Incubator escapee wiki

Catalan grammar

Article Discussion

Template:Short description Template:Catalan-speaking world

Catalan grammar, the morphology and syntax of the Catalan language, is similar to the grammar of most other Romance languages. Catalan is a relatively synthetic, fusional language.

Features include:

Some distinctive features of Catalan among Romance languages include the general lack of masculine markers (like Italian -o), a trait shared with French and Occitan; and the fact that the remote preterite tense of verbs is usually formed with a periphrasis consisting of the verb "to go" plus infinitive.

ArticlesEdit

Catalan has two types of article, definite and indefinite. They are declined for gender and number, and must agree with the noun they qualify. As with other Romance languages, Catalan articles are subject to complex elision and contraction processes.

The inflection of articles is complex, especially because of frequent elision, but is similar to neighboring languages.Template:Sfn Catalan has more preposition–article contractions than Spanish, like dels ("of + the [plural]"), but fewer than Italian (which has sul, col, nel, etc.).Template:Sfn

DefiniteEdit

The tables below summarize the forms of the definite article, its elisions, and its contractions.

Definite article
(elided forms in brackets)
masculine feminine
singular lang}} ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) lang}} ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}})
plural lang}} lang}}
Contractions of the definite article
preposition
lang}} lang}} lang}}
article lang}} lang}} ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) lang}} ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) lang}} ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}})
lang}} lang}} lang}} lang}}

Masculine formsEdit

  • The masculine singular form is el. The initial vowel is elided before a vowel or h, yielding to l'.Template:Sfn
El pare. L'avi.
"The father." "The grandfather."
El iode. El hiat.
"The iodine." "The hiatus"
  • The masculine plural form is els. Both el and els combine with the prepositions a "to", de "of", and per "for", yielding the contractions al, als, del, dels, pel, pels.Template:Sfn
Ho dic al pare.
"I say it to the father." ("I say it to my father")
Això és del noi.
"This is of the boy." ("This belongs to the boy")
Corria pels camins.
"I ran through the paths." ("I ran along the paths")
  • El does not contract with the aforementioned prepositions if the following word begins with vowel or h.Template:Sfn
Porta-ho a l'avi.
"Bring this to the grandfather."
Baixa de l'arbre.
"Get down from the tree."

Feminine formsEdit

  • The feminine singular form is la. The final vowel is elided before a vowel or h, yielding l'.Template:Sfn
La mare. L'àvia
"The mother." "The grandmother"
  • La is not contracted if the word begins with unstressed (h)i-, or (h)u-.Template:Sfn
La idea. La hipòtesi. La unitat. La humitat.
"The idea." "The hypothesis." "The unit." "The humidity."
  • La is not elided with the words una "one (hour)", host "hueste", and ira "wrath"; as well as with words beginning with the Greek prefix a-, like asimetria "asymmetry".Template:Sfn
  • The feminine plural form is les.
  • Feminine articles are not contracted with prepositions.Template:Sfn

Articles for personal namesEdit

Forenames and surnames must carry a definite article. In addition to the ordinary singular forms, alternative forms derived from the Latin vocative domine can be used. The elision rules are the same for el and la.

Personal article
(elided forms in brackets)
masculine feminine
lang}} ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) lang}} ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}})
El Joan. L'Andreu. La Mercè. La Isabel. L'Olga.
En Joan. N'Andreu. Na Mercè. Na Isabel. N'Olga.

Dialectal variationEdit

In Western Catalonia the dialectal versions lo and los are used instead of el and els.Template:Sfn

In some regions, especially in the Balearic islands, the definite article derives from the Latin determiner ipse. These forms are referred to as articles salats. Similar forms are found in Sardinian and some varieties of Occitan.

Balearic definite article
masculine feminine
singular lang}} ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) lang}} ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}})
plural lang}}, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} lang}}
lang}} (with)
masculine feminine
singular lang}} lang}} ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}})
plural lang}} lang}}

IndefiniteEdit

The table below summarize the forms of the indefinite article. Indefinite articles are not elided nor contracted.

