Usage Note
Encourager takes a person as direct object and uses à + infinitive for the action being encouraged: encourager quelqu'un à continuer (to encourage someone to keep going). The related noun encouragement (encouragement) and the adjective encourageant (encouraging) are both common. Spelling note: the -ge- spelling preserves the soft-g sound before -a-.
Examples
"Elle encourage ses élèves à lire."
Natural Translation
She encourages her students to read.
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