Verbs with the prepositions DI and A

Certain verbs in Italian can sometimes be found in conjunction with the prepositions di or a. For example,

• iniziare a fare qualcosa or finire di fare qualcosa (in English, to start doing something or to finish doing something) 

Because these Italian prepositions do not appear in the English versions of the verbs, this can cause confusion. 

To clarify, let me say that prepositions are not used by all Italian verbs. Most verbs won’t be followed by a preposition. However, some very common verbs are followed by “a” or “di” and an infinitive verb. 

For example, the verbs,  finire di, continuare a,  iniziare a, sperare di, and others. 

Unfortunately, there’s no way to know whether a verb will use the prepositions di or a. The only way to remember it is to memorize which verbs use “a” and which verbs use “di.”

I hope you find the following list useful.

Verbs followed by A + infinitive

When using these verbs, follow the pattern verb + prep + infinitive, if the subject of both verbs is the same.

• cominciare a – to start doing something
• iniziare a – to start doing something
• continuare a – to keep doing something
• provare a – to try to do something 
• incoraggiare a – to encourage to do something
• aiutare a – to help to do something 
• riuscire a – to manage to do something 
• abituarsi a  – to get used to doing something 
• convincere a – to persuade to do something
• imparare a – to learn to do something 
• sbrigarsi a – to hurry up to do something 
• mettersi a – to start doing something 
• andare a – to go doing something

To get a better understanding of how these verbs work, let’s put them in sentences:

Examples sentences 

• Ho imparato a suonare il piano a 12 (I learned to play the piano at 12)
• Luca ha iniziato a giocare a tennis l’anno scorso (Luca started playing tennis last year)
• Mia sorella mi ha incoraggiato a studiare italiano (My sister encouraged me to study Italian)
• Non ho mai provato a cucinare questo dolce (I have never tried to cook that dessert)
• Finalmente mi sono abituata a guidare negli Stati Uniti (I finally got used to driving in the United States)

Verbs followed by DI + infinitive

When using these verbs, follow the pattern verb + prep + infinitive, if the subject of both verbs is the same.

• finire di – to finish doing something 
• terminare di – to finish doing something 
• smettere  di – to stop doing something 
• cercare di – to try to do something 
• pensare di – to think about doing something 
• immaginare di – to imagine to do something 
• ricordare / ricordarsi di – to remember to do something 
• dimenticare / dimenticarsi di – to forget to do something 
• proporre  di – to propose to do something 
• consigliare di – to recommend to do something 
• sperare  di – to hope to do something 
• chiedere di – to ask to do something 
• domandare di – to ask to do something 
• scegliere di – to choose to do something 
• decidere  di – to decide to do something 

To get a better understanding of how these verbs work, let’s put them in sentences:

Examples sentences 

• Ieri ho finito di lavorare a mezzanotte (I finished work at midnight yesterday)
• Ho deciso di iscrivermi a un corso di karate (I decided to sign up for a karate course)
• Marco ha deciso di cambiare lavoro (Marco has decided to change his job)
• Spero di superare l’esame (I hope to pass the exam)
• Ho chiesto a Lucia di comprare del vino (I asked Lucia to buy some wine)

It’s worth noting that…

we only need to use propositions when our verb is followed by another verb. There are no propositions required for some of the verbs on the list because they can be followed by a direct object (a noun).

Let’s see the use of iniziare and finire with or without prepositions.

When “iniziare” is followed by a noun, it doesn’t need any preposition. 

• ho iniziato un nuovo libro (I began a new book)

 When “iniziare” is followed by a verb, it does need the preposition “a”

• ho iniziato a leggere un nuovo libro (I began reading a new book)

When “finire” is followed by a noun, it doesn’t need any preposition. 

• ho finito il corso di italiano ( I finished the Italian course)

When “iniziare” is followed by another verb, it does need the preposition “di”

• ho finito di lavorare alle 2   (I finished working at 2)

All these verbs are followed by the prepositions di or a, only if the subject of both verbs is the same.

• Spero di superare l’esame (I hope to pass the exam)

If the two verbs have different subjects, the sentence will follow the pattern: verb + che +  conjugated verb

• Spero che Lucia passi l’esame (I hope Lucia passes the exam)