Indefinite article
masculine feminine
singular lang}} lang}}
plural lang}} lang}}

Overview of gender and number inflectionEdit

Most adjectives, and a fair number of nouns, inflect for gender. This usually follows a regular pattern of endings. The two main patterns are generally referred to as "four-form" and "two-form" adjectives. Four-form adjectives have distinct masculine and feminine forms, whereas two-form adjectives have the same form for both masculine and feminine. They are derived from the Latin first/second, and the third declension respectively. Many nouns follow the four-form inflection, but some may follow the two-form inflection. Some are irregular in some way.

Four-form adjective
verd ("green")
masculine feminine
singular verd verda
plural verds verdes
Two-form adjective
indiferent ("indifferent")
masculine feminine
singular indiferent
plural indiferents

Similar to French, but unlike Portuguese, Spanish or Italian, the Latin/Romance final -o and -e have disappeared. Thus, the alternance of -o/-a in the four-form words has been substituted by -/-a.Template:Sfn There are only a few exceptions, like minso/minsa ("scarce").Template:Sfn

Among nouns, Catalan has few suppletive couplets, like Italian and Spanish, and unlike French. Thus, Catalan has noi/noia ("boy"/"girl") and gall/gallina ("cock"/"chicken"), whereas French has garçon/fille and coq/poule. Template:Sfn

There is a tendency to inflect adjectives as four-form instead of two-form, something that is prevalent in Occitan and standard in French. Thus, alongside traditional two-form bullent/bullent ("boiling"), one can also find four-form bullent/bullenta.Template:Sfn

VariantsEdit

Many not completely predictable morphological alternations may occur between masculine and feminine, like:Template:Sfn

  • Affrication: boig/boja ("insane") vs. lleig/lletja ("ugly")
  • Loss of n: pla/plana ("flat") vs. segon/segona ("second")
  • Final obstruent devoicing: sentit/sentida ("felt") vs. dit/dita ("said") vs. fred/freda ("cold")

In words that end in a sibilant sound, the masculine plural ending is -os instead of just -s. Feminines still have -es or, if they follow the two-form declension, no ending at all. Compare: el pols/els polsos ("the pulse"/"the pulses") vs. la pols/les pols ("the dust"/"the dusts").Template:Sfn

Adjectives that end in -ç follow the two-form declension in the singular, but four-form in the plural, so that they actually have three forms:

Adjective in -ç
feliç ("happy")
masculine feminine
singular feliç
plural feliços felices

NounsEdit

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Catalan nouns are inflected for gender (masculine or feminine), and number (singular or plural). There is no case inflection. Articles and adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun they refer to.

Usually, masculine nouns are unmarked, feminine nouns carry the suffix -a; and the plural is marked with the suffix -s, which makes the feminine ending turn into -e-. Thus, the most common declension paradigm for Catalan names is the one that follows:

Example:
declension of gat "cat"
masculine feminine
singular gat gata
plural gats gates

Gender inflectionEdit

The grammatical gender of a Catalan noun does not necessarily correspond with the real-life object's biological sex (or lack thereof). Nouns denoting a person, such as home "man" or dona "woman", generally agree with the natural gender of what is described. However, Catalan assigns gender to nouns without natural gender in arbitrary fashion. For example, the word tamboret ("stool") is masculine, while the word cadira ("chair") is feminine.

