Verbs with a

Spanish verbs requiring a preposition

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

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