Preposition Use with Verbs

Verbs and prepositions are used together in both English and Spanish, but not always in the same way.

Verbs with prepositions

There are certain Spanish verbs that require a specific preposition to be used after them. These prepositions must follow the verb form to join them to an infinitive, but they are usually not translated into English.

The following verbs are followed by a preposition and then another verb in its infinitive form (to help you remember which are stem changes, the stem change is indicated in parentheses). Note with the exceptions, however, that most of the time these verbs are followed by nouns; therefore, either another preposition is used or no preposition at all.

acabar de + infinitive

to have just ___ed BUT: acabo la tarea

acertar (e>ie) a + infinitive

to happen to, to succeed in …

aprender a + infinitive

to learn to …BUT: aprendo español

ayudar a + infinitive

to help to …

comenzar (e>ie) a + infinitive

to begin to …BUT: comienzo la tarea

consentir (e>ie) en + infinitive

to consent to …

decidirse a + infinitive

to decide to …BUT: decido la hora

dejar de + infinitive

to stop ___ing BUT: dejo mi país

empezar (e>ie) a + infinitive

to begin to …BUT: empiezo la tarea

enseñar a + infinitive

to teach to …BUT: enseño español

forzar (o>ue) a + infinitive

to force to …

inspirar a + infinitive

to inspire to …BUT: inspiro miedo

molestarse en + infinitive

to take the trouble to …BUT: molesto a mis amigos

negarse (e>ie) a + infinitive

to refuse to …BUT: niego el delito

parar de + infinitive

to stop ___ing BUT: paro el carro

probar (o>ue) a + infinitive

to try to …BUT: pruebo de todo

tratar de + infinitive

to try to …BUT: trato enfermos

To use one of the verbs from the previous list in a Spanish sentence, the first verb is conjugated, and the verb after the preposition is in the infinitive form regardless of how the English equivalent is stated. In English, the second verb will often be in its infinitive form, just like Spanish. However, sometimes in English, the second verb is in its gerund form: “–ing.”

The following verbs are followed by a preposition and then a noun or pronoun:

asistir a

to attend (a function)

avergonzarse (o>ue) de

to be ashamed of

casarse con

to marry

contar (o>ue) con

to count on

convertirse (e>ie) en

to become, change into

cuidar a

to care for, take care of (someone)

cuidar de

to take care of (something)

encontrarse (o>ue) con

to meet up with, run into

enfadarse con

to get angry at

enojarse con

to get angry at

equivocarse con

to be mistaken about

equivocarse en

to make a mistake about

gozar de

to enjoy

marcharse de

to leave / go away

montar en

to ride

morir (o>ue) de

to die of (literally)

morirse (o>ue) de

to die of (not literally)

parar(se) en

to stop at, to stay in

pensar (e>ie) de

to have an opinion of

pensar (e>ie) en

to think of

preocuparse con

to worry about

probar (o>ue) de

to sample, to try out

salir con

to go out with, to date

salir de

to go away from (somewhere), to leave from

servir de

to be useful as

sonar (o>ue) a

to sound like (something)

subir a

to climb, go up or get on (something)

trabajar en

to work on, to work at

Following are some sample sentences using the expressions from the previous list:

  • El vino se convirtió en vinagre.
    The wine turned into vinegar.
  • La bebe goza de su botella de leche.
    The baby enjoys her bottle of milk.
  • Raquel se marchó de la clase.
    Raquel left the class.

Verbs with prepositions in English but not Spanish

There are expressions in English that require a verb followed by a preposition. You may think you need to provide a Spanish equivalent when you translate these expressions, but no preposition is required. For the following expressions, there is a Spanish verb that is not followed by any preposition.

agradecer

to be grateful for

apagar

to turn off

bajar

to go down

buscar

to look for

caerse

to fall down

calentar (e>ie)

to heat up

colgar (o>ue)

to hang up

conocer

to be acquainted with

cortar

to cut off, out

entregar

to hand over

envolver (o>ue)

to wrap up

escuchar

to listen to

esperar

to wait for, to hope for

mirar

to look at

pagar

to pay for

quitar

to take off

saber

to know how to

sacar

to take out

salir

to go out

Verbs after prepositions

Whenever a preposition is immediately followed by a verb, that verb will be in its infinitive form. This is not always true in English, so there will be times when it will not “sound right” to use an infinitive, but there are no exceptions to this Spanish rule: A verb must be in its infinitive form if it immediately follows a preposition.

  • El joven aprende a cocinar.
    The young man learns to cook.
  • Yo estoy cansada de escribir.
    I am tired of writing.
  • Es imposible tener éxito sin trabajar.
    It's impossible to have success without working.

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