My Collins Italian ＜－＞ English (both directions) dictionary has Grammar (Gramatica) section of about 230 pages. Of these 10 pages are allotted for "verbs governing ＜a＞ and ＜di＞" and shows about 140 Italian verbs together with English equivalents and some sample short sentences also in Italian and the English equivalents.
My Italian Drill book "ITALIAN GRAMMAR DRILLS" has a similar section "Prepositions before infinitives" but much simpler than Collins Dictionary, only 17 taking "a" verbs and 27 taking "di" verbs. This Drill book says
"
Some verbs are always followed by the preposition a before an infinitive. The best way to learn is through study and memorization.
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The following verbs are always followed by the preposition di before an infinitive. Again, these must be studied and memorized.
"
This is a drill book, anyway. The listed verbs largely overlap those in Collins dictionary's list but the choices differ. Those not seen in Collins dictionary are:
aiutare a (this should be aiutare qn a)
arrivare a (arrivare is a pure Intransitive verb)
incorragiare a (this should be incorragiare qn a)
inseganre a (this should be insegnare a qn a)
invitare a (this should be invitare qn a)
mandare a (Note -1)
uscire a (arrivare is a pure Intransitive verb)
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accettare di
accontentarsi di
credere di
dire di
domadare di (Note-2)
meraviliarsi di
pensare di
pemerettere di (this should be permettere a qn di)
pregare di (this should be pregare qn di)
preoccuparsi di
proibire di (this should be proibire a qn di)
promettere di (this should be promettere qn di)
sapere di
valere la pena di
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Note: To study and to learn are different. This post is a study section. It is interesting to analyze why taking ＜a＞ or ＜di＞. It will also help you to learn and memorize some new or unfamiliar Italian verbs and their usage.
Many of the verbs require qn (qualcuno, sb=somebody) or qc (qualcosa, sth = something) and then ＜a＞ or ＜di＞. But some can used with only ＜a＞ or ＜di>, with no pronoun(s).
1) Verb with no object noun(s) / pronoun(s) + ＜a＞ or ＜di＞ + infinitive
In the beginning to make things simpler I take the sentence system which requires simply only ＜a＞ or ＜di＞ and with no object noun(s) / pronoun(s). The verbs are arranged in the alphabetical order, may be used for easy checking but it hinders you to analyze the reason why taking ＜a＞ or ＜di＞. But I will follow this order and copy them in the alphabetical order at this stage.
From Collins dictionary Grammar (Gramatica) section
abitaursi a + infin
accorgersi di + infin
affettarsi a + infin
andare a + infin
aspettarsi di + infin
cercare di + infin
cessare di + infin
cominciare a + infin
continuare a + infin
decidere di + infin
decidersi a + infin
dimeticare di + infin
divertirsi a + infin
evitare di + infin
farcela a + infin
fare finta di + infin
fingere di + infin
finire di + infin
giurare di + infin
hesitare a + infin
imparare a + infin
impegnarsi a + inf
iniziare a + infin
mancare di + infin
meritare di + infin
mettersi a + infin
minanciare di + infin
offrirsi di + infin
omettere di + infin
pentirsi di + (pref.) infin
prepararsi a + infin
proporre di + infin
provare a + infn
rammaricarsi di + (pref.) infin
ricordarsi di + (pref.) infin
rifiutarsi di + infin
rimpiangere di + (pref.) infin
rinuncare a + infin
rischiare di + infin
riuscire a + infin
scordare di + infin
scordarsi di + infin
scusarsi di + (pref.) infin
servire a + infin
sforzarsi di + infin
smettere di + infin
sognare di + infin
spicciarsi a + infin
tardare a + infin
tendere a + infin
tentare di + infin
venire a + infin
i) Transitive verb or Intransitive verb
As ＜a＞ and ＜di＞are prepositions, a verb before ＜a＞ and ＜di＞should be a Intransitive verb ?
andare a + infin
venire a + infin
<andare> (to go) and <venire> (to come) are the very commonly used and regarded as the representative Intransitive verbs. They can be used independently without an object and even without ＜a＞ and ＜di＞.Io vado. (I go.)
Tu vieni. (You come.)
<a + infin> is an additional description, usually <in order to do something>. So <a> is regarded as <in order to> but may not be always so.
Io vado a fare qc. (I go to do something.)
Tu vieni a fare qc.. (You come to do something.)
may mean, simply or very generally
Io vado e fare qc. (I go and do something. My Collins dictionary says this way.)
Tu vieni e fare qc.. (You come and do something.)
