Spanish has a small but stubborn inventory of verbs that demand the preposition en before their complement — whether that complement is a noun, an infinitive, or a clause. Pienso en ti. Insisto en que vengas. Consiste en mezclar todo. Me fijé en el detalle. There is no escape: each of these verbs lexically selects en, and substituting a, de, or con will mark you out as a learner immediately.
Most of these verbs cluster around four loose ideas — focus and attention, insistence and effort, trust and confidence, conversion and change of state — plus the peninsular workhorse entrar en (movement into a place). This page is the noun-and-clause companion to the infinitive-focused page Verbos seguidos de 'en' + infinitivo: the same verbs come up, but here we look at how they behave with object nouns and with en que + clause.
Focus and attention
These verbs describe directing your mind, eye, or expertise onto something.
Pensar en — think about
Pienso mucho en mi abuela desde que falleció.
I think a lot about my grandmother since she passed away.
¿En qué estás pensando? Llevas un rato callado.
What are you thinking about? You've been quiet for a while.
Pensé en ti todo el viaje.
I thought about you the whole trip.
Pensar en means think about / have someone or something on your mind. It's by far the most common verb in this group. English uses think about or think of, but Spanish always wants en — never ❌pensar de in this meaning, and never ❌pensar sobre (though pensar sobre exists for a more formal "ponder over").
A separate, equally common construction is pensar de — but it means something completely different: "to have an opinion about." We'll come back to it.
Fijarse en — notice / pay attention to
Fíjate en cómo lo hace, luego inténtalo tú.
Watch how he does it, then you try.
No me fijé en la hora y se me hizo tardísimo.
I didn't notice the time and got really late.
Fijarse en is one of the most useful B1 verbs in Spanish. It means to focus your attention on / to notice. The reflexive se is obligatory; ❌fijar en without it doesn't work in this meaning.
Reparar en — notice (more literary)
No reparé en su ausencia hasta el día siguiente.
I didn't notice his absence until the next day.
Slightly more formal sibling of fijarse en. You'll meet reparar en in novels and journalism more than in conversation.
Basarse en — be based on
La película se basa en hechos reales ocurridos en los años setenta.
The film is based on real events that took place in the seventies.
Tu argumento se basa en un dato falso, replantéalo.
Your argument is based on a false data point — rework it.
English based on maps cleanly onto Spanish basarse en. Again, watch the reflexive: it's se basa en, not ❌basa en.
Concentrarse en / especializarse en
Necesito concentrarme en el examen, déjame tranquilo media hora.
I need to focus on the exam — give me half an hour of quiet.
Mi hermana se especializa en derecho laboral.
My sister specialises in employment law.
Both follow the same pattern: a reflexive verb of mental or professional focus, plus en + the area of focus.
Pensar en vs pensar de vs pensar + infinitive
This is the classic pensar trap, and it's worth a section of its own because all three forms exist and mean different things.
| Construction | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
pensar en
| think about / have in mind | Pienso en ti. (I'm thinking of you.) |
pensar de
| have an opinion of/about | ¿Qué piensas de Juan? (What do you think of Juan?) |
pensar
| plan to / intend to | Pienso ir mañana. (I plan to go tomorrow.) |
pensar que
| think that (opinion / belief) | Pienso que tienes razón. (I think you're right.) |
¿Qué piensas de la nueva ley? — Pienso que es un desastre.
What do you think of the new law? — I think it's a disaster.
Pienso en cambiar de trabajo, pero todavía no he decidido nada.
I'm thinking about changing jobs, but I haven't decided anything yet.
The English verb think runs all four meanings together with subtle preposition shifts (about, of, that); Spanish disambiguates them through the choice of preposition or its absence. Getting this distinction right is one of the markers of a B1 → B2 transition.
Insistence and effort
Insistir en — insist on
Insiste en que la invitemos a la boda, aunque casi no la conocemos.
She insists we invite her to the wedding, even though we barely know her.
¿Por qué insistes tanto en este tema?
Why are you insisting so much on this topic?
Insistir en takes a noun, en + infinitive (same subject), or en que + subjunctive (different subjects). The preposition en is constant across all three patterns; dropping it (❌insiste que vengas) is a classic error and sounds wrong to any native ear.
Empeñarse en / obstinarse en
Se empeña en arreglarlo él solo y luego pide ayuda.