Living beings with distinct masculine and feminine formsEdit

Living beings of the same species usually are designed by two nouns: one of masculine grammatical gender for biologically male individuals, and one of feminine grammatical gender for biologically female individuals. Both names, masculine and feminine, are usually only differentiated by their ending; sometimes the second is derived from the first or vice versa. Rarely, both come from different roots.Template:Sfn

Formation of the feminine form from the masculineEdit
  • Most times the feminine form is created by appending the suffix -a to the unmarked masculine form.Template:Sfn
Noi → noia. Avi → àvia.
"Boy – girl." "Grandfather – grandmother."
  • If the masculine form ends in -t, -p, -f, -s, the addition of the feminine suffix -a may cause these consonants to become voiced to -d-, -b-, -v-, -s-; or not. There are no rules to deduce the change.Template:Sfn
becomes voiced remains unvoiced
change masculine feminine gloss masculine feminine gloss
⟨-t⟩ → ⟨-d-⟩
/t/ → /ð/		 nebot neboda "nephew – niece" nét neta "grandson – granddaughter"
⟨-p⟩ → ⟨-b-⟩
/p/ → /β/		 llop lloba "wolf"
⟨-f⟩ → ⟨-v-⟩
/f/ → /v~β/		 serf serva "serf"
⟨-s⟩ → ⟨-s-⟩
/s/ → /z/		 espòs esposa "husband – wife" gos gossa "dog – bitch"
  • If the masculine form ends in a stressed vowel, the feminine is created by appending the suffix -na.Template:Sfn
Germà → germana
"Brother – sister."
  • Sometimes the feminine form is created by appending the suffix -essa to the unmarked masculine form.Template:Sfn
Sacerdot → sacerdotessa.
"Priest – priestess."
Formation of the masculine form from the feminineEdit
  • Sometimes the masculine form is created from the feminine by changing the suffix a for -ot.Template:Sfn
Bruixot ← bruixa.
"Sorcerer — witch."

Living beings with indistinct masculine and feminine formsEdit

  • Sometimes a single noun is used to designate both masculine and feminine beings. To specify the biological gender of the being, the adjectives mascle "male", and femella "female" are used.Template:Sfn
El rossinyol. El rossinyol mascle. El rossinyol femella.
" The nightingale." "The male nightingale." "The female nightingale"

Objects, abstract conceptsEdit

  • Since objects and abstract concepts have no biological gender, all of them only have one form. The gender of inanimate nouns is assigned arbitrarily. Sometimes the choice may seem contradictory.
La virilitat (f).
"The manliness."
  • Sometimes synonymous words may have different genders.
El televisor (m) – la televisió (f). L'argent (m) – la plata (f)
"The TV." "The silver."

Homophonous words with different gendersEdit

  • Some homonymous words may have different genders according to their meaning.Template:Sfn
El clau (m) – la clau (f)
"The nail – the key."

Number inflectionEdit

Like all the Western Romance languages, the formation of the plural involves the addition of the suffix -s to the singular. However, the stem may undergo some changes. The number inflection of adjectives follows the same rules.Template:Sfn