How about the other common Intransitive verbs ? such as
arrivare (to arrive)
uscire ( to go out, to leave)
correre (to run)
camminare (to walk)
nuotare (to swim)
saltare (to jump)
volare (to fly)
sorridere (to smile)
pianagere (to cry)
muovere (to move)
fluire (to flow)
alzarsi, levarsi (to rise)
alzare, levare, alevare, sollevare, (to raise)
sedere, sedersi (to sit (down))
dormire (to sleep)
riposarsi, reposare (vi) (to rest)
cadere (to fall)
salire (to climb (vi, vt) )
deventare (to become)
succedere (to happen)
Not so often <a +infin> is added to these verbs but possible to add ＜+ infin (meaning "in order to" most often or more generally "and do something".
Some or rather most of the above are very basic verbs and are used quite frequently without noticing as an Intransitive verb. Actually it is not easy to know what Intransitive verbs are.
To learn these some examples are shown below for study. From Reverso Dictionary
andare
andare a pescare to go fishing
andare a prendere qc/qn to go and get sth/sb
andare a sciare to go skiing
andare a vestirsi to go and get dressed
va bene (d'accordo) all right, O.K.
The last one is the most frequently heard in daily life. The subject is hidden. A very general representative pronun <it> can be considered as the hidden subject so (It is all right, OK.＞. The subject is hidden or does not exists.
venire
verremo a salutarti we'll come and say goodbye
vieni a trovarci come and see us
(riuscire, lavoro) to turn out
venire bene/male to turn out well/badly
il dolce è venuto bene the cake turned out well
riuscire takes ＜a + infin＞. We see this later.
＜to turn out＞ can be ＜come out＞ or ＜venire fuori＞ ? ＜venire fuori＞ seems only physical meaning unlike English. ＜to turn out＞ or ＜to turn out to be good/bad＞ is very common expression in English. ＜come out＞ is more purely Intransitive.
A good result will come out. A bad result came out.
＜to turn out＞ is "to become" and "deventare" in Italian.
Transitive verb + di + infin
is grammatically incorrect as <di> is a preposition. However this is not so obvious. Examples taken from the aｂove list.
cercare di + infin
cessare di + infin
decidere di + infin
dimeticare di + infin
evitare di + infin
fingere di + infin
finire di + infin
giurare di + infin
mancare di + infin
meritare di + infin
minanciare di + infin
omettere di + infin
proporre di + infin
rimpiangere di + (pref.) infin
rischiare di + infin
scordare di + infin
smettere di + infin
sognare di + infin
tentare di + infin
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For instance
cercare
Reveso dictionary
"
1 vt (gen) to look for, search for , (fama, gloria) to seek
le ho cercate dappertutto I've looked for them everywhere
l'hai cercato sul dizionario? have you looked it up in the dictionary?
cercare lavoro/casa to look for work/a house
stai cercando lavoro? are you looking for a job?
cercare moglie/marito to be looking for a wife/husband
cercare qn con gli occhi to look round for sb
cercare le parole to search for words
cercare guai to be looking for trouble
cercare fortuna to seek one's fortune
2 vi, (aus avere)
cercare di fare qc to try to do sth
cerca di non far tardi try not to be late
ho cercato di spiegargli il motivo I tried to explain the reason to him
"
"cercare" is basically Transitive verb as shown above. Do not refer to the English "to look for, to search for", which are another issue.
This dictionary treats "ceracre" of "cercare di fare qc" as "Intransitive verb". This is probably because a verb of "verb + di" should be "Intransitive verb" as "di" is preposion. But we can consider or treat this as
cercare + <di fare qc>
and <di fare qc> is an object phrase. Then this cercare is still original Transitive verb.
One more example, decidere
From Reveso Dictionary
decidere
vb irreg
1 vt
a. (stabilire) decidere qc to decide on sth
decidere una data/un'ora to agree on a date/time, fix a date/time
decidere che to decide that
decidere di fare qc/di non fare qc to decide to do sth/against doing sth
ho deciso di non andarci I decided not to go
sta a lui decidere it's up to him to decide
ha deciso il nostro futuro it determined our future
b. (risolvere, disputa) to settle, resolve
decidere una lite (Dir) to settle a dispute
2 vi, (aus avere) (persona) to decide, make up one's mind
hai deciso? have you decided?
è venuto il momento di decidere it's time to decide o make a decision
non so decidere tra questi modelli I can't decide which of these models to choose
fu quel fatto a decidere del mio futuro that was what decided o determined my future
3 decidersi vip
(persona) to come to o make a decision
non so decidermi I can't decide
decidersi a fare to make up one's mind to do
finalmente si è deciso a parlare he finally made up his mind to talk
We can point out
1)
decidere di fare qc/di non fare qc to decide to do sth/against doing sth
ho deciso di non andarci I decided not to go
"decidere" of these two sentences are Transitive verbs even taking <di infin> ?
2)
"decidere" takes <di + infin>
"decidersi" takes <a + infin>
For both sentences a subject is considered as a person. Then what is difference ?