He insists on fixing it by himself and then asks for help.
¿Por qué te obstinas en negarlo? Ya lo sabemos todos.
Why are you so stubborn about denying it? We all know already.
Both verbs convey stubborn determination. Empeñarse is everyday; obstinarse is stronger and slightly negative — closer to "be pig-headed."
Esforzarse en / por
Esforzarse is one of the rare Spanish verbs that admits two prepositions interchangeably: en or por. Both are correct. Esforzarse por is slightly preferred in formal writing; esforzarse en is just as common in everyday speech in Spain.
Me esfuerzo en hablar despacio para que me entiendan.
I make an effort to speak slowly so they understand me.
Tardar en — take time to / be slow to
Tardamos dos horas en llegar por culpa del tráfico.
It took us two hours to get there because of the traffic.
No tardes en contestarme, que es urgente.
Don't take too long to reply — it's urgent.
El tren ha tardado en salir más de media hora.
The train was over half an hour late leaving.
Tardar en + infinitive packages how long it took someone to do something — and the en is obligatory. English just says "take X time to do Y," with no preposition; Spanish wedges en between the verb and the infinitive. ❌Tardamos dos horas para llegar and ❌tardamos dos horas a llegar are both wrong; only tardar en works. The negative imperative no tardes en + infinitive ("don't be slow to") is everyday peninsular conversation.
Vacilar en / dudar en — hesitate to
No dudes en avisarme si necesitas cualquier cosa.
Don't hesitate to let me know if you need anything.
No dudes en + infinitive is the standard polite formula in customer-service language in Spain: no dude en ponerse en contacto con nosotros and similar.
Trust and confidence
Confiar en — trust / count on
Confío en ti, sé que harás lo correcto.
I trust you — I know you'll do the right thing.
No confío mucho en las predicciones del tiempo.
I don't trust weather forecasts much.
Confiar en + person/thing = "trust." Confiar en que + subjunctive = "trust that / hope that": confío en que todo salga bien.
Creer en — believe in
Mi padre no cree en los milagros, pero mi madre sí.
My father doesn't believe in miracles, but my mother does.
Creo en ti, vas a sacar el examen.
I believe in you — you're going to pass the exam.
Distinguish from creer que + clause = "think / believe that": creo que tienes razón (I think you're right). Creer en is for belief in something existing or in someone's ability.
Tener fe en — have faith in
Tenemos fe en que el médico encontrará una solución.
We have faith that the doctor will find a solution.
Conversion and change of state
Convertirse en / transformarse en — turn into
El sapo se convirtió en príncipe al recibir el beso.
The toad turned into a prince when he received the kiss.
La crisis económica se ha transformado en una crisis social.
The economic crisis has turned into a social crisis.
This is one of the cleanest one-to-one mappings between Spanish and English: turn into = convertirse en / transformarse en. Both are reflexive in this usage; the bare convertir + noun (no se) means "to convert" something else (a measurement, a religion).
A near-synonym is convertir A en B (without se), meaning "turn A into B" — note the a is the a personal before the direct object, not the directional a. Compare: La convirtió en una estrella (He turned her into a star).
Movement: entrar en (peninsular)
In Spain, entrar takes en, not a — the major peninsular preference for en-verbs.
Entré en el despacho y vi que estaba vacío.
I went into the office and saw it was empty.
No entres en mi habitación sin llamar.
Don't come into my room without knocking.
Latin American entrar a is grammatical but immediately marked as non-peninsular. See the en para ubicación page for the full discussion.
Agreement and arrangement
Quedar en — agree to / arrange to
Quedamos en vernos en la plaza a las seis.
We arranged to meet in the square at six.
¿En qué quedamos al final con lo de las vacaciones?
What did we end up deciding about the holiday plans?
Quedar en is everywhere in spoken peninsular Spanish. It's the workhorse for making plans and confirming arrangements.
Composition
Consistir en — consist of / be made up of
Mi trabajo consiste en revisar todos los contratos antes de la firma.
My job consists of reviewing all contracts before they're signed.
La dificultad consiste en encontrar el equilibrio entre coste y calidad.
The difficulty lies in finding the balance between cost and quality.
Classic false-friend trap: English consist of does not become ❌consistir de. Spanish wants en, no exceptions.
