I have just eaten. (litt: I've [just] come [back] from eating)

[theholygideons]

More context is needed to answer this question correctly. I think that in some cases, it could also be translated as "with" or "to" or with an English "ing"-form of the verb in question. Examples:
J'ai fini de manger = I have finished eating.
Il décida de construire une maison. He decided to build a house.

There is also an expression "venir de" which is translated as "X has/have just (done something that is clarified with the rest of the sentence)":
Je viens de manger = I have just eaten. (litt: I've [just] come [back] from eating)

so the first example was a gerund right?
why does the second one need de, is it also a gerund?

[dima_76557]

so the first example was a gerund right?
why does the second one need de, is it also a gerund?

I have no idea about the terminology. I learned a little French with a method called "Assimil" (virtually no grammar; just a snowball effect of your vocabulary from submerging yourself into the sound of the language in action) and have learned to GUESS the meaning from the sound only. If I am in doubt about the meaning, I just use Google translate to verify.

The usage of "de" is more related to the FIRST verb than to the infinitive following it.

P.S.: The French tend to use either "a" or "de" after certain verbs before adding an infinitive, but I have no idea if any strict rules exist. It has something to do with the second verb being the direct object of the first, but I think the French themselves do that more or less automatically. Grammar for the Roman languages is quite complicated actually. I would concentrate more on the music in the language if I were you and translate with corresponding "melodies" from your native language. Labeling everything grammatically will hardly be of any help.