décider de, décider (quelqu’un) à
to decide to, to persuade (someone) to
J’ai décidé d’essayer de décider Paul à venir.
I decided to try to persuade Paul to come.
TONGUE TWISTER!
Today’s example is a bit of wordplay — or jeu de mots. If you can say it 10 fois rapidement (10 times quickly), you might be a French Fanatic indeed!
TODAY
In French, a verb’s meaning can change depending upon the preposition that follows it. Today, we’re looking at an example of how verbs and prepositions interact to change a verb’s meaning, sometimes significantly. This is also a good time to remind ourselves that French verbs do not always take the same prepositions as their English counterparts.
Vocabulary Section: Verbs and Prepositions, Word of the Day