Prepositions 'pour' and 'sans' with an infinitive in French

Part ofFrenchPrepositions

Key points about 'pour' and 'sans' with an infinitive in French

Bullet points represented by lightbulbs

  • When the pour (for) is followed by an it means 'in order to'.

  • When sans (without) is followed by an infinitive it means 'without (eg) doing'.

Back to top

Using 'pour' with an infinitive

The preposition (for) can be followed by an infinitive to mean in order to. It can also be translated simply as to.

For example:

  • Pour rester en forme, il faut faire du sport. – (In order) to stay in shape, you need to do sport.

  • Je prends le train pour aller au collège. – I take the train (in order) to get to school.

Using 'pour' with an infinitive - Mini quiz

Icon representing a multiple-choice question with answers A, B and C

What is the French translation of the following sentence?

I do my homework (in order) to improve my French.

Back to top

Using 'sans' with an infinitive

The preposition can be followed by an infinitive to mean without (eg) doing.

For example:

  • Je suis parti sans dire « au revoir » - I left without saying 'goodbye'.
  • On ne peut pas rester en forme sans faire du sport. – You can’t stay in shape without doing sport.
Piece of paper with the word remember written on it

Remember

When speaking in a general sense, the pronoun on can be translated as ‘you’.

Using 'sans' with an infinitive - Mini quiz

Icon representing a multiple-choice question with answers A, B and C

What is the French translation of the following sentence?

She can’t improve her French without doing her homework.

Back to top

Quiz - The prepositions 'pour' and 'sans' with an infinitive

Practise what you've learned about the prepositions pour and sans with an infinitive with this quiz.

Back to top

Now you’ve learned about using the prepositions pour and sans with an infinitive, why not explore ordinal numbers in French?

Back to top

More on Prepositions

Find out more by working through a topic