The full inventory
| Verb + en | Meaning | Cluster |
|---|---|---|
| pensar en | think about | focus |
| fijarse en | notice / focus on | focus |
| reparar en | notice (formal) | focus |
| basarse en | be based on | focus |
| concentrarse en | concentrate on | focus |
| especializarse en | specialise in | focus |
| insistir en | insist on | insistence |
| empeñarse en | be determined to | insistence |
| obstinarse en | be obstinate about | insistence |
| esforzarse en/por | strive to | insistence |
| tardar en | take time to | duration |
| dudar en / vacilar en | hesitate to | duration |
| confiar en | trust / count on | trust |
| creer en | believe in | trust |
| convertirse en | turn into | conversion |
| transformarse en | transform into | conversion |
| entrar en (peninsular) | enter / go into | movement |
| quedar en | agree to / arrange to | agreement |
| convenir en (formal) | agree to | agreement |
| consistir en | consist of | composition |
These twenty or so verbs cover almost all the everyday en-territory. Memorise them as fixed verb-preposition pairs — treating pensar-en, fijarse-en, consistir-en as single lexical items — and most of your en-errors will disappear.
Common Mistakes
❌ ¿Qué piensas en el nuevo jefe?
Wrong — for opinions, use pensar DE, not pensar EN.
✅ ¿Qué piensas del nuevo jefe?
What do you think of the new boss?
❌ El trabajo consiste de revisar contratos.
Wrong — Spanish consistir takes EN, not de. (Classic 'consist of' false friend.)
✅ El trabajo consiste en revisar contratos.
The job consists of reviewing contracts.
❌ Estoy pensando de mudarme a Bilbao.
Wrong — pensar takes EN when it means 'thinking about doing'.
✅ Estoy pensando en mudarme a Bilbao.
I'm thinking about moving to Bilbao.
❌ Entré al despacho sin llamar.
Latin American — in peninsular Spanish, entrar takes EN.
✅ Entré en el despacho sin llamar.
I walked into the office without knocking.
❌ Insiste que vengas mañana.
Wrong — the EN cannot be dropped before que.
✅ Insiste en que vengas mañana.
He insists you come tomorrow.
Key takeaways
- A closed list of Spanish verbs requires en before their complement; the most common cluster around focus (pensar en, fijarse en), insistence (insistir en, empeñarse en), trust (confiar en, creer en), conversion (convertirse en), and composition (consistir en).
- Watch the pensar en / pensar de / pensar
- infinitive split: focus / opinion / plan, respectively.
- The English-Spanish preposition mapping mismatches constantly: consist of → consistir en, insist on → insistir en (match), think about → pensar en.
- In peninsular Spanish, entrar en is the only natural option — never entrar a.
- The en never drops before que: insistir en que
- subjunctive, confiar en que
- subjunctive.
- subjunctive, confiar en que
- Memorise verb + en as a single lexical unit. Translating from English is the fastest path to error.
Now practice Spanish
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Spanish→Related Topics
- Preposiciones: panorama generalA1 — An overview of the Spanish preposition inventory, their core meanings, and the fundamental rule that prepositions never map one-to-one to English.
- En para ubicación: 'en casa'A1 — Spanish uses 'en' for all three English location prepositions — in, on, at — collapsing them into a single word and using it for static location, transport, and (in peninsular Spanish) movement into a place with 'entrar en'.
- Verbos con preposición 'a'B1 — A broad set of Spanish verbs lexically selects 'a' before a complement — ir a, llegar a, jugar a (peninsular), aprender a, invitar a, empezar a — clustered around motion, inception, learning, influence, and games.
- Verbos con preposición 'de'B1 — A large family of Spanish verbs lexically selects 'de' — acordarse de, olvidarse de, alegrarse de, dejar de + infinitive, tratar de, enamorarse de — clustered around memory, emotion, cessation, source, and topic.
- Verbos seguidos de 'en' + infinitivoB2 — A small but high-frequency set of verbs takes 'en' before an infinitive — insistir en, pensar en, tardar en, consistir en — clustered around focus, duration, and absorbing one's attention into an action.
- Errores: traducciones literalesB1 — The constituent words map but the construction doesn't. 'I'm good' (no, thanks) is NOT 'estoy bueno'. 'My name is Juan' is more naturally 'me llamo Juan'. The high-frequency calque traps for English speakers in everyday peninsular Spanish.