One more example
impedire
vt
a (proibire) impedire a qn di fare qc to prevent o stop sb (from) doing sth
il rumore mi ha impedito di dormire the noise stopped me sleeping
l'hanno messo per impedire alle macchine di parcheggiare they put it there to stop cars parking
chi ti impedisce di farlo? who's stopping you?
The dictionary shows only this so "inventire" is a Transitive verb. But this verb take always <a qn> which is an indirect pronount (personal object).
We have to check more but we go on next and be back to " why ＜a＞ and ＜di＞"
ii) Start, end, continuation, interruption
cessare di + infin (*)
cominciare a + infin to begin to do, to start to do
continuare a + infin to continue to do
finire di infin to finish doing
iniziare a + infin to begin to do
mettersi a + infin to begin to do
smettere di + infin to stop doing
The difference is obvious and interesting. It seems
cominciare, iniziare, mettersi (to begin) takes <a infin> while
cessare, finire, smettere (to finish, to stop) takes <di infin>.
However
to stop smoking - smettere di fumare
to stop to smoke - fermarsi a fumare
fermarsi a guardare/fare to stop to look/do
mi sono fermato a salutarla I stopped to say hello to her
To stop and to finish are different. To stop and to finish can be Transitive verbs unless automatically stops and ends. ＜To finish＞ usually means to reach the end of the the whole process while ＜to stop＞ is more like interruption.to end (vi, vt) finire
to hinder (vt) impendire a qn di infin （Italian requires ＜a＞.
to interrupt (vt) interrompere
cessare di + infin (*)
Reveso Dictionary
"
1. vi
a (aus essere)
(aver termine, pioggia, vento, rumore) to stop
b (aus avere)
(smettere) cessare di fare qc to stop doing sth
non ha ancora cessato di piovere it hasn't stopped raining yet
2. vt to stop, put an end to , (produzione) to discontinue
cessare il fuoco (Mil) to cease fire
"cessato allarme" "all clear"
"
1 vi
a (aus essere)
(aver termine, pioggia, vento, rumore) to stop
This is definitely (100%) and a pure Intransitive verb.
However
b (aus avere)
(smettere) cessare di fare qc to stop doing sth
non ha ancora cessato di piovere it hasn't stopped raining yet
cessare di fare qc to stop doing sth
is rather misleading. I checked the example sentences in <Reveso Examles> and found almost all examples are
cessare di esistere - stop being existence , cease to exist, not to stop doing somethig but rather stop being (somethig)
Oppure... potremmo semplicemente cessare di esistere.
Or we could all simply cease to exist.
Il Trattato di Nizza deve opportunamente cessare di esistere.
The Nice Treaty must in time cease to exist.
Quelli che vorrebbero cessare di ricevere quest'informazione possono richiederlo scrivendo una e-mail a
Members wishing to cease to receive this information may unsubscribe by writing an email to
The third one is <to sop doing>, however.
non ha ancora cessato di piovere it hasn't stopped raining yet
The subject is hidden and so called "impersonal expression". The English equivalent
it hasn't stopped raining yet.
is rather srange.
This is rather <doing sth (subject) stops>. Likewise
non ha ancora cessato di piovere it hasn't stopped raining yet -- > Raining hasn't stopped yet.
This is not a pure Intransitive verb. Is this the reason why aus avere istead of aus essere.
iii) to remember, to forget
dimeticare di + infin
ricordarsi di + (pref.) infin to remember doing
scordare di + infin to forget to do
scordarsi di + infin to forget to do
<to remember> is <try not to forget>
<to forget> is <to end/finish somting (which you have) , and <to lose something>
iv) to learn
abitaursi a + infin to get used to doing
imparare a + infin to learn to do
<to get used to doing> is a kind of learning and learning also to start something new, and gain something.
ii), iii), iv) combined
cominciare, iniziare, mettersi (to begin), learn, generaly to gain something takes <a infin> while
cessare, finire, smettere (to finish, to stop), dimeticare (to forget) takes <di infin>.
v) to try
cercare di + infin to try to do
provare a + infn to try to do
tentare di + infin to try to do
＜cercare di＞（to try to do）and ＜tentare di＞（to try to do） are not same as ＜provare a, provarsi a＞（to try to do）.
provare
1 vt
a (tentare) to try, attempt , (nuova medicina, macchina, freni) to try out, test, (scarpe, abito) to try on, (assaggiare) to try, taste
ho provato una nuova crema I've tried a new cream
prova questo gelato, ti piacerà try this ice cream, you'll like it
ho provato il suo motorino I tried out his moped
provare a fare qc to try o attempt to do sth
prova tu se ci riesci! you try and see if you can do it!
perché non provi a parlargli? why don't you try talking to him?
provaci e vedrai! just you try it!
