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Verbs commonly followed by 'a' + infinitive

When you want to link two verbs together in English, you usually place the word to between them. For example, you might say I learn to swim or It starts to rain. Because of this, English speakers often assume they can just use the Italian infinitive directly after the first verb.

However, Italian is a bit more demanding. A large and very common group of verbs requires you to insert the preposition a before the infinitive that follows. If you leave out the a, the sentence will sound broken to a native speaker. Learning which verbs require this pattern is a key step to making your Italian sound natural.

Word list
aiutareA1 to help aiutare qualcuno a fare andareA1 to go andare a fare andare a trovareA1 to visit andare a trovare qualcuno arrivareA1 to arrive arrivare a fare cominciareA1 to begin cominciare a fare qualcosa correreA1 to run correre a fare imparareA1 to learn imparare a leggere uscireA1 to go out uscire a fare venireA1 to come venire a fare venire a trovareA1 to visit venire a trovare qualcuno divertirsiA2 to enjoy oneself divertirsi a fare esercitarsiA2 to practise esercitarsi a fare incominciareA2 to begin incominciare a fare incominciareA2 to begin incominciare a fare qualcosa iniziareA2 to begin iniziare a fare qualcosa insegnareA2 to teach insegnare a qualcuno a fare invitareA2 to invite invitare qualcuno a fare mandareA2 to send mandare qualcuno a fare provareA2 to try provare a fare restareA2 to stay restare a fare rimanereA2 to stay rimanere a fare ritornareA2 to return ritornare a fare salireA2 to go up salire a fare scendereA2 to go down scendere a fare tornareA2 to return tornare a fare abituarsiB1 to get used to abituarsi a vivere qui adattarsiB1 to adapt adattarsi a fare annoiarsiB1 to get bored annoiarsi a fare continuareB1 to continue continuare a fare convincereB1 to convince convincere qualcuno a fare fermarsiB1 to stop fermarsi a fare giungereB1 to arrive giungere a fare impegnarsiB1 to make an effort impegnarsi a fare non riuscireB1 to fail non riuscire a fare passare a prendereB1 to pick up passare a prendere qualcuno persuadereB1 to convince persuadere qualcuno a fare prepararsiB1 to get ready prepararsi a fare qualcosa riuscireB1 to manage riuscire a finire venire a prendereB1 to pick up venire a prendere qualcuno affrettarsiB2 to hurry affrettarsi a fare affrettarsiB2 to hurry affrettarsi a fare correreB2 to hurry correre a fare costringereB2 to force costringere qualcuno a fare esitareB2 to hesitate esitare a fare muoversiB2 to hurry muoversi a fare obbligareB2 to force obbligare qualcuno a fare rinunciareB2 to give up rinunciare a fare sbrigarsiB2 to hurry sbrigarsi a fare scoppiare a piangereB2 to burst into tears scoppiare a piangere tendereB2 to tend tendere a fare esortareC1 to urge esortare qualcuno a fare incentivareC1 to motivate incentivare qualcuno a fare incoraggiareC1 to motivate incoraggiare qualcuno a fare motivareC1 to motivate motivare qualcuno a fare precipitarsiC1 to hurry precipitarsi a fare
Starting and continuing

Some of the most frequent verbs that require a are those related to the phases of an action, such as starting or continuing. The verbs cominciare and iniziare both mean to begin, and they strictly require a when followed by another verb. The same applies to continuare (to continue).

Oggi comincio a studiare l'italiano.
(Today I start to study Italian.)
Il bambino inizia a camminare da solo.
(The toddler is beginning to walk by himself.)
Perché continua a piovere?
(Why does it keep raining?)
Trying, succeeding, and learning

Verbs related to mental or physical effort also frequently fall into this category. If you want to say you are trying to do something, you will use provare followed by a. If you succeed, you use riuscire, which translates to managing to do something. Conversely, non riuscire means to fail or to be unable to do something.

Provo a dormire, ma c'è troppo rumore.
(I am trying to sleep, but there is too much noise.)
Non riesco a capire questo problema.
(I can't manage to understand this problem.)

When you gain a new skill, you use imparare (to learn), which shares this exact same pattern.

Ho imparato a cucinare la pasta perfetta.
(I learned to cook perfect pasta.)
Reflexive verbs of preparation and adaptation

Many reflexive verbs require a before an infinitive. When you get used to something with abituarsi, or when you get ready to do something with prepararsi, the preposition a bridges the gap to the next action. Other reflexive verbs like esercitarsi (to practise) and impegnarsi (to make an effort) follow suit.

Lentamente mi abituo a vivere in questa città.
(Slowly I am getting used to living in this city.)
Ci prepariamo a uscire di casa.
(We are getting ready to leave the house.)
Motion verbs

Finally, there is a special group of verbs that express movement. In English, we often say I go to sleep or I come to help. In Italian, verbs of motion like andare (to go), venire (to come), and tornare (to return) must be followed by a when expressing the purpose of the movement.

Stasera vado a ballare con i miei amici.
(Tonight I am going to dance with my friends.)
Marco viene a studiare da me.
(Marco is coming to study at my place.)
Summary

When using verbs of starting, continuing, trying, learning, or moving, remember to place the preposition a before the infinitive of the second verb. Treating a as the glue that holds these verb pairs together will help you avoid the common mistake of using the infinitive on its own.