Modern Italian Grammar: A Practical Guide, Third Edition (2013)
Appendix IV. Verbs and prepositions
Complex sentences often make use of verbs linked to infinitives. Most verbs are linked to the verb infinitive by a preposition such as a or di. A few verbs do not need any preposition but are followed directly by the verb infinitive. Here is a list of the most common verbs (in alphabetical order) grouped into categories according to the preposition normally used, along with some examples. If you want to use a verb not contained in this list and are not sure which preposition is needed, you can check in any good Italian dictionary.
Note that the verb + infinitive construction can only be used where the subject of the main verb and the subject of the verb infinitive are the same. Where the subject of the main verb and the subject of the dependent verb are not the same, the verb cannot be followed by an infinitive but must be followed by che and a dependent clause. In Section 4, we give examples of verbs that involve an action carried out by another person.
1 Verbs followed directly by infinitive
This group of verbs includes the auxiliary verbs dovere, potere, volere as well as several others.
amare |
to love to |
desiderare |
to desire to |
dovere |
to have to |
osare |
to dare to |
potere |
to be able to |
preferire |
to prefer to |
sapere |
to know how to |
volere |
to want to |
Examples
Devo andare in banca.
I have to go to the bank.
Sai nuotare bene?
Do you know how to swim well?
Non oso chiamarlo.
I don't dare call him.
Non voleva venire con noi.
She didn't want to come with us.
Also in this group are impersonal verbs and/or verbs used mainly impersonally with the sense of ‘one’:
basta |
to be enough to |
dispiace |
to regret |
bisogna |
to be necessary to |
occorre |
to be necessary to |
conviene |
to be advisable to |
piace |
to please |
Examples
Basta mangiare cose sane per dimagrire.
You only have to eat healthy things to lose weight.
Bisogna portare il vino a casa di Gianluca stasera.
We (‘one’) must take wine to Gianluca's house tonight.
Ti piace andare al cinema?
Do you like going to the cinema?
Ci conviene prendere il bus delle 8.00.
We should get the 8.00 bus.
Impersonal expressions formed by verb (normally essere) and adjective are also followed directly by the infinitive:
è difficile |
it's difficult |
è facile |
it's easy |
è importante |
it's important |
è impossibile |
it's impossible |
è possibile |
it's possible |
è probabile |
it's probable |
Examples
Non è facile trovare un posto di lavoro.
It's not easy to get a job.
Era importante arrivare presto la mattina.
It was important to arrive early in the morning.
2 Verbs followed by a
This group of verbs includes verbs of beginning, continuing or succeeding such as cominciare; verbs of onward action of some kind, such as continuare; and verbs of movement such as andare, venire.
abituarsi |
to get used to |
andare |
to go to (see also section 3 below for another use of andare) |
aver difficoltà |
to have difficulty in |
cominciare |
to begin to |
continuare |
to continue to |
correre |
to run to |
decidersi |
to make one's mind up to |
divertirsi |
to enjoy oneself |
esitare |
to hesitate |
fare bene |
to do well to |
fare male |
to be a bad idea to |
fare meglio |
to do better to |
fare presto |
to be quick to |
fermarsi |
to stop to |
imparare |
to learn |
impegnarsi |
to commit oneself |
iniziare |
to begin to |
mettersi |
to begin to |
passare |
to pass to |
prepararsi |
to get ready to |
provare |
to try to |
rimanere |
to stay |
rinunciare |
to give up |
riprendere |
to begin again |
riuscire |
to succeed in |
sbrigarsi |
to hurry |
stare |
to stay |
tornare |
to return to |
venire |
to come |
Examples
Vado a comprare il giornale.
I'm going to buy the newspaper.
Ho cominciato a fumare a 12 anni.
I began smoking at age 12.
Ci siamo abituati a vederlo sempre in giro.
We got used to seeing him always around.
Sono rimasta a casa a studiare.
I stayed home to study.