  • Most times the plural form is created by appending the suffix -s to the singular form.Template:Sfn
    Pare → pares. Avi → avis.
    "Father – fathers." "Grandfather – grandfathers."
  • If the singular ends in -a, the plural is usually formed with -es. Most of these nouns are feminine, but some are masculine.Template:Sfn
    Casa → cases (f). Problema → problemes (m).
    "House – houses." "Problem – problems"
    • However, if the singular ends in -ga, -ca, -gua, -qua, -ça, -ja, the plural is formed by -gues, -ques, -gües, -qües, -ces, -ges. This is done for orthographical reasons, and stem pronunciation remains identical in the singular and plural.Template:Sfn
sound transformation singular
(stem underlined) 		plural
(stem underlined) 		IPA
transcription 		gloss
main}} ⟨g⟩ → ⟨gu⟩ farga fargues main}}, {{#invoke:IPA|main}}
{{#invoke:IPA|main}}, {{#invoke:IPA|main}}		 "forge(s)"
main}} ⟨c⟩ → ⟨qu⟩ oca oques main}}, {{#invoke:IPA|main}}
{{#invoke:IPA|main}}, {{#invoke:IPA|main}}		 "goose – geese"
main}} ⟨gu⟩ → ⟨gü⟩ llengua llengües main}}, {{#invoke:IPA|main}}
{{#invoke:IPA|main}}, {{#invoke:IPA|main}}		 "tongue(s)"
main}} ⟨qu⟩ → ⟨qü⟩ pasqua pasqües main}}, {{#invoke:IPA|main}}
{{#invoke:IPA|main}}, {{#invoke:IPA|main}}		 "Easter(s)"
main}} ⟨ç⟩ → ⟨c⟩ plaça places main}}, {{#invoke:IPA|main}}
{{#invoke:IPA|main}}, {{#invoke:IPA|main}}		 "square(s)"
main}}
{{#invoke:IPA|main}}		 ⟨j⟩ → ⟨g⟩ pluja pluges main}}, {{#invoke:IPA|main}}
{{#invoke:IPA|main}}, {{#invoke:IPA|main}}		 "rain(s)"
main}}
{{#invoke:IPA|main}} 		platja platges main}}, {{#invoke:IPA|main}}
{{#invoke:IPA|main}}, {{#invoke:IPA|main}}		 "beach(es)"
  • If the singular form ends in a stressed vowel, the plural is usually created by appending the suffix -ns.Template:Sfn
    Pa → pans (m). Capità → capitans (m). Acció → accions (f).
    "Bread – breads." "Captain – captains." "Action – actions."
    • However, some words ending in a stressed vowel form their plural in -s.Template:Sfn Many of them are relatively recent loanwords not directly inherited from late Latin.
      Sofà → sofàs. Bambú → bambús.
      "Sofa – sofas." "Bamboo – bamboos."
    • A few nouns ending in unstressed -e can also form their plural alternatively in -ns. It is considered archaic or dialectal.Template:Sfn
      Home → homes or hòmens. Orfe → orfes or òrfens
      "Man – men." "Orphan – orphans."
  • Many masculine nouns ending in -s, ç form their plural with -os. -s- becomes voiced in the plural, but -ç- remains unvoiced.Template:Sfn
    Gas → gasos /ˈgas – ˈgazus ~ ˈgazos/. Braç → braços /ˈbɾas – ˈbɾasus ~ ˈbɾasos/.
    "Gas – gases." "Arm – arms."
    • In some masculine nouns ending in -s, this remains unvoiced when adding -os, and thus becomes -ss-:Template:Sfn
      • Most polysyllabic masculine words ending in -às, -ís, ús.
        Fracàs → fracassos. Pastís → pastissos. Barnús → barnussos
        "Failure – failures." "Cake – cakes." "Bathrobe – bathrobes"
      • Most masculine words ending in -os, -ós, òs.
        Gos → gossos. Arròs → arrossos. Os → ossos.
        "Dog – dogs." "Rice – rices." "Bear – bears". (also "Bone – bones").
  • Masculine paroxytone and proparoxytone nouns ending in -s are invariable.Template:Sfn
    Llapis → llapis. Òmnibus – òmnibus
    "Pencil – pencils." "Omnibus – omnibuses."
  • Feminine nouns ending in an s-like sound (-s, -ç, -x, -z) have a plural that is pronounced the same as the singular. If the noun ends in -s, no ending is added.Template:Sfn Otherwise, an unpronounced -s is added.Template:Sfn
    Pols → pols.
    "Dust – dusts."
    Calç → calçs {{#invoke:IPA|main}}.
    "Lime – limes."
  • Nouns ending in -x pronounced {{#invoke:IPA|main}} form plurals according to word stress. If the noun is stressed on the last syllable, the plural suffix is -os. Otherwise, the ending is -s and the plural form is homophonous with the singular.Template:Sfn
    Reflex → reflexos {{#invoke:IPA|main}}. Índex → índexs {{#invoke:IPA|main}}.
    "Reflection – reflections." "Index – indexes."
  • Nouns ending in -x pronounced {{#invoke:IPA|main}} form their plural with -os.
    Calaix → calaixos.
    "Drawer – drawers."
  • Nouns ending in -ig ({{#invoke:IPA|main}}) can form their plural in two ways, both acceptable:Template:Sfn
    • Adding -s. Both forms will be homophonous. This is the preferred form in normative grammars, not so in general spoken use.
      Faig → faigs {{#invoke:IPA|main}}. Passeig → passeigs {{#invoke:IPA|main}}.
    • Replacing -ig with jos or tjos. There are no rules to deduce which is to be used.
      Faig → fajos /ˈfat͡ʃ – ˈfaʒus ~ ˈfad͡ʒos/. Mig → mitjos. /ˈmit͡ʃ – ˈmidʒus ~ mid͡ːʒos/.
      "Beech – beeches." "Half – halves."
  • Nouns ending in -sc, -st, -xt can form their plural in two ways, both acceptable: Adding -s (preferred), or adding -os.Template:Sfn
    Bosc → boscs or boscos. Gust → gusts or gustos. Pretext → pretexts or pretextos
    "Forest – forests." "Taste – tastes." "Pretext – pretexts."
  • Feminine nouns ending in -st always form the plural by adding -s.Template:Sfn
    Host → hosts.
    "Army – armies."

