Catalan Grammar

Welcome to the 8th lesson about Catalan grammar. We will first learn about prepositions, negation, questions, adverbs, and pronouns including: personal, object and possessive pronouns.

We will start with prepositions. In general, they are used to link words to other words. For example: I speak Catalan and English the preposition is [and] because it connects both words Catalan and English. The following is a list of the most used prepositions in Catalan.

Prepositions - Catalan
and i
above per sobre de
under sota
before abans
after després de
in front of davant
behind darrere de
far from lluny de
near prop de
in a/en
inside dins/dintre
outside fora
with amb
without sense
about sobre
between entre
but però
for per
from de
to a

Preposition Grammar Rules

The following examples use prepositions in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.

Prepositions + Rules - Catalan
I eat without a knife [preposition + noun] menjo sense ganivet
she lives near the church [verb + preposition] ella viu prop de l'església
he is taller than her [adjective + preposition] ell és més alt que ella
he came with his small dog [preposition + pronoun] ell va venir amb el seu gos petit
can you come with me? [preposition + pronoun] pots venir amb mi?

Negation in Catalan

Now let's learn how to make a negative sentence (negation). For example: Saying no, I can't, I don't ... The following examples use negation in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.

Negation + Rules - Catalan
I understand you [affirmative form] t'entenc
I don't understand you [negation + verb] no t'entenc
this is not the correct word [negation + adjective] aquesta no és la paraula correcta
don't leave me [imperative negation] no em deixis
no problem [negation + noun] no hi ha cap problema

Negative Sentences - Catalan
I don't speak French [negation + present tense] no parlo francès
she didn't visit Germany [negation + past tense] ella no va visitar alemanya
he cannot see us [negative modal verb] no ens pot veure
can't she play chess? [interrogative negation] que sap jugar a escacs?
we will not come late [negation + future tense] no farem tard

Questions in Catalan

Now let's learn how to ask questions (interrogative). Such as: what, why, can you ...? Here are some common examples:

English - Catalan
how? com?
what? què?
who? que?
why? per què?
where? on?

More of the interrogative form, now in a sentence:

Questions + Rules - Catalan
where do you live? [interrogative + verb] on vius?
does she speak Chinese? [interrogative verb] que parla xinès?
how much is this? [interrogative preposition] quant és això?
can I help you? [interrogative modal verb] puc ajudar en alguna cosa?
what is your name? [interrogative preposition] com et dius?

Adverbs in Catalan

It's time to learn the adverbs in Catalan. But what is an adverb? In general, adverbs modify verbs and adjectives. For example: You speak fast. The adverb is [fast] because it describes the verb and answers the question how do you speak?. Here is a list of the most common ones:

Adverbs - Catalan
now ara
yesterday ahir
today avui
tonight aquesta nit
tomorrow demà
soon aviat
quickly ràpidament
slowly a poc a poc
together junts
very molt
almost gairebé
always sempre
usually habitualment
sometimes de vegades
rarely poques vegades
never mai

The following examples use the adverbs in different ways and places to demonstrate how it behaves in a sentence.

Adverbs + Rules - Catalan
do you understand me now? [pronoun + adverb] m'entens ara?
I need help immediately [noun + adverb] necessito ajuda immediata
she is very intelligent [adverb + adjective] ella és molt intel·ligent
I will always love you [verb + adverb] sempre t'estimaré
can we learn German together? [adverb in a question] podem aprendre alemany junts?

Pronouns in Catalan

We're almost done! This time we will learn the pronouns in Catalan. In general, a pronoun can be used instead of a noun. For example instead of saying my teacher speaks 3 languages, you can use the pronoun he, and say he speaks 3 languages. Here is a list of the most common ones:

Personal Pronouns - Catalan
I jo
you tu/vostè/vosaltres
he ell
she ella
we nosaltres
they ells

Object Pronouns - Catalan
me mi
you tu/vostè/vosaltres
him ell
her ella
us nosaltres
them ells

Possessive Pronouns - Catalan
my el(s) meu(s)/la (les) meva (meves)
your el(s) teu(s)/la (les) teva (teves)
his el(s)seu(s)/ la (les) seva (seves)
her el(s) seu(s)/la (les)seva (seves)
our el (la) nostre/els (les) nostres
their el(s) seu(s)/la (les)seva (seves)

I think it's better to put the above example in a sentence to better assist you. The following examples use pronouns in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence. We will start with the personal pronouns.

Personal Pronouns - Catalan
I am your friend [1st pronoun + verb] sóc el teu amic
you speak very fast [2nd pronoun + adverb] vostè parla molt ràpid
he has three dogs [3rd pronoun + verb] té tres gossos
she can speak German [3rd pronoun + verb] sap parlar alemany
we will not come late [1st plural pronoun] no farem tard
they bought milk and bread [3rd plural pronoun] han comprat la llet i el pa

The object pronoun is used as a target by a verb, and usually come after that verb. For example: I gave him my book. The object pronoun here is him. Here are more examples:

Object Pronouns - Catalan
can you tell me your name? [1st object pronoun] em pot dir el seu nom?
I will give you money [2nd object pronoun] et donaré els diners
she wrote him a letter [3rd object pronoun] ella li va escriure una carta
they visited her yesterday [3rd object pronoun] la van visitar ahir
can she help us? [1st pl. object pronoun] ella pot ajudar-nos?
he gave them food [3rd pl. object pronoun] els van donar de menjar

Possessive Pronouns - Catalan
my name is Maya [1st possessive pronoun] em dic maya
your brother lives here [2nd possessive pronoun] el teu germà viu aquí
her mother cooks for us [3rd possessive pronoun] la seva mare cuina per a nosaltres
his hobby is reading books [3rd possessive pronoun] el seu passatemps és la lectura
our dream is to visit Paris [1st pl. possessive pronoun] el nostre somni és visitar parís
their house is not far [3rd pl. possessive pronoun] casa llur no és gaire lluny

One more thing you need to know is the demonstrative pronouns. They're very easy to learn.

Demonstrative Pronouns - Catalan
this is my house aquesta és la meva casa
that restaurant is far aquest restaurant és molt lluny
these apples are delicious aquestes pomes són delicioses
those stars are shiny els estels són brillants

I hope you learned a lot about the Catalan grammar in this lesson. Please check out our main menu here for more lessons: homepage. The next lesson is below, have fun!