3 Verbs followed by di
This group includes verbs that communicate information such as dire; verbs and related verb phrases expressing emotion, such as essere contento, vergognarsi; verbs expressing opinion, belief or hope such as credere, pensare, parere, sembrare, sperare; verbs of remembering, forgetting and realising such as ricordare, dimenticare, accorgersi; and verbs of deciding and choosing such as decidere, scegliere.
accettare |
to accept, agree to |
accorgersi |
to realise, to notice |
affermare |
to assert |
ammettere |
to admit |
andare (mi va) |
to feel like |
annunciare |
to announce |
aspettare |
to wait to |
aspettarsi |
to expect to |
augurarsi |
to wish |
cercare |
to try to |
cessare |
to stop |
comunicare |
to communicate |
confermare |
to confirm |
credere |
to believe |
decidere |
to decide to |
dichiarare |
to declare |
dimenticare |
to forget to |
dire |
to say, tell |
dubitare |
to doubt |
essere + adjective |
to be |
fare a meno di |
to do without |
far finta |
to pretend to |
fingere |
to pretend to |
finire |
to finish |
immaginare |
to imagine |
informare |
to inform |
lamentarsi |
to complain |
mancare |
to fail to |
meravigliarsi |
to be amazed at |
negare |
to deny |
offrire |
to offer to |
(mi) pare |
to seem to |
pensare |
to think of, to intend to |
pentirsi |
to regret |
preoccuparsi |
to worry about |
promettere |
to promise to |
raccontare |
to recount |
rendersi conto |
to realise |
ricordare |
to remember |
ricordarsi |
to remember |
rifiutarsi |
to refuse |
ritenere |
to maintain |
sapere |
to know (but see also section 1 above) |
scegliere |
to choose |
sembrare |
to seem |
sentirsela |
to feel like |
smettere |
to finish, to end |
sognare |
to dream of |
sperare |
to hope to |
spiegare |
to explain |
stancarsi |
to tire of |
stupirsi |
to be amazed at |
temere |
to fear |
tentare |
to try to |
vergognarsi |
to be ashamed of |
Examples
Ho deciso di partire domani sera.
I've decided to leave tomorrow evening.
Mi ha detto di aver visto un fantasma.
He told me he had seen a ghost.
Spero di vederlo domani mattina.
I hope to see him tomorrow morning.
Sono proprio contenta di rivederlo.
I am really happy to see him again.
Pensavo di organizzare una festa.
I thought I would organise a party.
Verb phrases followed by di include:
c'è bisogno |
it is necessary to |
avere bisogno |
to need |
avere paura |
to be afraid to |
avere voglia |
to want to |
essere in grado |
to be able to |
4 Verbs involving other people
Most verbs that invite, force, encourage or advise others to do something will either use no preposition or use the preposition a with the person involved (i.e. as indirect object); they generally use a — occasionally di — to link the verb to the infinitive that follows (in the list below, qcn is used as abbreviation for qualcuno):
aiutare qcn a |
to help someone to |
chiedere a qcn di |
to ask someone to |
comandare a qcn di |
to command someone to |
consigliare a qcn di |
to advise someone to |
convincere qcn a |
to persuade someone to |
costringere qcn a |
to force someone to |
dire a qcn di |
to tell someone to |
domandare a qcn di |
to ask someone to |
forzare qcn a |
to force someone to |
impedire a qcn di |
to prevent someone from |
incoraggiare qcn a |
to encourage someone to |
insegnare a qcn a |
to teach someone to |
invitare qcn a |
to invite someone to |
mandare qcn a |
to send someone to |
obbligare qcn a |
to oblige someone to |
ordinare a qcn di |
to order someone to |
permettere a qcn di |
to allow someone to |
persuadere qcn a |
to persuade someone to |
pregare qcn di |
to beg someone to |
proibire a qcn di |
to forbid someone to |
proporre a qcn di |
to propose, suggest to someone to |
raccomandare a qcn di |
to recommend someone to |
suggerire a qcn di |
to suggest to someone to |
vietare a qcn di |
to forbid someone to |
Example
Ho aiutato mio fratello a fare i compiti.
I helped my brother to do his homework.
5 Fare, lasciare and verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling
The following verbs are followed directly by the infinitive, and then by the person involved:
fare |
to make |
lasciare |
to let |
Example
Faccio venire Marco.
I'll have Marco come.
Constructions with fare, lasciare are covered in detail in 21.7.
The same applies to verbs such as sentire ‘to hear, to feel’, vedere ‘to see’:
Ho visto arrivare Gianna.
I saw Gianna arriving.