2. Verbs

2.1 Sentences and Verb Phrases

2.1.1 Subjects

2.1.1.1 The Subject is Optional

The main thing to say about the subject of the verb is that it is optional—when the subject would be a pronoun (referring back to some previously mentioned person or thing) in English, for example, it is more common to omit it in Catalan. (In linguistic terms, Catalan is ‘prodrop’.) The reason this works is, basically, that all the information represented by the pronoun is contained in the person/number inflection of the verb.

In these examples, the subject (els ajuntaments) is included in the first sentence, and omitted—implied by the third person forms of the verbs (alerten, tenen, hauran de)—in the second one:

2.1.1.2 The Position of the Subject

When a subject is included, its standard position is at the start of the sentence, like in English, but Catalan has more freedom in the word order and it is not unusual to put the subject after the main verb. Some typical examples of this are:

1. When the verb is intransitive and the subject is not an ‘agent’:

   Arriba el tren.	The train is arriving
   Continua el risc d'inundacions a una gran part del litoral.	The risk of flooding continues in a large part of the coast.

   Placing the subject after the verb here highlights it as the ‘new’ information and main focus of the sentence.
2. With the impersonal reflexive construction, where the reflexive unstressed pronoun es serves as a semantically empty syntactic object:

   Es mantenen els objectius del pla d'energia.

   The objectives of the energy plan are maintained.

   The verb mantenen agrees in number with the noun objectius, confirming that the latter is the subject. If there were only one objective, both would be singular: Es manté l'objectiu...
3. When the subject includes a long and awkward relative clause:

   Van completar el cartell uns Castellers de Barcelona que van protagonitzar una sortida a la gallarda en forma de 3 de 9, una decisió agosarada, és cert, però valenta.

   The Castellers de Barcelona, who made a courageous exit in the form of a ‘3 of 9’, a certainly daring, but valient, decision, completed the program.

2.1.2 Complements

A verb's complements are the direct objects, indirect objects and other essential arguments to the meaning of the verb. Basically, whereas a modifier (see below) is an optional element in a verb phrase (like a descriptive adverb, for example), a complement is an element without which the verb would be incomplete.

Non-pronominal complements—such as noun phrases, proper names, verb phrases, adjectival phrases and subclauses (according on the precise subcategory of the verb)—normally follow the verb. Indirect objects are always preceded by the preposition a, like the ‘to’ prepositional phrases used optionally for the same purpose in English. The following sentence, for example, has a noun phrase as direct object (un primer document) and a proper name as indirect object (Castells):

In the next example there is a prepositional phrase complement (fora de servei) and a noun phrase direct object (la central nuclear Ascó I):

Unstressed pronouns form a special category of complements, so-called ‘clitics’, which are bound so tightly to the verbs that they may almost be considered prefixes or suffixes:

1. For verbs in the infinitive, gerund and imperative forms, the clitics are attached after the verb, and must always be linked to it by either a hyphen or an apostrophe: dutxar-se (to shower [oneself]), llegint-ho (reading it), ajuda'm (help me)
2. For all other forms of the verb, the clitics precede the verb, and are written separately (with a space) or linked by an apostrophe: ens va veure? (did you see us?), t'estimo (I love you)

The forms of the different clitics depend on their position relative to the verb and on whether the verb has a vowel or a consonant at the point of contact. Considering also that there may be multiple verbs of different forms (e.g. one or more auxiliaries and a main verb) and multiple clitics (e.g. direct and indirect objects), the range of possibilities is large and complex. (TO DO: I intend to write more about this in the chapter about pronouns.)

Stressed pronouns cannot be used directly as complements, but must be accompanied by a corresponding clitic. Thus, for example:

More generally, all detached complements, i.e. noun phrases, prepositional phrases etc. which are moved to the beginning or the end of the sentence (so-called ‘left detachment’ and ‘right detachment’), must also be reflected by matching clitics attached directly to the verb:

In the above example, the direct object, els xiprers dels nostres cementiris, is put at the start of the sentence, and is therefore repeated with the clitic els immediately before the verb.

