Do you also have trouble distinguishing between “close to” and “ready to” do something? Here’s how to tell the difference and avoid making mistakes.
The French language contains many homophones, which does not make learning to write any easier, far from it. Sometimes, years after finishing school, we still have doubts about the spelling of certain words or expressions. This is particularly the case with “prêt à” faire quelque chose and “près de”. Which one to use and in what situation?
To begin with, we need to know what they correspond to. “Près” is an adverb, while “prêt” is an adjective. “Prêt is constructed with the preposition “à” and means “prepared for something, willing to”. We write “près de” to say that someone is about to do something (without forgetting, of course, that the expression “près de” also indicates spatial proximity)”recalls the French Academy.
To know which expression to use, you just need to know what you want to say. To avoid making a mistake, you can, for example, replace the desired expression with another to know which is the right one. Thus, “near” becomes “on the verge of” and “ready to” becomes “disposed to/in a state of/prepared to”, etc. Here are some examples:
- “My son is close to finishing his homework”: the child is close to finishing his homework, so “close to” is correct.
- “We are ready to go”: this means that we are prepared to leave or willing to do so, so “ready to” is the one to use.
- “You are not ready to compete”: “You are not in a condition to compete”
- “He was about to fall before I caught him”: the subject was about to fall before being caught
- “He is ready to do anything to achieve his goals”
- “I’m not about to forget it.”
Others will find it easier to remember that “prêt” is an adjective, but not “près”. So the first one agrees (prêt, prêt, prêts, prêtes), so that when in doubt, we can change the gender of the sentence. Example: “Je suis prêt à faire des efforts”. If we can say “Je suis prêt à faire des efforts”, then it is “prêt” or not “près” that is correct.