ci ha provato con tutte in ufficio fam he's tried it on with all the women in the office
provarsi una gonna to try on a skirt
provati questo maglione try this jumper on
b (dimostrare, verità, teoria, Dir) to prove
c (mettere alla prova, coraggio ecc) to put to the test
posso provare che ero a casa I can prove I was at home
è molto provato da quell'esperienza the experience has left its mark on him
d (sentimento) to feel , (sensazione) to experience
ho provato rabbia quando l'ho saputo I felt angry when I found out
e (Teatro, Mus) to rehearse
2 provarsi vip
provarsi a fare qc to try o attempt to do sth
as the samples sentences show, ＜provere＞ means <to try and see（the result, the outcome), try in order to be sure> while ＜tentare＞ is
tentare vt
a (provare) tentare qc/di fare qc to attempt o try sth/to do sth
ho tentato l'esame, ma non l'ho passato I attempted the exam but I didn't pass it
tenterà di battere il record mondiale she's going to try to beat the world record
tentare il suicidio to attempt suicide, try to commit suicide
tentato suicidio attempted suicide
tentare un nuovo metodo (sperimentare) to try out a new method
le ho tentate tutte per convincerli I tried everything to persuade them
tentare la sorte to try one's luck
tentar non nuoce there's no harm in trying
b (cercare di corrompere, allettare) to tempt , (mettere alla prova) to test
as the samples sentences show, ＜tentare＞ means more like ＜to try no matter what the result will be, or even the result is highly unsure＞.
＜cercare＞ is used more often as a Transitive verb while English equivalent is to ＜to look for＞. ＜to look＞itself is an Intransitive verb. ＜cercare di infin＞is more like ＜to make some effort to do something＞than provare and tentare.
vi)
<ruscire> is an important Intransitive verb though not seen in the lists I use for this post. <ruscire> is usuly used as <ruscire a + infin> but <ruscire di + infin> is used in a differet structure. See below.
"
riuscire
vi irreg, (aus essere)
a (aver successo) riuscire (in qc/a fare qc) to succeed (in sth/in doing sth), be successful (in sth/in doing sth)
il tentativo non è riuscito the attempt was unsuccessful
riuscire negli studi to do well at school (o at university)
b (essere capace) to be able, manage
riuscire a fare qc to manage o be able to do sth
siamo riusciti a convincerla we managed to persuade her
non riesco a farlo I can't do it, I am unable to do it
non mi riesce di farlo I can't (manage to) do it
non ci riesco I can't
c (essere, risultare) to be, prove (to be)
ti riuscirà più facile dopo un po' di pratica it'll be easier o you'll find it easier after a bit of practice
mi riesce antipatico I don't like him
mi riesce difficile I find it difficult
la festa è riuscita male the party wasn't a success
"
1) non riesco a farlo I can't do it, I am unable to do it
2) non mi riesce di farlo I can't (manage to) do it
The two Italian sentences 1) and 2) have different structires as you can see 1) <riesco a> and 2) <mi riesce di> while in English <I can't do it> for both. 2) more literally
(it) does not allow me to sucessd to do it.
or
Doing it does not succeed with me.
But why one takes <a> and the other takes <di> ?
As ths post is getting longer it ends here though still reman the following verbs for analysys Regrettably Some are very interesting and worth checking and studying.
hesitare a + infin - not to want to start doing somethg
rinuncare a + infin - not to want to lose something but have to
servire a + infin - to add someting new
tardare a + infin - to start someting new though belated
tendere a + infin - to start someting new
evitare di + infin - in a way <to cut, intnetionally to lose, somthing>
fingere di + infin (imagiary)
giurare di + infin (imagiary)
mancare di + infin - in a way <to cut, intnetionally to lose, somthing>
meritare di + infin (imagiary)
minanciare di + infin minancia di piovere it looks like rain (imagiary)
omettere di + infin - in a way <to cut, intnetionally to lose, somthing>
proporre di + infin (imagiary)
rimpiangere di + (pref.) infin
rischiare di + infin - in a way possibility <to lose somthing> (imagiary), minanciare di + infin
sognare di + infin (imagiary)
<imaginary> means <di infin> is imaginary thing.
<di + infin> is considered as a noun or more like English Gerund (whic is the –ing form of a verb that functions the same as a noun).
This can be applied to the following verbs.chiedre qc a qn ---> chiedere a qn di infin
consentire qc a qn --> consentire a qn di infin
consigliare qc a qn --> condigliare a qn di infin
permettere qc a qn --> permettere a qn di infin
promettere qc a qn --> promettere a qn di infin
Fundamental contrasts
a + infinitive di + infinitive
to gain something - to lose something
to start something - to end, to stop something
to add something - to subtract something
But there are many exceptions like <meritare di + infin>, <proporre di + infin> which are more < to add something> than <to subtract something>.
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Note-1, Note - 2
mandare a infin
demadare di infin
May be no <infinive use>.
The next post will examine the reflective verb + a + infin, di + infin.
sptt
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