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Italian verbs that need 'a' where English has a direct object

In English you attend a meeting, give up a plan and obey the rules, with nothing between the verb and the thing. Several common Italian verbs work differently. Their equivalents need the preposition a before the event, rule or thing: partecipare a una riunione, rinunciare a un piano, obbedire alle regole.

English speakers trip over these because the English verb gives no hint that a preposition is needed. It is easy to translate word for word and say ho partecipato una riunione, which sounds wrong to an Italian ear. The fix is simple: learn these verbs together with their a.

Word list
giocareA1 to play giocare a calcio = play football; giocare a carte = play cards rispondereA1 to answer rispondere a una domanda = answer a question credereA2 to believe credere a una storia = believe a story; non ci credo assistereB1 to attend assistere a uno spettacolo = watch a show assomigliareB1 to look like assomigliare a sua madre = resemble his mother avvicinarsiB1 to approach avvicinarsi alla porta = approach the door mettere fineB1 to end mettere fine a una discussione = end an argument partecipareB1 to attend partecipare a una riunione = attend a meeting presenziareB1 to attend presenziare alla cerimonia = attend the ceremony rispondereB1 to answer rispondere al telefono = answer the phone somigliareB1 to look like somigliare a un castello = resemble a castle sparareB1 to shoot sparare a un bersaglio = shoot a target obbedireB2 to obey obbedire alle regole = obey the rules porre fineB2 to end porre fine alla guerra = end the war rinunciareB2 to give up rinunciare al viaggio = give up the trip ripensareB2 to reconsider ripensare a una decisione = reconsider a decision sopravvivereB2 to survive sopravvivere all'incidente = survive the accident ubbidireB2 to obey ubbidire agli ordini = obey orders disobbedireC1 to disobey disobbedire a un ordine = disobey an order disubbidireC1 to disobey disubbidire alla legge = disobey the law venire menoC1 to break venire meno a una promessa = break a promise
How it works

With these verbs, the thing you attend, give up, obey or survive is not a direct object. It is introduced by a, and a merges with the definite article in the usual way: al, allo, alla, all', ai, agli, alle.

  • English: verb + object (attend the concert)
  • Italian: verb + a + object (assistere al concerto)

Rule of thumb: if the English verb means being present at something, obeying or disobeying something, giving something up or getting through something, check whether the Italian verb wants a. For the verbs in this article, it always does.

Domani parteciperò a un convegno.
(Tomorrow I'll attend a conference.)
The words
Being there

Three verbs translate as to attend. Partecipare is the everyday choice for meetings, classes and events, and it often suggests that you take part. Assistere means being there as an audience member or observer. Presenziare is formal, typical of ceremonies and official occasions.

Ieri sera abbiamo assistito a uno spettacolo bellissimo.
(Last night we watched a wonderful show.)
Il sindaco ha presenziato alla cerimonia.
(The mayor attended the ceremony.)
Rules and orders

Obbedire and ubbidire both mean to obey, and their opposites disubbidire and disobbedire mean to disobey. All four take a.

I bambini devono obbedire alle regole della scuola.
(Children have to obey the school rules.)
Il soldato si è rifiutato di ubbidire agli ordini.
(The soldier refused to obey orders.)
Chi disubbidisce alla legge rischia una multa.
(Anyone who disobeys the law risks a fine.)
Non è da lui disobbedire a un ordine.
(It's not like him to disobey an order.)
Giving up, rethinking, breaking your word

Rinunciare is to give something up, ripensare is to think something over again, and venire meno is to fail to keep a promise or a commitment.

Non voglio rinunciare alle vacanze.
(I don't want to give up my holiday.)
Ho bisogno di tempo per ripensare alla tua proposta.
(I need time to reconsider your proposal.)
Marco non viene mai meno a una promessa.
(Marco never breaks a promise.)
Surviving and ending

Sopravvivere means to survive, and the two expressions porre fine and mettere fine mean to end or put a stop to something. Mettere fine is more everyday, while porre fine sounds a little more formal.

Per fortuna è sopravvissuto all'incidente.
(Luckily he survived the accident.)
L'accordo ha posto fine alla guerra.
(The agreement ended the war.)
È ora di mettere fine a questa discussione.
(It's time to end this argument.)

Other verbs behave the same way: resistere alla tentazione (to resist temptation), aderire a un progetto (to join a project) and accennare a un problema (to mention a problem in passing).

Watch out

The typical mistake is dropping a: ho partecipato una riunione or ho rinunciato il viaggio. Say ho partecipato a una riunione and ho rinunciato al viaggio.

Don't overgeneralize. Rispettare takes a plain direct object, just like English: rispettare le regole (to respect the rules), but obbedire alle regole.

Two members have a second, transitive use. Ripensare with a direct object means to rethink or redesign something: ripensare il progetto. Presenziare without a also appears in formal or bureaucratic texts. When you mean simply reconsider or attend, use a and you will always be correct.

Because the thing is introduced by a, you replace it with ci, not with lo or la: Al viaggio? Ci ho rinunciato. (The trip? I gave it up.)

Summary

When English says attend, obey, disobey, give up, reconsider, survive, break (a promise) or end + a thing, the Italian verb usually needs a: partecipare a, assistere a, obbedire a, rinunciare a, sopravvivere a, venire meno a, mettere fine a. Learn each verb with its a, merge it with the article (al, alla, alle...), and replace the thing with ci.