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In Italian, when a noun is followed by an action (like "the fear of failing" or "the reluctance to change"), the verb takes its present infinitive form. To link the noun and the infinitive, you need a preposition—most commonly **di** or **a**.

Because there is no single rule, it is best to memorize the noun and its accompanying preposition together.

### Nouns Taking "di"

Nouns that express mental states, emotions, inability, or habits typically require **di**. Notice how English often translates these using "of + -ing".

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### Nouns Taking "a"

Nouns that express resistance, readiness, or a tendency toward an action usually require **a**. These often map directly to the English "to + verb".

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### Combining Patterns

Once you know the correct prepositions, you can easily contrast these ideas to talk about complex psychological blocks and behaviors.

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Nouns followed by prepositions (paura di, difficoltà a)

adjective

adjective/adverb

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

preposition

pronoun

proper noun

sentence

verb

Subject pronouns and the verb to be (io sono)

Singular definite articles (il, la)

Singular demonstratives (questo, questa)

Basic verbal negation (non)

Yes/No questions

Coordinating conjunctions (e, ma, o)

Regular plurals and definite articles (-i, -e, i, le)

Plural verb to be (noi siamo, voi siete)

Plural demonstratives (questi, queste)

Nouns ending in -e

Special singular articles (lo, l')

The plural article (gli)

Special indefinite articles (uno, un')

Demonstrative adjectives (quello, quella)

Adjective endings (-o, -a, -i, -e)

Expressing quantity (molto, poco, tanto)

The verb to have (ho, hai, ha...)

There is / there are (c'è, ci sono)

The preposition of (di)

Singular possessives (il mio, la mia)

Numbers 1 to 10 (uno, due, tre...)

Numbers 11 to 20 (undici, dodici...)

Numbers 21 to 100 (trenta, quaranta...)

Idiomatic avere (avere fame, avere anni)

Plural possessive adjectives (i miei, le mie)

Possessives with family members (mio padre)

Formal address (dare del Lei)

Present tense of -are verbs (-o, -i, -a)

Question words (chi, cosa, dove)

Present tense of -ere verbs (-o, -i, -e)

Question words (quando, come, perché)

Question word agreement (quanto, quanta, quanti, quante)

Regular -ire verbs

Verbs with -isc- (capisco, capisci, capisce)

Pronouns after prepositions (me, te, lui)

The verb fare (faccio, fai, fa)

The verb andare (vado, vai, va)

The verb stare (sto, stai, sta)

The verb venire (vengo, vieni, viene)

The verb uscire (esco, esci, esce)

Location and destination (a, in)

Origin and movement (da)

Articulated prepositions with a (al, alla)

Articulated prepositions with in (nel, nella)

Articulated prepositions with di and da (del, dal)

Simple prepositions (con, per, su, tra)

Articulated prepositions with su (sul, sulla)

Months of the year

Telling time (sono le...)

Dates (il + number)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (primo, secondo, terzo...)

The verb to want (volere)

The verb can (potere)

The verb must (dovere)

The verb to know (sapere)

Reflexive verbs (mi lavo, ti lavi)

Indirect object pronouns (gli, le, ci...)

Expressing preferences (mi piace)

Plural preferences (mi piacciono)

Comparatives (più... di, meno... di)

The passato prossimo with avere (ho parlato)

Irregular past participles (fatto, letto, preso)

The passato prossimo with essere (sono andato)

Reflexive verbs in the past (mi sono svegliato)

Time adverbs with the past tense (già, mai, ancora)

Third-person direct object pronouns (lo, la, li, le)

First and second-person direct object pronouns (mi, ti, ci, vi)

The four seasons

Prepositions of place (vicino a, davanti a)

Conversational words (beh, allora, davvero)

Indefinite adjectives for some (qualche, alcuni)

Indefinite adjectives for every and all (ogni, tutti)

Indefinite pronouns (qualcosa, qualcuno)

Noun suffixes (-ino, -one)

Adverbs of manner (-mente)

Comparisons of equality (così... come)

The relative superlative (il più)

The absolute superlative (-issimo)

Irregular comparatives (migliore, peggiore)

Present progressive (stare + -ando, -endo)

Imminent actions (stare per)

The locative pronoun (ci)

The partitive pronoun (ne)

Pronoun placement with modal verbs

Impersonal subjects (si)

Prepositions of time (da, per, tra, fra)

Past participle agreement with pronouns

Question	Answer
block/barrier	il blocco
psychological	psicologico
inability	l'incapacità
The psychological block stems from the inability to accept failure.	Il blocco psicologico nasce dall'incapacità di accettare il fallimento.
reluctance	la riluttanza
to sabotage	sabotare
Since she has a strong reluctance to change, Maria sabotages her success.	Siccome ha una forte riluttanza a cambiare, Maria sabota il suo successo.
fear/apprehension	il timore
unconscious	inconscio
The unconscious apprehension of suffering makes him avoid love.	Il timore inconscio di soffrire gli fa evitare l'amore.
craving/urge	la smania
The craving to win will make you lose the match.	La smania di vincere ti farà perdere la partita.
inclination	l'inclinazione
The inclination to judge others is a terrible habit.	L'inclinazione a giudicare gli altri è un pessimo vizio.
determination	la determinazione
If he had had the determination to continue, he would not have failed.	Se avesse avuto la determinazione a continuare, non avrebbe fallito.
If you had treated the psychological block, the inability to decide would have disappeared.	Se avessi curato il blocco psicologico, l'incapacità di decidere sarebbe sparita.
We often hide the habit of sabotaging projects.	Spesso nascondiamo l'abitudine di sabotare i progetti.
The apprehension of making a mistake is often worse than the craving to control everything.	Il timore di sbagliare è spesso peggiore della smania di controllare tutto.
His reluctance to travel depends on his inclination to stay isolated.	La sua riluttanza a viaggiare dipende dalla sua inclinazione a restare isolato.
You must find the determination to overcome this psychological obstacle.	Devi trovare la determinazione a superare questo ostacolo psicologico.
They have an unconscious fear of suffering.	Loro hanno un timore inconscio di soffrire.
to have difficulty	avere difficoltà
I have difficulty understanding his accent.	Ho difficoltà a capire il suo accento.
The children have difficulty with this exercise.	I bambini hanno difficoltà con questo esercizio.
the relationship; the report	la relazione
He has a good relationship with his colleagues.	Ha una buona relazione con i suoi colleghi.
The director read the report yesterday.	Il direttore ha letto la relazione ieri.

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