AdjectivesEdit

A Catalan adjective must agree in gender and number with the noun it accompanies. Most adjectives are placed after the nouns. Adjectives can be divided into three declension paradigms. The number inflection rules are the same as the nouns.

DeclensionEdit

Catalan adjectives can be divided in three groups according to the distinct forms it has.

Adjective with 4 forms:
verd "green"
masculine feminine
singular verd verda
plural verds verdes
Adjective with 3 forms:
feliç "happy"
masculine feminine
singular feliç
plural feliços felices
Adjective with 2 forms:
indiferent "indifferent"
masculine feminine
singular indiferent
plural indiferents

Formation of the feminine singular from the masculine singularEdit

In adjectives with distinct feminine singular form, the masculine is usually unmarked for gender, and ends in a consonant. The feminine singular form of regular adjectives can be created from the masculine singular.

Unmarked masculine formsEdit
  • Most times the feminine form is created by appending the suffix -a to the unmarked masculine form.Template:Sfn
Sec – seca. Fred – freda. Continu – contínua.
"Dry." "Cold." "Continuous."
  • If the masculine form ends in -t, -c, -s, the addition of the feminine suffix -a may cause these consonants to become voiced to -d-, -g-, -s-; or not. There are no rules governing this change.Template:Sfn
Voicing alternations
becomes voiced remains unvoiced
change masculine feminine gloss masculine feminine gloss
⟨-t⟩ → ⟨-d-⟩
/t/ → /ð/		 buit buida "empty" lent lenta "slow"
⟨-c⟩ → ⟨-g-⟩
/k/ → /ɣ/		 groc groga "yellow" ric rica "rich"
⟨-s⟩ → ⟨-s-⟩
/s/ → /z/		 obès obesa "obese" gras grassa "fat"
  • If the masculine form ends in a stressed vowel, the feminine is created by appending the suffix -na.; except nu "nude" and cru "raw".Template:Sfn
Pla – plana. Rodó – rodona.
"Flat." "Round."
  • If the masculine form ends in -au, -eu, -iu, and -ou; the feminine is formed with -ava, -ea, -iva, and -ova.Template:Sfn
Blau – blava. Europeu – europea. Viu – viva. Nou – nova.
"Blue." "European." "Alive." "New."
Marked masculine forms ending in -e or -oEdit

If the masculine form ends in -e or -o, the final vowel is substituted with -a. Many of the adjectives ending in -o come from Spanish. Template:Sfn

Ample – ampla. Maco – maca (Cf. Sp. "majo").
"Wide." "Nice."

