Italian flag

'Before leaving', 'without saying': prepositions plus the infinitive in Italian

In English, a verb that follows a preposition takes the -ing form: before leaving, without saying, instead of waiting. Italian has no such form after prepositions. It uses the plain infinitive instead: prima di partire, senza dire, invece di aspettare.

English speakers tend to reach for the Italian -ando or -endo form, because it looks like the English -ing. This produces sentences that sound wrong to Italians. The good news is that the Italian pattern is simple once you see it. There is one twist to learn: dopo needs a past infinitive.

Word list
dopoA1 after dopo aver mangiato = after eating prima diA1 before prima di uscire = before going out senzaA1 without senza dire = without saying invece diA2 instead of invece di aspettare = instead of waiting anzichéB1 instead of anziché aspettare = instead of waiting
How it works

The pattern is preposition + infinitive. You never use the gerund here. Where English says before eating, Italian says prima di mangiare, literally before of to eat. Object pronouns attach to the end of the infinitive, as they always do: prima di chiamarla (before calling her).

There is one important condition. This short construction only works when the subject of both verbs is the same person. In Prima di uscire, chiudi la porta, the person going out is also the person closing the door.

Prima di uscire, chiudi la porta.
(Before going out, close the door.)
È partito senza dire niente.
(He left without saying anything.)
The words

Prima di means before. The di is required before a verb: say prima di mangiare, never prima mangiare.

Lavati le mani prima di mangiare.
(Wash your hands before eating.)
Chiamami prima di partire.
(Call me before leaving.)

Senza means without. It takes the infinitive directly, with no di.

Non puoi entrare senza pagare.
(You can't go in without paying.)

Invece di means instead of. Like prima di, it keeps its di. The word anziché means the same but is slightly more formal, and it takes the infinitive directly: anziché lamentarti.

Invece di guardare la TV, leggi un libro.
(Instead of watching TV, read a book.)

Dopo means after. Because the action has to be finished first, Italian uses the past infinitive: avere or essere plus the past participle. Avere is usually shortened to aver. With essere, the participle agrees with the subject.

Dopo aver mangiato, facciamo una passeggiata.
(After eating, let's go for a walk.)
Dopo essere uscita dall'ufficio, Anna è andata in palestra.
(After leaving the office, Anna went to the gym.)
Watch out

Here are the typical mistakes to avoid:

  • Using the gerund: senza dicendo is wrong. Say senza dire.
  • Dropping di: prima mangiare and invece guardare are wrong.
  • Using the plain infinitive after dopo: you will hear dopo mangiare in casual speech, but dopo aver mangiato is the standard form.

When the two subjects are different, you need a full clause with a conjugated verb. Use prima che or senza che with the subjunctive, and dopo che with the indicative.

Chiudi la porta prima che esca il gatto.
(Close the door before the cat gets out.)
È uscito senza che nessuno lo vedesse.
(He went out without anyone seeing him.)
Summary

When English puts an -ing verb after before, without or instead of, Italian uses the infinitive: prima di, senza and invece di, followed by the infinitive. Dopo takes the past infinitive: dopo aver fatto or dopo essere andato. Never use the -ando or -endo form here. If the two verbs have different subjects, switch to prima che, senza che or dopo che with a conjugated verb.