25 Common Spanish Verbs and Their Prepositions

Question 1

Hablar con, hablar de

Answer 1

speak to, talk about

the two main prepositions you’ll want to use with hablar is con and de.

English: I have to speak to him today.
Español: Hoy tengo que hablar con él.

English: I want to talk about something else.
Español: Quiero hablar de otra cosa.

Question 2

Pensar en

Answer 2

think about

Similar to hablar in the sense that you’ll also want to avoid sobre, but less natural for English speakers, the best preposition to use with pensar is en.

English: I didn’t think about it.
Español: No pensé en ello.

English: It’s your mothers birthday today. Have you thought about a present for her?
Español: Hoy es el cumpleaños de tu madre. ¿Has pensado en un regalo para ella?

Question 3

Buscar

Answer 3

to look for (to seek)

In contrast to the other verbs on this list, you should avoid using a preposition with buscar.

A more helpful translation of buscar into English is the verb ‘to seek’ because we don’t need to use a preposition with this English verb.

English: I’m looking for work (I’m seeking work).
Español: Busco trabajo.

English: It’s important to seek new friends when you live overseas.
Español: Es importante buscar nuevos amigos cuando vives en el extranjero.

Question 4

Pedir

Answer 4

to ask for (to request)

Similar to buscar, you also need to avoid using a preposition with pedir. You can remember this by thinking of the English verb ‘to request’.

English: Don’t forget to ask for help if you need it.
Español: No olvides pedir ayuda si la necesitas.

English: We are going to ask for more money in the next investment stage.
Español: Vamos a pedir más dinero en la próxima etapa de inversión.

Question 5

Llegar a

Answer 5

to arrive at, to arrive in

Sometimes we say ‘arrive at’ in English and the translation to Spanish works well. But, you need to be careful when you want to say ‘arrived in’.

English: I arrived in Spain on Monday.
Español: Llegué a España el lunes.

English: The package should arrive in Lima next week.
Español: El paquete debe llegar a Lima la semana que viene.

Question 6

Estar en

Answer 6

– to be at, to be in, to be to

The combination of estar and en only causes issues in certain circumstances. Students tend to make mistakes with this preposition combination when referring to movement in the past or future. For example:

English: I have only been to Mexico twice.
Español: Solo he estado en México dos veces.

English: I’m going to be at the train station at 7 pm.
Español: Voy a estar en la estación a las 7.

Question 7

Venir de, venir a

Answer 7

– to come from, to come to

The verb venir can refer to a place that you came ‘from’ or a place that you came ‘to’. You can even combine the two prepositions in one sentence.

English: The message could have come from anywhere.
Español: El mensaje pudo venir de cualquier parte.

English: We came from the mountains to the beach on foot.
Español: Vinimos de las montañas a la playa a pie.

Question 8

Volver de, volver a

Answer 8

– to return from, to return (to)

Similar to venir, we can also use volver with de and a for returning ‘from’ or returning ‘to’. Note that we sometimes don’t use a preposition with return in English.

English: I returned home last night at 9 pm.
Español: Anoche volví a casa a las 9.

English: We returned from the jungle after being lost for 3 days.
Español: Volvimos de la selva después de estar perdidos durante 3 días.

Question 9

Salir de

Answer 9

– to leave from

We can use salir to leave ‘from’ a destination or to get out ‘of’ a situation.

English: I have to get out of this interview.
Español: Tengo que salir de esta entrevista.

English: The boat left the dock on time.
Español: El barco salió del muelle a tiempo.

Question 10

Parecerse a

Answer 10

– to look like

From experience, this verb and preposition combination seems to be more difficult than the rest.

When two things or people seem alike or look alike, then you’ll want to use the reflexive form of parecer with the preposition a.

English: He looks a lot like his brother.
Español: Se parece mucho a su hermano.

English: Australia rules football does not look like European football.
Español: El fútbol australiano no se parece al fútbol europeo.

Question 11

Dejar de

Answer 11

– to stop, to quit

When you want to refer to stopping something or quitting a job, then you can use dejar in combination with de.

English: My phone has stopped working.
Español: Mi teléfono ha dejado de funcionar.

English: I’m never going to stop playing the guitar.
Español: Nunca voy a dejar de tocar la guitarra.

Question 12

Ayudar a

Answer 12

– to help

While it is possible to find ayudar without a preposition, in most contexts you’ll need the preposition ‘a‘.

Moreover, if you want to help ‘to do’ something, then you’ll need to fit in the preposition ‘a‘ between ayudar and the other verb.

English: I can help you move into the new apartment.
Español: Te puedo ayudar a mudarte al nuevo apartamento.

English: The medication helped reduce my headache.
Español: El medicamento me ayudó a reducir el dolor de cabeza.

Question 13

Aprender a

Answer 13

– to learn

Similar to ayudar, if you just want to learn ‘something’ then you don’t need a preposition.

But, if you want to learn ‘to do’ something, then you’ll need the preposition ‘a‘ between aprender and the other verb.