Adjectives with indistinct masculine and feminine formsEdit

Some adjectives may have the same form in the masculine singular and feminine singular.

Capaç – capaç. Feliç – feliç. Precoç – precoç.
"Capable." "Happy." "Precocious."
  • Adjectives ending in stressed -al, stressed -el, and stressed or unstressed -il.Template:Sfn
Central -central. Rebel – rebel. Hostil – hostil. Mòbil – mòbil.
"Central." "Rebel." "Hostile." "Mobile."
Vulgar – Vulgar
"Vulgar"

Irregular feminine formsEdit

Some feminine adjectives are formed irregularly and do not adhere to the aforementioned formation rules.

Common Catalan irregular adjectivesTemplate:Sfn
masculine feminine gloss
oblic obliqua "oblique"
boig boja "insane"
roig roja " red"
lleig lletja "ugly"
mig mitja "half"
nul nul·la "null"
tranquil tranquil·la "quiet"
cru crua "raw"
nu nua "nude"
jueu jueva/jueua "Jewish"
sueu sueva/sueua "Suebian"
mal mala "bad"
paral·lel paral·lela "parallel"
car cara "expensive"
clar clara "clear"
avar avara "avaricious"
rar rara "rare"

Degrees of comparisonEdit

Degrees of comparison are expressed with a construction implying the adverb més "more" or menys "less":

  • Més ... que ("more ... than")
Sóc més alt que tu.
"I am taller than you."
  • El més ... de ("the most ... of")
Sóc el més alt de tots
"I am the tallest of all".
  • Menys ... que ("less ... than")
Sóc menys alt que tu.
"I am less tall than you."

Absolute superlativeEdit

Like many other Romance languages, Catalan adjectives have an absolute superlative form, expressed with the suffix -íssim, placed between the stem and the gender / number suffix.

Aquest home és altíssim.
"This man is very very tall."
Aquestes dones són altíssimes.
"These women are very very tall."

AdverbsEdit

Catalan adverbs, like their English counterparts, are used to modify adjectives, other adverbs, and verbs or clauses. They do not display any inflection; that is, their form does not change to reflect their precise role, nor any characteristics of what they modify.

FormationEdit

In Catalan, as in English, most adverbs are derived from adjectives. In most cases, this is done by adding the suffix -ment ("-ly") to the adjective's feminine singular form. For example, the feminine singular form of lent ("slow") is lenta, so the corresponding adverb is lentament ("slowly").

As in English, however, the adjective stem is sometimes modified to accommodate the suffix:

And, as in English, many common adverbs are not derived from adjectives at all:

així ("thus", "so").
ahir ("yesterday").

PlacementEdit

The placement of Catalan adverbs is almost the same as the placement of English adverbs.

An adverb that modifies an adjective or adverb comes before that adjective or adverb:

completament cert ("completely true").
massa ben fet ("too well done").

An adverb that modifies an infinitive (verbal noun) generally comes after the infinitive:

caminar lentament ("to walk slowly").

An adverb that modifies a main verb or clause comes either after the verb, or before the clause:

Lentament ell comença a caminar or Ell comença lentament a caminar ("Slowly, he begins to walk" or "He begins slowly to walk").

Note that, unlike in English, this is true even of negative adverbs:

Mai jo no he fet això or Jo no he fet mai això ("Never have I done that" or "I have never done that").

PossessivesEdit

Possessive pronounsEdit

Possessive pronouns are inflected for person and number of the possessor, and for gender and number of the possession. The table below summarizes all the possible forms.

Possessive pronouns Template:Sfn
singular plural
masculine feminine masculine feminine
singular first meu meva
meua		 meus meves
meues
second teu teva
teua		 teus teves
teues
third seu seva
seua		 seus seves
seues
plural first nostre nostra nostres
second vostre vostra vostres
third llur llurs
El cotxe és meu.
"The car is mine."

