Parler À vs Parler DE in French: What’s the Difference?
The French verb parler can be followed by either à or de, but the meaning changes depending on which preposition you use.
- Parler à quelqu’un means to speak or talk to someone.
- Parler de quelqu’un or quelque chose means to speak or talk about someone or something.
Compare:
- Je parle à Marie. — I’m talking to Marie.
- Je parle de Marie. — I’m talking about Marie.
The difference also affects which pronoun you use when you don’t want to repeat the person or thing you’re talking about.
In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use parler à and parler de, including the pronouns lui, leur, and en.
You can download a PDF of this lesson guide in my private French Grammar Library.
1. Parler À + a Person
Use parler à when you are talking or speaking to someone.
The preposition à is followed by the person you are speaking to.
- parler à quelqu’un — to speak to someone
- parler à un ami — to speak to a friend
- parler à ses parents — to speak to one’s parents
- parler au professeur — to speak to the teacher
- parler aux étudiants — to speak to the students
Examples with Parler À
| French | English |
|---|---|
| Je parle à ma sœur. | I’m talking to my sister. |
| Elle parle à son médecin. | She’s talking to her doctor. |
| Nous parlons à nos amis. | We’re talking to our friends. |
| Tu parles à tes parents ? | Are you talking to your parents? |
| Ils parlent au professeur. | They’re talking to the teacher. |
Replacing the Person with LUI or LEUR
When parler à is followed by a person, you can replace that person with an indirect object pronoun.
- lui replaces à + one person (him or her).
- leur replaces à + more than one person (them).
The pronoun goes directly before the conjugated verb.
| With a Person | With a Pronoun |
|---|---|
| Je parle à Marie. | Je lui parle. |
| Elle parle à son père. | Elle lui parle. |
| Nous parlons à nos amis. | Nous leur parlons. |
| Tu parles à tes parents. | Tu leur parles. |
Notice that lui can mean either to him or to her. The context tells you which person is being discussed.
For a more complete explanation, read my lesson on French indirect object pronouns.
2. Parler DE + a Person, Thing, or Place
Use parler de when you are talking or speaking about someone or something.
The preposition de changes to match the article that follows it:
- parler de Marie — to talk about Marie
- parler du film — to talk about the movie
- parler de la réunion — to talk about the meeting
- parler des vacances — to talk about the vacation
- parler de l’école — to talk about the school
Examples with Parler DE
| French | English |
|---|---|
| Je parle de mon travail. | I’m talking about my work. |
| Elle parle de son voyage. | She’s talking about her trip. |
| Nous parlons de nos projets. | We’re talking about our plans. |
| Tu parles de ce film ? | Are you talking about this movie? |
| Ils parlent de leurs vacances. | They’re talking about their vacation. |
You can also use parler de when talking about a person:
- Je parle de Marie. — I’m talking about Marie.
- Il parle de son frère. — He’s talking about his brother.
- Nous parlons de nos voisins. — We’re talking about our neighbors.
3. Replacing DE with EN or a Stressed Pronoun
When parler de is followed by a thing or place, you can usually replace that noun with the pronoun EN.
EN means about it or about them in this construction.
EN replaces DE + a Thing
| With a Thing | With EN |
|---|---|
| Je parle de mon travail. | J’en parle. |
| Elle parle de son voyage. | Elle en parle. |
| Nous parlons de nos projets. | Nous en parlons. |
| Tu parles de ce film ? | Tu en parles ? |
| Ils parlent de leurs vacances. | Ils en parlent. |
The pronoun EN goes directly before the conjugated verb.
Important: When parler de is followed by a person, use a stressed pronoun rather than EN.
Use a Stressed Pronoun for a Person
| With a Person | With a Stressed Pronoun |
|---|---|
| Je parle de Marie. | Je parle d’elle. |
| Il parle de Paul. | Il parle de lui. |
| Nous parlons de nos amis. | Nous parlons d’eux. |
| Elle parle de ses sœurs. | Elle parle d’elles. |
Compare:
- Je parle de mon frère. → J’en parle. — I’m talking about my brother. → I’m talking about him / it.
- Je parle de Paul. → Je parle de lui. — I’m talking about Paul. → I’m talking about him.
For more examples and a complete explanation of how to use EN, read my lesson on the French pronoun EN.
4. Parler À vs Parler DE: What’s the Difference?
The easiest way to remember the difference is to ask yourself whether you are talking to someone or about someone or something.
| Expression | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| parler à quelqu’un | to talk to someone | Je parle à Marie. |
| parler de quelqu’un | to talk about someone | Je parle de Marie. |
| parler de quelque chose | to talk about something | Je parle de mon travail. |
| parler à quelqu’un → lui / leur | to talk to him, her, or them | Je lui parle. |
| parler de quelque chose → en | to talk about it or them | J’en parle. |
| parler de quelqu’un → de + stressed pronoun | to talk about him, her, or them | Je parle d’elle. |
Remember:
- À = to someone: parler à Marie → Je lui parle.
- DE = about someone or something: parler de Marie → Je parle d’elle.
- DE + a thing = EN: parler de ce film → J’en parle.
5. Parler a Language: No Preposition
When parler means to speak a language, you do not use à or de before the name of the language.
- Je parle français. — I speak French.
- Elle parle anglais. — She speaks English.
- Nous parlons espagnol. — We speak Spanish.
- Ils parlent trois langues. — They speak three languages.
Do not say parler à français or parler de français when you mean that someone speaks French.
If you’d like to learn more about the difference between the French verbs DIRE and PARLER, read my lesson on French verbs dire and parler.
Parler à and parler de are just two examples of how French prepositions can change the meaning of an expression. For more examples, see my lesson on French prepositions À and DE.