English: I’m afraid of water because I never learned to swim.
Español: Me da miedo el agua porque nunca aprendí a nadar.

English: Next week we’re going to Thailand to learn how to scuba dive.
Español: La semana que viene vamos a Tailandia para aprender a bucear.

Question 14

Terminar de

Answer 14

– to finish

If you want to say that you have or you haven’t finished ‘doing’ something, then you’ll need to use terminar with the preposition de.

English: I haven’t finished eating yet.
Español: Todavía no he terminado de comer.

English: I will finish reading the newspaper on the train.
Español: Voy a terminar de leer el periódico en el tren.

Question 15

Comenzar a

Answer 15

– to start to

Similar to terminar, if you want to say you have or haven’t started ‘doing’ something, then you’ll need comenzar with the preposition a.

English: I’m sorry, I will start to clean my room soon.
Español: Lo siento, voy a comenzar a limpiar mi habitación pronto.

English: Before starting to watch television, can you please take out the rubbish?
Español: Antes de comenzar a ver la televisión, ¿por favor puedes sacar la basura?

Question 16

Tratar de

Answer 16

– to try to

The most important thing to remember with tratar is to not get it confused with intentar. While these two verbs are interchangeable, tratar needs a preposition and intentar does not.

English: I’m trying to run ten kilometers in under sixty minutes.
Español: Estoy tratando de correr diez kilómetros en menos de sesenta minutos.

English: He tried to leave the party without saying goodbye.
Español: Trató de salir de la fiesta sin despedirse.

Question 17

Entrar en

Answer 17

– to enter into

In English, we can use ‘enter’ without a preposition, but in Spanish, you will generally need the preposition en.

English: I’m not ready to enter another competition this weekend.
Español: No estoy listo para entrar en otra competencia este fin de semana.

English: When I entered the room, everyone looked at me.
Español: Cuando entré en la habitación, todos me miraron.

Question 18

Soñar con

Answer 18

– to dream about

One of the strangest combinations on the list is ‘soñar con‘ which means ‘to dream about’.

English: I used to dream about being an astronaut.
Español: Solía soñar con ser astronauta.

English: Last night, I dreamt about living on the moon.
Español: Anoche soñé con vivir en la luna.

Question 19

Casarse con

Answer 19

– to get married to

When you get married ‘to’ someone in Spanish, you need to use the reflexive verb casarse with the preposition con.

English: This week, I’m getting married to my high school sweetheart.
Español: Esta semana, me caso con mi novia del instituto.

English: My father married my mother in 1972.
Español: Mi padre se casó con mi madre en 1972.

Question 20

Acordarse de

Answer 20

– to remember (about)

Similar to the behaviour of tratar de and intentar, the Spanish verbs recordar and acordarse de are completely interchangeable in certain circumstances. But, again, the key is to remember that you must use de with acordarse.

English: Do you remember the time we got lost in Peru?
Español: ¿Te acuerdas de la vez que nos perdimos en Perú?

English: I don’t remember what happened.
Español: No me acuerdo de lo que pasó.

Question 21

Olvidarse de

Answer 21

– to forget about

When you want to talk about forgetting something you can choose between olvidar and olvidarse. Again, similar to remembering something, if you choose to use the reflexive form, you need to be careful with the preposition de.

English: I think he forgot to give her the keys.
Español: Creo que se olvidó de darle las llaves.

English: I forgot to speak to my boss about our vacation plan.
Español: Me olvidé de hablar con mi jefe de nuestro plan de vacaciones.

Question 22

Alegrarse de

Answer 22

– to be glad about

If you want to say you are glad ‘about’ something then a good option is alegrarse with de.

English: I’m really glad about that.
Español: Me alegro mucho de eso.

English: She was glad to see you.
Español: Se alegró de verte.

Question 23

Reírse de

Answer 23

– to laugh at

When you want to laugh ‘at’ something in Spanish, you should use reírse with the preposition de.

English: Everyone laughed at me.
Español: Todo el mundo se rió de mí.

English: We laughed at his strange costume for the party.
Español: Nos reímos de su extraño disfraz para la fiesta.

Question 24

Oler a

Answer 24

– to smell of, to smell like

If something smells ‘of’ or smells ‘like’ something else, then oddly you’ll need the Spanish verb oler with the preposition a.

English: My grandmother’s garden always smells of lavender.
Español: El jardín de mi abuela siempre huele a lavanda.

English: After the festival, my clothes smell like smoke.
Español: Después del festival, mi ropa huele a humo.

Question 25

Enfadarse con

Answer 25

– to get angry at

While you can get angry ‘with’ something in English, it is common to get angry ‘at’ something too. In Spanish, you’ll want to stick with enfadarse and con.

English: Please don’t be angry at me but I forgot the tickets to the concert.
Español: Por favor, no te enfades conmigo, pero olvidé las entradas del concierto.

English: My dad got really mad at my brother when he left the window open and the carpet got soaked from the rain.
Español: Mi padre se enfadó mucho con mi hermano cuando dejó la ventana abierta y la alfombra se mojó por la lluvia.