The feminine forms meva, teva, and seva may appear dialectally with {{#invoke:IPA|main}} instead of {{#invoke:IPA|main}}: meua, teua, and seua. Their plural forms follow the same variation (meues, teues, and seues).Template:Sfn

Possessive adjectivesEdit

Possessive adjectives are, like the possessive pronouns, inflected for person and number of the possessor, and for gender and number of the possession. The table below summarizes all the possible forms. Notice how the plural possessor forms are identical to the possessive pronoun forms.

Possessive adjectivesTemplate:Sfn
singular plural
masculine feminine masculine feminine
singular first mon ma mons mes
second ton ta tons tes
third son sa sons ses
plural first nostre nostra nostres
second vostre vostra vostres
third llur llurs

Central Catalan has abandoned almost completely unstressed possessives (mon, etc.) in favour of constructions of article + stressed forms (el meu, etc.), a feature shared with ItalianTemplate:Sfn and Portuguese.

  • Unstressed forms are rarely used in the spoken language, and are only retained for family relatives and set phrases.Template:Sfn
Ton pare. Son avi.
"Your father." "His / her grandfather."
En ma vida.
"In my whole life."
  • Instead of this, a construction of definite article + possessive pronoun + noun is preferred.Template:Sfn
Mon cotxe. (literary, archaic)
El meu cotxe. (more common)
"My car."

PronounsEdit

Personal pronounsEdit

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} The morphology of Catalan personal pronouns is complex, specially in unstressed forms, which are numerous (13 distinct forms, compared to 11 in Spanish or 9 in Italian; French has such a different system that comparisons are not feasible).Template:Sfn Features include the neuter gender (ho) and the great degree of freedom when combining different unstressed pronouns (65 combinations).Template:Sfn

This flexibility allows Catalan to use extraposition extensively, much more than French or Spanish. Thus, Catalan can have m'hi recomanaren ("they recommended me to him"), whereas in French one must say ils m'ont recommendé à lui, and in Spanish me recomendaron a él.Template:Sfn This allows the placement of almost any nominal term as a sentence topic, without having to use so often the passive voice (as in French or English), or identifying the direct object with a preposition (as in Spanish).Template:Sfn Template:Col-float

Catalan stressed pronouns
  singular plural
first person jo, mi nosaltres
second person informal tu vosaltres
respectful vós

Archaic in most dialects.

formal vostè
vosté		 vostès
vostés
third person masculine ell ells
feminine ella elles

Template:Notelist Template:Col-float-break

Catalan unstressed pronouns (only full forms)
singular plural
first person accusative, dative, reflexive em ens
second person et us
third person accusative masculine el els
feminine la les
objective neuter ho —
dative li els
reflexive es
adverbial ablative, genitive en
locative hi

Template:Col-float-end

VerbsEdit

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}}

Catalan verbs express an action or a state of being of a given subject, and like verbs in most of the Indo-European languages, Catalan verbs undergo inflection according to the following categories:

Template:Col-float

Finite Catalan verb forms for cantar ("to sing")
only 2nd person singular
mood time simple perfect
indicative present cantes has cantat
past imperfect cantaves havies cantat
remote preterite cantares hagueres cantat
future cantaràs hauràs cantat
subjunctive present cantis hagis cantat
past cantéssis haguéssis cantat
conditional cantaries hauries cantat
imperative canta —

Template:Col-float-break

Non-finite Catalan verb forms for cantar ("to sing")
simple perfect
infinitive cantar haver cantat
gerund cantant havent cantat
participle cantat –

Template:Col-float-end Like all the Romance languages, Catalan verbal inflection is more complex than the nominal. Suffixation is omnipresent, while morphological alternations play a secondary role.Template:Sfn Vowel alternances are active, as well as infixation and suppletion. However, these are not as productive as in Spanish, and are mostly restricted to irregular verbs.Template:Sfn

The Catalan verbal system is basically common to all Western Romance, except that most dialects replace the analytic perfect indicative with a periphrastic tense composed of vaig, vas (vares), va, vam (vàrem), vau (vàreu), van (varen) and the infinitive.

