Use rêver for sleep dreams with no object, with de for the person or thing dreamed about, or with que for a whole dreamed event.
Use rêver for sleep dreams with no object, with de for the person or thing dreamed about, or with que for a whole dreamed event.
| Incorrect | Correct |
| J'ai rêvé à ma sœur cette nuit. | J'ai rêvé de ma sœur cette nuit. |
| Il rêve qu'il volait. | Il rêve qu'il vole. |
| Elle a rêvé d'elle tombait. | Elle a rêvé qu'elle tombait. |
Use rêver with à or absolutely when the mind wanders while awake, especially in a classroom, meeting, walk, or quiet moment.
| Incorrect | Correct |
| À quoi rêves-tu de pendant le cours ? | À quoi rêves-tu pendant le cours ? |
| Il rêve de son projet au lieu d'écouter. | Il rêve à son projet au lieu d'écouter. |
| Arrête de rêver de et réponds. | Arrête de rêver et réponds. |
Use rêver with de plus a noun or infinitive for a cherished ambition, and use a direct object mainly in the literary pattern for an ideal imagined for someone.
| Incorrect | Correct |
| Elle rêve à devenir médecin. | Elle rêve de devenir médecin. |
| Nous rêvons une vie plus calme. | Nous rêvons d'une vie plus calme. |
| Il rêve de à une carrière internationale. | Il rêve d'une carrière internationale. |
Use rêver in phrases like tu rêves or tu as rêvé to reject an unlikely claim, a false memory, or an impossible expectation.
| Incorrect | Correct |
| Tu as dormi, personne n'a dit ça. | Tu as rêvé, personne n'a dit ça. |
| Vous rêvez de penser que je vais payer. | Vous rêvez si vous pensez que je vais payer. |
| Il a imaginé cette histoire dans son sommeil. | Il a rêvé cette histoire. |
Use rêver de for sleep dreams about someone or something and for ambitions, rêver à for vague waking thought, and rêver que for a dreamed event.
Je rêve à ma sœur cette nuit uses the wrong preposition for a sleep dream, while je rêve de devenir keeps de for an ambition.
From Old French resver, first used for wandering, raving, or being lost in confused thought. Its deeper origin is uncertain, but French dictionaries connect it with an unattested esver and with the idea of wandering. By the seventeenth century it had moved toward the modern sense of dreaming in sleep and gradually displaced songer in that use.
What does rêver mean?
rêver means to dream while asleep, to let the mind wander, to long for something, or informally to imagine something unreal.
Is rêver followed by de or à?
Use de for sleep dreams about someone or something and for ambitions, but use à for vague waking thought, as in À quoi rêves-tu ?.
How is rêver que used?
rêver que introduces a whole dreamed event, as in J'ai rêvé que je volais.
Can rêver take a direct object?
It can in patterns such as rêver la même chose or literary la vie qu'elle avait rêvée, but rêver de is the normal choice for many objects of dreams and desires.
What does tu rêves mean?
Tu rêves often means that an idea is impossible or unrealistic, close to English you must be dreaming.
Is rêver the same as songer?
They overlap, but rêver is the ordinary verb for dreaming, while songer is often more literary or reflective.
What are common translations of rêver?
Common translations include to dream, to daydream, to dream of, to long for, and to imagine, depending on context.
Where does rêver come from?
It comes from Old French resver, once tied to wandering or confused thought before the sleep-dream meaning became central.