Common Verb + Preposition Combinations | Spanish (Latin America) Grammar

One of the hardest parts of learning Spanish is remembering which preposition a verb takes. Spanish and English rarely agree: we think about something in English but pensamos en something in Spanish. We dream of someone but Spanish sueña con them. There's no deep logic — each verb has to be learned with its preposition as a fixed pair. This page gathers the most useful combinations, sorted by preposition.

Verbs + a

Several verbs require a before a complement, especially verbs of motion and of beginning.

Verb + a	English	Example
ir a	to go to	Voy al mercado.
venir a	to come to	Vino a verme.
empezar a + infinitive	to start doing	Empezó a llover.
comenzar a + infinitive	to start doing	Comenzamos a cantar.
aprender a + infinitive	to learn to	Aprendo a nadar.
enseñar a + infinitive	to teach to	Le enseñó a manejar.
ayudar a + infinitive	to help (to)	Me ayudó a estudiar.
invitar a	to invite to	Los invité a cenar.
atreverse a	to dare to	No me atrevo a hablar.
acostumbrarse a	to get used to	Me acostumbré al frío.
volver a + infinitive	to do again	Volvió a llamar.

Empecé a estudiar español hace dos años.

I started studying Spanish two years ago.

Mi abuelo me enseñó a tocar la guitarra.

My grandpa taught me to play the guitar.

Note the very useful volver a + infinitive pattern, which means "to do (something) again":

No vuelvas a llegar tarde.

Don't be late again.

Verbs + de

These verbs require de before their object — often where English uses "of," "about," or "from."

Verb + de	English	Example
hablar de	to talk about	Hablamos de ti.
tratar de + infinitive	to try to	Trato de entender.
acordarse de	to remember	No me acuerdo de su nombre.
olvidarse de	to forget	Me olvidé de llamarte.
darse cuenta de	to realize	Se dio cuenta del error.
depender de	to depend on	Depende de ti.
dejar de + infinitive	to stop doing	Dejé de fumar.
terminar de + infinitive	to finish doing	Terminé de comer.
enamorarse de	to fall in love with	Se enamoró de ella.
quejarse de	to complain about	Se quejan del ruido.
reírse de	to laugh at	No te rías de mí.

Traté de llamarte pero no contestabas.

I tried to call you but you weren't answering.

Me di cuenta de que había perdido las llaves.

I realized I had lost the keys.

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Watch out for dejar de + infinitive — it means "to stop doing," not "to leave." Dejé de fumar is "I quit smoking," not "I left smoking."

Verbs + en

We saw this group in detail earlier, but here's the reference.

Verb + en	English	Example
pensar en	to think about	Pienso en ti.
creer en	to believe in	Creo en ti.
confiar en	to trust in	Confío en ella.
insistir en	to insist on	Insisten en pagar.
consistir en	to consist of	Consiste en tres pasos.
tardar en	to take (time) to	Tarda en llegar.
quedar en	to agree on	Quedamos en vernos.
participar en	to participate in	Participé en el concurso.
influir en	to influence	Influye en la decisión.
fijarse en	to notice	Fíjate en los detalles.
convertirse en	to become, turn into	Se convirtió en estrella.

Pienso en ti todo el tiempo.

I think about you all the time.

See the dedicated page on en with verbs for more detail.

Verbs + con

Verb + con	English	Example
contar con	to count on	Cuento contigo.
soñar con	to dream about	Soñé con mi abuela.
casarse con	to marry	Se casó con Ana.
encontrarse con	to meet, run into	Me encontré con Pablo.
enojarse con	to get angry with	No te enojes conmigo.
comparar con	to compare with	No lo compares con él.

Puedes contar conmigo para lo que necesites.

You can count on me for whatever you need.

Anoche soñé con mis amigos de la infancia.

Last night I dreamed about my childhood friends.

Notice that casarse con is "to marry" — not "to marry with." And soñar con is "to dream about," not "to dream with."

Verbs + por

Verb + por	English	Example
preguntar por	to ask about / after	Preguntó por ti.
preocuparse por	to worry about	Se preocupa por su hijo.
interesarse por	to be interested in	Se interesa por la política.
luchar por	to fight for	Luchamos por nuestros derechos.
optar por	to opt for	Optaron por la otra opción.
disculparse por	to apologize for	Me disculpé por el retraso.
felicitar por	to congratulate for	Lo felicité por su premio.

Tu mamá llamó y preguntó por ti.

Your mom called and asked after you.

No te preocupes por mí, estoy bien.

Don't worry about me, I'm fine.

Verbs + para

Para shows up less often in verb-preposition pairs, since it mostly takes an infinitive indicating purpose. Some useful patterns:

Verb + para	English	Example
prepararse para	to prepare for	Me preparo para el examen.
estudiar para	to study to (become)	Estudia para médico.
servir para	to be used for	Sirve para cortar.
trabajar para	to work for (employer)	Trabajo para una ONG.

Mi hermana estudia para arquitecta.

My sister is studying to become an architect.

A few learning tips

Don't try to memorize this entire page in one sitting. Instead:

Learn by exposure. Every time you read a text, notice which preposition each verb takes. Over time, the pairs start to feel automatic.
Flashcard the full phrase. Instead of "pensar" on one side, write "pensar en algo" so you always see the preposition.
Watch for English interference. English will try to trick you into saying *soñar de (for "dream of") or `casarse con ella → "marry with her." Trust the Spanish pattern, not the English one.
Notice near-synonyms with different prepositions. Pensar en (think about) vs pensar de (have an opinion of) vs pensar + inf. (plan to). Small changes in preposition can change the meaning a lot.

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When in doubt, check a dictionary entry for the verb. Most Spanish-English dictionaries mark verbs with their obligatory preposition, e.g. "pensar en algo." Respect those entries — they're not optional.

This page wraps up the prepositions section. For related topics, revisit con: accompaniment, en after verbs, and the full por vs para comparison.