Verbs with a

Spanish verbs requiring a preposition

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A number of Spanish verbs require the preposition a in front of a noun or infinitive.

Verbs + a + noun

acercarse a		to approach
acostumbrarse a		to get used to
aficionarse a		to become fond of
asemejarse a		to resemble, look like
asistir a		to attend
asomarse a		to appear at
cuidar a		to take care of
dar a		to face, overlook
dedicarse a		to devote oneself to
dirigirse a		to go toward, address
echar la culpa a		to blame
entrar a		to enter
equivaler a		to equal, be equivalent to
estar sentado a		to be seated at
ir a		to go to
jugar a		to play (a game, sport)
llamar a		to call, telephone
llegar a		to arrive at/in
oler a		to smell like
paracerse a		to look like
querer a		to love
resistirse a		to resist
responder a		to answer
saber a		to taste like
ser aficionado a		to be a fan of
sonar a		to sound like
subir a		to board, get on/into
tocar a		to knock on
tocarle a ___		to be ___’s turn

Note: Some of these are the personal a, included here because they are common verbs and English speakers don’t always remember that it’s required in front of people.

Verbs + a + infinitive

Note that this construction may be equivalent to an English infinitive (e.g., to do) or a gerund (doing).

acertar a		to manage to
acostumbrarse a		to be/get used to
alcanzar a		to manage to
animar a		to encourage to
aprender a		to learn to
atreverse a		to dare to
ayudar a		to help
bajar a		to go down to
comenzar a		to begin to
comprometerse a		to undertake to
conducir a		to lead to
contribuir a		to contribute to
convidar a		to invite to
decidirse a		to decide to
dedicarse a		to devote oneself to
desafiar a		to challenge to
disponerse a		to get ready to
echar(se) a		to begin to
empezar a		to begin to
enseñar a		to teach to, show how to
forzar a		to force to
impulsar a		to urge to
incitar a		to incite to
inclinar a		to incline to
invitar a		to invite to
ir a		to be going to
limitarse a		to limit oneself to
llegar a		to manage to, succeed in, end up
llegar a ser		to become
llevar a		to lead to
mandar a		to send to
meterse a		to start to
negarse a		to refuse to
obligar a		to force, compel to
pasar a		to go on to
persuadir a		to persuade to
ponerse a		to begin to, set about
prepararse a		to get ready to
renunciar a		to renounce
resignarse a		to resign oneself to
resistirse a		to resist
tender a		to tend to
volver a		to ___ again

 Related lessons

• Personal a
• Prepositions
• Indirect object pronouns
• Nouns
• Introduction to verbs
• Infinitives
• Verbs with other prepositions
   

 En français

• Verbes suivis de prépositions
   

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