2.1.3 Modifiers

There isn't that much to say about the modifiers (or ‘adjuncts’). They are the prepositional and adverbial phrases which give (optional) extra information about the place, manner, time, etc. in which the action or event represented by the verb occurred. As the following examples show, they may be placed at the start of the sentence (1), before the verb (2), between the verb and the complements (3), or after the complements (4):

1. Ahir Valls va defensar la fortalesa de l'economia catalana.
2. Valls ahir va defensar la fortalesa de l'economia catalana.
3. Valls va defensar ahir la fortalesa de l'economia catalana.
4. Valls va defensar la fortalesa de l'economia catalana ahir.

(‘Yesterday Valls defended the strength of the Catalan economy.’ etc.)

Note in particular the order in (3), which is not normally possible in English, but which is very common in Catalan. Indeed, there is a general preference for putting the modifers immediately next to the words they modify, as also shown in the following example:

By the same principle, in sentences where the subject is placed after the verb (see above), the modifer is very often put between the verb and the subject:

2.2 Conjugation

Catalan verbs are categorised in three main conjugation classes, one of which has two subcategories, giving the four types shown in this table:

Conjugations IIIa and IIIb are only distinguished in certain forms—the present indicative, present subjunctive and imperative—and are otherwise referred to as simply conjugation III.

Both the regular and the irregular verbs are divided into these conjugation classes, with the main defining characteristic of the irregular verbs being variations in the stem. In the following sections, examples are generally given with a regular verb from each of the four classes and some of the most common irregular verbs.

All finite conjugations—that is, those that represent the tense of a sentence (basically, all except the infinitive, participle and gerund)—are inflected for person and number. There are six forms, representing basically the first, second and third person in singular and plural, as used with people you are familiar with. (The normal third person forms serve also as more ‘polite’ second person forms.)

The inflections are always listed in this order, without usually specifying each form further:

2.2.1 Present Indicative

Catalan term: present d'indicatiu

The present tense is used for actions and states that occur at the present time or in the immediate future.

Examples (with the verbs in the present indicative underlined):

Like all finite conjugations, the present is inflected for person and number. The regular forms are:

Note the distinctive stress pattern here (indicated with underlining in the table for emphasis, but following the general spelling–stress rules): the stress falls on the ending in all the 1pl and 2pl forms (-em, -eu, -im, -iu), but on the last syllable of the stem or the (‘inchoative’) -eix- element in all the other cases.

2.2.2 Imperfect Indicative

Catalan term: imperfet d'indicatiu

The imperfect tense is used for actions and states that occurred in the past and over an extended time.

Examples (with the verbs in the imperfect indicative underlined):

Regular forms:

Note that in all these forms the stem is followed by an ending consisting of two syllables, stressed on the first one, and that there are only two different patterns (II and III being identical):

2.2.3 Preterite

Catalan term: passat

The preterite tense is used for actions and states that occurred in the past and at a point in time. However, it is not used in relation to any unfinished time period, such as ‘this year’ or ‘today’, for which the perfect tense is always used.

The preterite is formed in two different ways which are grammatically and semantically equivalent. Their distribution is partly a matter of geographical varieties, and partly one of register.

1. The analytic (or perifrastic) preterite (Catalan: passat perifràstic) is formed by a combination of a special auxiliary verb and the infinitive. It is the most commonly used form in most varieties of spoken Catalan, including that of Barcelona. In the written language it represents an unmarked (neutral) register; the newspaper Avui (published in Barcelona), for example, seems to use it exclusively.

   Examples (from Avui, with the verbs in the analytic preterite underlined):

   El 1999 i entre el 2005 i el 2007, Ahtisaari va intentar trobar una sortida negociada al conflicte de Kosovo.	In 1999 and between 2005 and 2007, Ahtisaari tried to find a negociated solution to the Kosovo conflict.
   Va fer el pla que va fer possible la independència de Kosovo i que els serbis van rebutjar.	He created the plan which made the independence of Kosovo possible, and which the serbs rejected.

