Verbs followed by Prepositions before an Infinitive

Many Spanish verbs need no preposition before an infinitive: Merecen ser libres: They deserve to be free. However, some do. The following list shows the prepositions needed to link some common verbs with the infinitive, e.g. Sueño con viajar: I dream about traveling. Verbs marked with an asterisk (*) take a for all direct objects, not just the usual “personal” a (e.g. Ayudan al desarrollo). Verbs of motion such as ir, bajar, entrar, etc., always use a before an infinitive for destination, and de for origin: Vengo de hacer compras. Subió a ver al médico.

acabar de: acabo de estar ahí - I’ve just been there
acusar de - accuse of
*animar a (algo) - encourage to
*ayudar a (algo) - help to
cesar de - cease from
comenzar a - begin to
*condenar a (algo) - condemn to
consentir en - consent to<
consistir en - consist of
*contribuir a (algo) - contribute to
convenir en - agree to
cuidar de - take care to
dejar de - leave off, stop doing something
depender de - depend on
*desafiar a (algo) - challenge to
dudar en - hesitate over
empezar a - begin to
enseñar a - show how to; teach to
forzar a - force to
impulsar a - urge on to
*incitar a (algo) - incite to
insistir en - insist on
invitar a - invite to
llevar a - lead to
mandar a - send to
*obligar a (algo) - oblige to
pasar a - go on to
persistir en - persist on
*persuadir a (algo) - persuade to
presumir de - boast about
quedar en - agree to (used informally)
*renunciar a (algo) - renounce
soñar con - dream about
*tender a (algo) - tend to
terminar de - finish
tratar de - try to
volver a (hacer) - (do) again