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Verbs linking an object and an infinitive with 'a'

When you learn Italian verbs, you quickly notice that small prepositions hold sentences together. One tricky pattern for English speakers involves verbs that act on a person and are followed by an action. In English, we usually connect these with "to" or no preposition at all, saying things like "I helped her study" or "They invited us to come in".

In Italian, a specific group of verbs requires the preposition a to bridge the direct object and the following infinitive verb. Verbs like aiutare and invitare belong to this family, and missing the a is a very common trap for beginners.

Word list
aiutareA1 to help aiutare qualcuno a fare qualcosa invitareA2 to invite invitare qualcuno a fare qualcosa convincereB1 to convince convincere qualcuno a fare qualcosa persuadereB1 to convince persuadere qualcuno a fare qualcosa preparareB1 to prepare preparare qualcuno a fare qualcosa condannareB2 to sentence condannare qualcuno a fare qualcosa costringereB2 to force costringere qualcuno a fare qualcosa ispirareB2 to inspire ispirare qualcuno a fare qualcosa: Mi ha ispirato a scrivere (He inspired me to write) obbligareB2 to force obbligare qualcuno a fare qualcosa sfidareB2 to challenge sfidare qualcuno a fare qualcosa esortareC1 to urge esortare qualcuno a fare qualcosa incentivareC1 to motivate incentivare qualcuno a fare qualcosa incoraggiareC1 to motivate incoraggiare qualcuno a fare qualcosa motivareC1 to motivate motivare qualcuno a fare qualcosa
The core formula

The structure you need to memorize is straightforward: Verb + Direct Object + a + Infinitive. The direct object is the person receiving the action, and the infinitive is the action they are going to do. Let us look at aiutare and invitare in action.

L'ho aiutata a prepararsi per l'esame.
(I helped her prepare for the exam.)
Ci hanno invitati a entrare.
(They invited us to come in.)
Persuading and encouraging

A large group of verbs that follow this pattern involve trying to get someone to do something. Whether you are using convincere or persuadere to change someone's mind, or using verbs like incoraggiare, incentivare, motivare, and esortare to cheer them on, the grammar remains exactly the same.

Cerco di convincere Marco a venire con noi.
(I am trying to convince Marco to come with us.)
L'insegnante incoraggia gli studenti a parlare in italiano.
(The teacher encourages the students to speak in Italian.)
Forcing and preparing

You will also use a when the action is less voluntary. If you force someone to do something using costringere or obbligare, the a is required. The same applies to legal contexts with condannare, competitive contexts with sfidare, or simply getting someone ready for a task with preparare.

Il brutto tempo ci ha costretti a restare in casa.
(The bad weather forced us to stay indoors.)
Ti sfido a correre più veloce di me.
(I challenge you to run faster than me.)
Watch out for pronouns

Because English speakers are used to the word "to", they often mistakenly insert di or leave the preposition out entirely. Always remember that for this specific group of verbs, a is your only option. You will also see this pattern with other verbs like abituare and indurre.

Finally, pay attention to word order when the direct object is a pronoun. Pronouns like mi, ti, lo, la, ci, and vi usually jump to the front of the conjugated verb, leaving the a right next to the infinitive.

Mi ha obbligato a mangiare tutto.
(He forced me to eat everything.)
Summary

When a verb expresses helping, inviting, convincing, or forcing someone to do an action, link the person to the action using the preposition a. The formula is always: Verb + Person (Direct Object) + a + Infinitive.