   Regular forms:

   conjugation	I, II, III
   analytic preterite	vaig vas va vam vau van	+ cantar/perdre/servir

   (Note that the auxiliary verb here is only partly similar to the present tense forms of anar (‘go’); it is different in the 1pl and 2pl forms.)

2. The synthetic (or simple) preterite (Catalan: passat simple) is formed in the more usual manner, by attaching a set of special endings to the stem of the verb. It is the dominant form in some varieties of spoken Catalan, including Valencian, and tends in other cases to indicate a formal register in the written language.

   Examples (with the verbs in the synthetic preterite underlined):

   El 1999 i entre el 2005 i el 2007, Ahtisaari intentà trobar una sortida negociada al conflicte de Kosovo.	In 1999 and between 2005 and 2007, Ahtisaari tried to find a negociated solution to the Kosovo conflict.
   Féu el pla que va fer possible la independència de Kosovo i que els serbis rebutjà.	He created the plan which made the independence of Kosovo possible, and which the serbs rejected.

   These examples are just those of the analytic preterite above with the verbs changed to the synthetic preterite forms. In the second sentence I have only changed the first occurrence of va fer to féu, as it would be considered poor style to have two occurrences of this word so close together in Catalan. In fact, mixing the two forms of the preterite in this way is a common stylistic practice.

   Regular forms:

   conjugation	I	II	III
   synthetic preterite	cantí cantares cantà cantàrem cantàreu cantaren	perdí perderes perdé perdérem perdéreu perderen	serví servires serví servírem servíreu serviren

2.2.4 Future

Catalan term: futur

The future tense is used for actions and states that will occur in the future (generally corresponding to will + infinitive in English).

Examples (with the verbs in the future tense underlined):

Regular forms:

2.2.5 Conditional

Catalan term: condicional

Like in English (and other European languages), the conditional tense is used for two distinct purposes:

1. actions and states that would occur on some condition, and
2. actions and states that would occur in the future as seen from a point in the past

(In both cases, the corresponding English construction is would + infinitive.)

Examples (with the verbs in the conditional underlined):

(TO DO)

Regular forms:

2.2.6 Present Subjunctive

Catalan term: present d'subjuntiu

Examples (with the verbs in the present subjunctive underlined):

(TO DO)

Regular forms:

2.2.7 Imperfect Subjunctive

Catalan term: imperfet d'subjuntiu

Examples (with the verbs in the imperfect subjunctive underlined):

Notice that the verbs in both the main (non-subordinate) clauses here, podria and necessitaria, are in the conditional tense. This combination of the conditional (in the main clause) and imperfect subjunctive (in the subordinate clause) is a very common pattern.

Regular forms:

2.2.8 Perfect

Catalan terms: perfet

(TO DO)

2.2.9 Imperative

Catalan term: imperatiu

(TO DO)

2.2.10 Infinitive

Catalan term: infinitiu

(TO DO)

2.2.11 Participle

Catalan term: participi

(TO DO)

2.2.12 Gerund

Catalan term: gerundi

(TO DO)

Examples (with the verbs in the gerund underlined):

2.3 Irregular Verbs

(TO DO)

2.4 Other Usage Notes

2.4.1 Choosing a Tense for the Past

Catalan has three tenses that are used for events in the past (in the indicative): the imperfect, the preterite, and the present perfect. Their distribution is summarised as follows:

Copyright Eirik Hektoen, 2009. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. Basically, you may copy it or adapt it freely, as long as it is for noncommercial purposes, you attribute it to me, and any derived work (e.g., translation) is licensed on the same terms (but see the link for details). Please send any suggestions, notifications of errors, or other comments to Eirik Hektoen <catalan.grammar@gmail.com>. Thank you!