Catalan verbs are traditionally divided into three conjugations, with vowel themes -a-, -e-, -i-, the last two being split into two subtypes. However, this division is mostly theoretical.Template:Sfn Only the first conjugation is nowadays productive (with about 3500 common verbs), while the third (the subtype of servir, with about 700 common verbs) is semiproductive. The verbs of the second conjugation are fewer than 100, and it is not possible to create new ones, except by compounding.Template:Sfn

Verbal periphrasesEdit

Verbal periphrases of obligation:

  • Caldre + que + infinitive (personal)
  • Caldre + infinitive (impersonal)
  • Haver + de + infinitive (personal)
  • Haver-se + de + infinitive (impersonal)
  • Fer falta (impersonal)
  • Ser menester + que + verb in subjunctive (personal)
  • Ser menester + infinitive (impersonal)
  • Ser necessari + que + verb in subjunctive (personal)
  • Ser necessari + infinitive (impersonal)

(*) Although it is not correctTemplate:Explain the usage of the verbal periphrasis *tenir + que + infinitive (obligation) in the Standard (instead of haver + de, which is roughly equivalent to English "have to"), it is widely used in colloquial Catalan and Valencian. The same occurs with *haver-hi + que + infinitive.

Verbal periphrases of probability:

  • Deure + infinitive
  • Potser / Segurament / Probablement + verb in indicative
  • Poder + ser + verb in subjunctive
  • Ser probable + que + verb in subjunctive
  • Ser possible + que + verb in subjunctive
  • Poder + infinitive (it is also a periphrasis of capability)

Verbal periphrases of imminence, intention or future:

  • Ara + verb in present or future (immediate action)
  • De seguida + verb in present or future (immediate action)
  • Tot seguit + verb in present or future (immediate action)
  • Verb in present or future (not necessarily immediate action)
  • Pensar + infinitive (periphrasis of intention)
  • Anar + a + infinitive
  • Estar a punt de + infinitive (immediate action)

Other modal and aspectual verbal periphrases:

  • Vindre a + infinitive (modal verbal periphrasis of approximation value, with the verb dir, to say, it has a justification aspect)
  • Gosar + infinitive (modal verbal periphrasis of audacity)
  • Saber + infinitive (modal verbal periphrasis of ingressive value)
  • Acabar de + infinitive (modal verbal periphrasis of culminative value)
  • Arribar a + infinitive (aspectual periphrasis of culminative and ponderative value)
  • Començar a + infinitive (aspectual periphrasis of ingressive value)
  • Posar-se a + infinitive (aspectual periphrasis of ingressive value)
  • Arrencar (or Arrancar) a + infinitive (aspectual periphrasis of ingressive value)
  • Rompre a + infinitive (aspectual periphrasis of ingressive value)
  • Voler + infinitive (aspectual periphrasis of ingressive value)
  • Soler + infinitive (aspectual periphrasis of habitual value)
  • Tornar a + infinitive (aspectual periphrasis of repetitive value)
  • Estar + gerund (aspectual periphrasis of progressive value)
  • Anar + gerund (aspectual periphrasis of progressive value)
  • Continuar + gerund (aspectual periphrasis of durative value)
  • Seguir + gerund (aspectual periphrasis of durative value)
  • Tindre + past participle (aspectual periphrasis of resultative value)
  • Quedar + past participle (aspectual periphrasis of resultative value)
  • Deixar + past participle (aspectual periphrasis of resultative value)
  • Tindre + past participle (aspectual periphrasis of resultative value)

ReferencesEdit

Template:Reflist

BibliographyEdit

  • {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}

External linksEdit

Template:Navboxes Template:Authority control

Retrieved from "https://zalansite.site/mediawiki/index.php?title=Catalan_grammar&oldid=268937"