Infinitive after Prepositions | Spanish (Latin America) Grammar

In English, a preposition is usually followed by an -ing form: before leaving, after eating, without saying anything. Spanish works differently: after any preposition, the verb must be in the infinitive. This is one of the most consistent rules in the language, and one of the easiest ways to spot a beginner's mistake.

The basic rule

Whenever a preposition is directly followed by a verb, that verb stays in its base -ar / -er / -ir form. It does not matter which preposition it is — antes de, después de, para, sin, hasta, por — the pattern is the same.

Antes de salir, apaga la luz.

Before leaving, turn off the light.

Después de comer, siempre tomo un café.

After eating, I always have a coffee.

Common prepositions with the infinitive

The table below lists the prepositions you will see most often in front of an infinitive, along with their usual English translations. Notice how many of them take -ing in English.

Spanish	English	Example
antes de	before	antes de dormir
después de	after	después de comer
para	(in order) to, for	para estudiar
sin	without	sin decir nada
por	for, because of	por llegar tarde
hasta	until	hasta terminar
en vez de	instead of	en vez de correr
además de	in addition to	además de trabajar

Para + infinitive: purpose

Para followed by an infinitive expresses purpose — the reason for doing something. It translates as "(in order) to" or simply "to."

Estudio mucho para aprobar el examen.

I study a lot (in order) to pass the exam.

Vine para ayudarte.

I came to help you.

Sin + infinitive: without doing

Sin ("without") plus an infinitive is where English speakers most often slip up, because in English we say without doing, not without to do. In Spanish, the infinitive is the only option.

Se fue sin decir nada.

He left without saying anything.

💡

Any time you catch yourself reaching for a Spanish -ando or -iendo form after a preposition, stop and use the infinitive instead. Sin hablar, never sin hablando.

Antes de and después de

These two expressions show up constantly in everyday speech. They are both built with de, which counts as the preposition — so the verb that follows is, once again, the infinitive.

Lávate las manos antes de comer.

Wash your hands before eating.

Same subject, please

One important limit: antes de + infinitive, después de + infinitive, and the rest only work when the subject of both verbs is the same. If the subjects differ, you need a full clause with que and (often) a subjunctive form.

Same subject: Me voy a duchar antes de salir. ("I'm going to shower before leaving.")
Different subjects: Me voy a duchar antes de que llegues. ("I'm going to shower before you arrive.")

💡

If you can say "before/after + -ing" in English because the same person does both actions, Spanish lets you keep it simple with antes de / después de + infinitive. When the people are different, you will need que and usually the subjunctive.

Putting it together

Because this rule applies to every preposition, once you internalize it, a huge portion of Spanish prepositional phrases becomes predictable. Whenever you see de, a, en, con, por, para, sin, hasta, or the compound prepositions like antes de and en vez de, the verb that follows will almost always be an infinitive.

En vez de quejarte, ayúdame.

Instead of complaining, help me.

For the related case of al + infinitive, which means "upon doing," see its own page.