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Starting and stopping: using prepositions before infinitives

When you want to talk about the different phases of an action, like starting, stopping, or repeating it, English often links verbs directly together. You might say "I started to run" or "She finished reading". In Spanish, many of these highly common expressions require a specific "bridge" word to connect the conjugated verb to the infinitive.

These bridge words are usually the prepositions a or de. If you omit the preposition or guess the wrong one, the sentence will sound incomplete. Learning these fixed combinations will instantly make your Spanish sound more natural.

Word list
comenzarA1 to begin comenzar a + infinitive empezarA1 to begin empezar a + infinitive acabarA2 to end acabar de + infinitive comenzarA2 to begin comenzar a + infinitive empezarA2 to begin empezar a + infinitive ir aA2 to be going to ir a + infinitive terminarA2 to end terminar de + infinitive volverA2 to return volver a + infinitive acabar deB1 to have just done acabar de + infinitive dejarB1 to stop dejar de + infinitive estar a punto deB1 to be about to estar a punto de + infinitive estar porB1 to be about to estar por + infinitive pararB1 to stop parar de + infinitive echarse a llorarB2 to burst into tears echarse a + infinitive romper a llorarB2 to burst into tears romper a + infinitive
Starting and repeating with 'a'

Verbs that talk about the beginning of an action, or moving toward it, generally require the preposition a before the infinitive. This includes verbs like empezar and comenzar (to start). The incredibly common phrase ir a (to be going to do something) also falls into this category.

Another essential verb is volver. On its own, it means to return. But when you use volver a followed by an infinitive, it translates as doing that action again.

La película empieza a ser interesante.
(The film is starting to get interesting.)
Esta noche voy a estudiar español.
(Tonight I am going to study Spanish.)
Me gustó tanto que quiero volver a leer ese libro.
(I liked it so much that I want to read that book again.)
Stopping and finishing with 'de'

When an action comes to an end, the connecting preposition usually changes to de. You must use this preposition with verbs like terminar (to finish), dejar (to quit or stop), and parar (to stop).

A special mention goes to acabar. While acabar de followed by an infinitive can sometimes mean to finish doing something, it is most frequently used to say that you have just done something recently.

Mi tío dejó de fumar el año pasado.
(My uncle stopped smoking last year.)
Por fin terminaron de comer.
(They finally finished eating.)
Nosotros acabamos de llegar a la estación.
(We have just arrived at the station.)
About to happen

Some expressions are built entirely around prepositions to show that an action is imminent or sudden. The phrases estar a punto de and estar por both mean to be about to do something. Similarly, Spanish has dramatic verbs for sudden onsets, such as echarse a llorar and romper a llorar (to burst into tears).

El tren está a punto de salir.
(The train is about to leave.)
Cuando escuchó la noticia, el niño se echó a llorar.
(When he heard the news, the boy burst into tears.)
Summary

When expressing the phases of an action, remember that Spanish rarely links a conjugated verb directly to an infinitive. Starting and repeating actions usually connect with a, while finishing or stopping actions connect with de. Treat the verb and its required preposition as a single package to memorize.