Spanish Verbs with DE: Nouns + Infinitive (With Lots of Examples)

All verbs in Spanish are paired with at least one preposition. These pairs are unbreakable. In other words, you can’t use any preposition with any verb.

The preposition “de” can be used with many verbs, but in this lesson, we will focus on the most commonly used ones. Here are the most important Spanish verbs with de.

1. Spanish verbs with DE + noun

There are two basic structures in which you will have a verb plus a “de.” This is the first one. This structure is followed by “algo” or “alguien.”

Examples with “algo“:

• Yo sé mucho de psicología. (I know a lot about psychology.): you can replace “psicología” with anything else.
  • Yo sé mucho de yoga. (I know a lot about yoga.)
  • No le cuentes. Ella no sabe nada de eso. (Don’t tell her. She doesn’t know anything about it.)

Examples with “alguien”:

• No sé nada de ella. (I don’t know anything about her.): just in case, let’s talk a little bit about this chunk. In Spanish, we can use the verb “saber” to talk about people. When we say that we “know about someone,” it means we’ve had contact with that person. It has nothing to do with knowing or not knowing someone. Like:
  • Tienes días sin escribirme. He sabido muy poco de ti. (You haven’t written to me for days. I’ve heard very little from you.)
  • No hemos sabido nada de Amanda en días. Tenemos que llamarla. (We haven’t heard from Amanda in days. We need to call her.)

• Yo me sé esa canción de memoria. (I know that song by heart.)
• Tengo que aprenderme tres páginas de memoria para la presentación. (I have to learn three pages by heart for the presentation.)

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In the previous examples, we added things like “mucho” or “nada” between the verb and the “de.”

For example:

• Yo sé mucho de psicología. (I know a lot about psychology.)
• Ella no sabe nada de eso. (She doesn’t know anything about it.)

This is not mandatory. It depends on the verb whether it’s more natural to add those “mucho” or “nada” or not.

Let’s look at more examples with other verbs that follow the same structure. That is, those that add “algo” or “alguien” after the “de.”

Acordarse de (to remember)

• ¿Te acuerdas de Gabriela? La del colegio. (Do you remember Gabriela? The one from school.)
• No me acuerdo de lo que iba a hacer. (I don’t remember what I was going to do.): Doesn’t this happen to you sometimes? You enter a room and suddenly forget why. For me, it’s a sign that I’m very tired. Or, I’m doing too many things at once.
• ¡Qué buen viaje! Fue hace años, pero yo me acuerdo de todo. (What a great trip! It was years ago, but I remember everything.)

Depender de (to depend on)

• Yo prefiero no depender de nadie para hacer mi trabajo. (I prefer not to depend on anyone to do my job.)
• Las mascotas son como niños. Dependen de ti completamente. (Pets are like children. They depend on you completely.)
• No sé si la fiesta es en el jardín o en un salón. Creo que depende del clima. (I don’t know if the party is in the garden or in a hall. I think it depends on the weather.)

Cambiar de (to change)

• Me reservo el derecho de cambiar de opinión. (I reserve the right to change my mind.)
• Amanda está tratando de cambiar de trabajo. (Amanda is trying to change her job.)
• No cambies de tema. Cuéntame qué te pasa. (Don’t change the subject. Tell me what’s wrong.)

Morir de (to die)

In general, it’s good for you to get used to this chunk.

In Spanish, we use the verb “morir” for everything. There’s no need for someone to actually die. It’s very common. You’re just exaggerating about something.

• Me muero de risa. Qué buen cuento. (I’m laughing my head off. What a good story.)
• Me muero del hambre. (I’m starving.)
• Si yo dejo a mi gata sola cinco minutos, se muere de tristeza. (If I leave my cat alone for 5 minutes, she dies of sadness.)

Before moving on, let’s talk a little bit about “del.” In previous examples like:

• Creo que depende del clima. (I think it depends on the weather.)

We’re not using “de” but “del.” Why does this happen? In general, in Spanish, when a “de” and an “el” come together, they become: del.

Like this:

• Gabriela es una amiga del colegio (Gabriela is a friend from school.): not “de el colegio”.
• Compré las entradas del cine (I bought the movie tickets.): not “de el cine”.

2. Spanish verbs with DE + infinitive

Olvidarse de (to forget about)

Do you remember that we reviewed “acordarse de” in the previous section?

“Olvidarse de” is just the opposite. But this chunk is not followed by “algo” or “alguien.” It is followed by an infinitive verb.

All examples in this section can follow the same structure. For example:

Tratarse de (be about)

• Todo se trata de tener paciencia y fe. (It’s all about having patience and faith.)
• Trata de explicar las cosas con calma. (Try to explain things calmly.)
• No se trata de hacer un drama, pero sí tienes que reclamar. (It’s not about making a drama, but you do have to make a claim.)

Cansarse de (to be tired of)

• Estoy cansada de tomar decisiones. (I’m tired of making decisions.)
• Nos cansamos de correr como a los diez minutos. (We get tired of running after about 10 minutes.)

• No la despiertes. Está cansada de trabajar tanto. (Don’t wake her up. She’s tired of working so hard.)

Cuidarse de (to beware of)

• Es importante cuidarse de ser muy ingenuo. (It is important to be careful not to be too naïve.)
• En esa ciudad, es mejor cuidarse de no salir muy tarde. (In that city, it is better to be careful not to go out too late.)
• Cuídate de caerte, está resbaloso. (Be careful not to fall, it’s slippery.)

Parar de (to stop)

The chunk “dejar de” would work exactly the same way.

• ¿Puedes parar de hacer ruido? (Can you stop making noise?): It would be the same to say “¿puedes dejar de hacer ruido?“

• No la soporto. Ella no para de meterse conmigo. (I can’t stand her. She won’t stop picking on me.)

• Estoy full. Necesito parar de comer ya. (I’m full. I need to stop eating now.)

The preposition “de” is even more powerful than it seems in this lesson. It is often confused with “desde.” To avoid this very common mistake, continue learning about “de” vs “desde” on our YouTube channel.