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Keeping 'de' before 'que'

When you learn Spanish verbs like darse cuenta (to realize) or acordarse (to remember), you learn that they come with a built-in preposition. To say "I realized my mistake", you say Me di cuenta de mi error. But what happens when you follow the verb with a full clause introduced by que (that)?

In English, we simply say "I realized that it was late", using no preposition before the word "that". English speakers naturally want to do the same in Spanish, but this is a trap. In Spanish, if a verb requires de before a noun, it usually requires de before que. Dropping this required preposition is a common grammatical mistake called queísmo.

Word list
acordarseA1 to remember acordarse de que olvidarseA2 to forget olvidarse de que preocuparseA2 to worry preocuparse de que / preocuparse por que sorprendidomA2 surprised sorprendido de que tener miedoA2 to fear tener miedo de que advertirB1 to warn advertir de que / advertir que agradecidomB1 grateful agradecido de que asegurarseB1 to make sure asegurarse de que avergonzarseB1 to be ashamed avergonzarse de que avisarB1 to warn avisar de que / avisar que burlarseB1 to make fun of burlarse de que convencerB1 to convince convencer de que culparB1 to blame culpar de que darse cuentaB1 to notice darse cuenta de que darse cuentaB1 to realize darse cuenta de que decepcionadomB1 disappointed decepcionado de que dependerB1 to depend depender de que dudarB1 to doubt dudar de que / dudar que echar la culpaB1 to blame echar la culpa de que encargadomB1 responsible encargado de que encargarseB1 to deal with encargarse de que enterarseB1 to find out enterarse de que estar avergonzadomB1 to be ashamed estar avergonzado de que fiarseB1 to trust fiarse de que informarB1 to inform informar de que / informar que ocuparseB1 to deal with ocuparse de que ocuparseB1 to take care of ocuparse de que orgullosomB1 proud orgulloso de que persuadirB1 to convince persuadir de que quejarseB1 to complain quejarse de que reírseB1 to make fun of reírse de que responsableB1 responsible responsable de que tener ganasB1 to feel like tener ganas de que acusarB2 to accuse acusar de que aprovecharseB2 to take advantage of aprovecharse de que arrepentirseB2 to regret arrepentirse de que cansadomB2 fed up cansado de que desilusionadomB2 disappointed desilusionado de que hartomB2 fed up harto de que temerosomB2 scared temeroso de que tener la intenciónB2 to intend tener la intención de que alardearC1 to brag alardear de que cerciorarseC1 to make sure cerciorarse de que hacer caso omisoC1 to ignore hacer caso omiso de que jactarseC1 to brag jactarse de que percatarseC1 to notice percatarse de que presumirC1 to brag presumir de que
How it works

A simple rule of thumb is to replace the second half of your sentence with the word algo (something). If the verb requires de to connect to algo, it will also require de to connect to que.

For instance, to forget something is olvidarse de algo. Therefore, to forget that something happened requires olvidarse de que. This same logic applies to acordarse.

Me olvidé de que era lunes.
(I forgot that it was Monday.)

Emotions follow this pattern too. You can use avergonzarse or the phrase estar avergonzado to say you are ashamed of something, and arrepentirse to say you regret something. All of them demand de que before a clause.

Se arrepiente de que las cosas terminaran así.
(He regrets that things ended up like this.)
Everyday verbs that keep the "de"

Verbs about discovering information, such as darse cuenta, percatarse, and enterarse, heavily rely on this construction.

Nos enteramos de que ganaste el premio.
(We found out that you won the prize.)

When you are managing tasks or making sure things are done right, you will need verbs like asegurarse, cerciorarse, encargarse, and ocuparse. All of these require de que when followed by a new clause.

Asegúrate de que la puerta esté cerrada.
(Make sure that the door is closed.)

You will also need this construction to express trusting someone (fiarse), depending on something (depender), complaining (quejarse), or convincing someone (convencer, persuadir). Even verbs for bragging, such as alardear, jactarse, and presumir, strictly follow this rule.

Siempre se queja de que hace demasiado frío.
(He always complains that it is too cold.)
Watch out: Flexible exceptions

While dropping a necessary de is a mistake, you must also be careful not to add it where it does not belong (an error known as dequeísmo, like saying creo de que). However, some verbs are flexible.

With verbs like dudar (to doubt) and informar (to inform), both the que and de que forms are widely accepted across the Spanish-speaking world.

Le informó de que el tren llegaba tarde.
(She informed him that the train was arriving late.)

Similarly, preocuparse (to worry) can be followed by de que, but you will also frequently hear people use the preposition por instead, forming preocuparse por que.

Summary

When a Spanish verb pairs with the preposition de before a noun (like acordarse de algo), you must keep the de when the verb is followed by a que clause (acordarse de que). English drops the preposition before "that", but dropping it in Spanish is a grammatical mistake.