Les préférences

How to express preferences

There are different verbs to express preferences:

French	English
Adorer	To adore/to like
Aimer	To love a person/to like something
Détester	To hate
Être fou de	To be crazy about
Haïr	To deteste
Préférer	To prefer
Supporter	To tolerate/to stand

Some rules

“Être fou de”

“Être fou de” has a feminine version, “être folle de.” When it is followed by someone’s name, it means “to be crazy in love.” We usually do not need an article after “de” here.

 

“Haïr”

The verb “haïr” is irregular. Its present tense is “je hais, tu hais, il/elle/on hait, nous haïssons, vous haïssez, ils/elles haïssent”. “Haïr” has a strong meaning. In French, it is more used for people or to describe a type of behaviour.

“Aimer”

In the spoken language, “aimer” is used as “to love” and and “to like.” However, when used with someone’s name, “aimer” means “to love” with feelings. If you do not want that meaning, used “aimer bien.”

For example:
J’aime Paul → I love Paul. (I am in love with Paul).
J’aime bien Paul → I like Paul. (as a friend for example).

With a person

All the verbs above, can be followed by a person. This includes someone’s name, an article and a noun related to people, or a possessive adjective and a noun related to people.

For example:
J’aime Marie → I love Mary.
Tu adores mon père → You adore my father.
Nous préférons l’ami de Laura → We prefer Laura’s friend.

With an infinitive verb

All the verbs above, except “être fou de” can be followed by an infinitive verb with no preposition in between.

For example:
J’adore lire → I like to read.
Ils préfèrent partir → They prefer to leave.
Elle déteste faire du vélo → She hates cycling.

With an article and a noun

All the verbs above, can be followed by a definite article and a thing. Except “être fou de” which doesn’t need the article. “Les” is used when the noun is countable and “le,” “la” and “l’” are used when the noun is uncountable if you want the meaning “in general.” However, you can use the definite articles “le,” “la” or “l’” with countable nouns if you want to talk about a specific object rather than the object in general.

For example:
Elle hait les gens malpolis → She detestes rude people.
Elle supporte le bruit → She tolerates the noise.
Je suis fou de tennis → I am crazy about tennis.
Je déteste les chats → I hate cats. (in general)
J’aime le chat → I like the cat. (this specific cat)

Negation

The negation always has the same position in the sentence. “Ne” goes before the conjugated verb and “pas” after it. Other negative words than “pas” can be used, like “plus” (no longer), “jamais” (never), or “que” (only). Ne is shortened to “n” in front of a vowel or “h”.

For example:
Je n’aime pas les brocolis → I don’t like broccoli.
Tu ne détestes jamais courir → You never hate running.
Elle n’adore que Paul → She only adores Paul.

“Aimer mieux” and “préférer”

They have the same meaning, but the literal translation of “aimer mieux” is “to like better.”

For example:
J’aime mieux regarder un film → I prefer watching a movie.
Je préfère regarder un film → I prefer watching a movie.

“Aimer” plus adverbs

The verb “aimer” can be followed by an adverb to modify its meaning in a positive or negative way. The other verbs expressing preferences can’t be used with these adverbs except with “trop” and “vraiment”.

For example:
Je déteste vraiment aller au parc → I really hate going to the parc.
J’adore trop la glace → I really like ice cream.

Affirmatives

The adverb will be placed after the conjugated verb.

French	English
Aimer assez	To love/to quite like
Aimer beaucoup	To love a lot/to like a lot
Aimer bien	To like a person/to like a thing
Aimer trop (informal)	To really like/to really love
Aimer vraiment	To really like/to really love

For example:
J’aime bien aller au parc → I like going to the parc.
J’aime vraiment la glace → I really like ice cream.

Negatives

The following negative phrases with adverbs are presented in their negated infinitive form. When you conjugate the verb, “ne” and “pas” change position and go around it.

French	English
Ne pas aimer beaucoup	Not to like a lot
Ne pas aimer du tout	Not to like at all
Ne pas aimer trop	Not to like much

For example:
Je n’aime pas du tout aller au parc →
I don’t like going to the parc at all.
Je n’aime pas trop la glace → I don’t like ice cream much.