The 20 Most Common Catalan Verbs

If you’ve already started learning Catalan, then you’ll know a few verbs already. They’re an important building block and often a tricky part of grammar because in many languages, verbs change to reflect tense and who is speaking or being spoken about. In this post, you’ll learn about the 20 most common verbs in Catalan, as well as how to conjugate them in the present, past, and future tenses!

Learning grammar is a time-consuming effort in any language, especially when it comes to verbs. Romance languages are even more so because verbs change a lot more than we’re used to in English, depending on who is the subject of the verb.

Still, that doesn’t mean they’re impossible to learn! With just a little time and effort, you’ll be speaking like a pro.

We’ve collected the 20 most common Catalan verbs (taken from this Wiktionary frequency list) and conjugated them in the present, imperfect, preterite (a type of past tense explained below), and future tenses for you. Plus, some of the verbs have some added notes and phrases that might help you with their usage and teach you something new.

But first, let’s do a quick overview of those tenses.

The tenses

A verb tense is an addition or change to a verb that shows when an action takes place. For example, compare the English I go and I went. One is happening now, and one happened in the past.

Different languages have different ways of showing tenses. In English, we differentiate between something happening in the general present tense (I go) and something happening as we’re speaking (I am going), which not all languages do.

Likewise, in Catalan, there is more than one past tense. There are three of them, although one is rarely used in spoken language.

We’ve conjugated these verbs in the four simple tenses: present, past (preterite), past (imperfect), and future.

The present tense

The present tense expresses an action or state in the present time. It is also used to express things that are usual or characteristic.

The past tense

The past tense, also called the preterite, expresses an action or state that happened in the past. (For Catalan, these are completed actions.)

The imperfect tense

The imperfect tense expresses a continuing state or incomplete action, especially in the past.

The future tense

The future tense expresses actions or states that are yet to come.

The verbs

We pulled these 20 verbs from this Catalan Wiktionary frequency list, taking their first occurrence and descending in order of frequency. That means some of them might seem higher up than they should be – because they are not only used on their own as verbs but also as auxiliary or ‘helper’ verbs for other phrases.

An example of this in English would be I have done it. In this sentence, ‘have’ doesn’t have its usual meaning of ‘to possess’ something. Instead, it is helping the verb ‘to do’ and expressing a tense. This is the same in Catalan, though you might see some other verbs up at the top there.

Either way, these are all useful verbs to know!

1. anar – to go

personpresentimperfectpreteritefuture
jovaiganavaaníaniré
tuvasanavesanaresaniràs
ell, ella, vostèvaanavaanàanirà
nosaltresanemanàvemanàremanirem
vosaltresaneuanàveuanàreuanireu
ells, elles, vostèsvananavenanarenaniran

You might hear anar used a lot in speech, as it is often used to form the preterite when talking. This form is anar + infinitive, e.g. Vaig donar has the same meaning as Doní.

There are also some idiomatic phrases where you would use anar:

  • anar a mal borràs – to go downhill, to go south
  • anar a parar – to end up, to wind up

2. ser/ésser – to be

personpresentimperfectpreteritefuture
josocerafuiseré
tuetseresforesseràs
ell, ella, vostèéserafouserà
nosaltressoméremfóremserem
vosaltressouéreufóreusereu
ells, elles, vostèssónerenforenseran

If you’ve learnt any Spanish, then the concept of two words meaning ‘to be’ won’t be wholly unfamiliar to you. It’s the same in Catalan!

Ser or ésser (ser comes from a reduction of ésser, so they have the same meaning and are conjugated in the same way) indicate an inherent quality. If you want to talk about qualities that are temporary or only occur at a particular time, then you would use estar.

For example, Sóc d’Espanya means ‘I am from Spain’. We use ser/ésser because this is an unchangeable state.

However, Estic a Itàlia means ‘I am in Italy’. Here, we use estar [link to verb below] because this is only a temporary state that could change.

3. haver – to have

personpresentimperfectpreteritefuture
johe, haighaviahaguíhauré
tuhashavieshaguereshauràs
ell, ella, vostèhahaviahaguéhaurà
nosaltreshavem, hemhavíemhaguéremhaurem
vosaltreshaveu, heuhavíeuhaguéreuhaureu
ells, elles, vostèshanhavienhaguerenhauran

Although haver means ‘to have’, it is not in the sense of ownership. It’s used most often as an auxiliary verb, as mentioned above. You’ll use haver a lot to form perfect tenses (past/future perfect, e.g. ‘I have done’ or ‘I will have done’).

Haver is used to indicate things exist with the phrase ‘there is/are’ – hi ha. It is also used with de to form haver de, which means ‘to have to [do something]’. This is the only time you will use this haig first-person form, with haig de.

4. fer – to do, to make

personpresentimperfectpreteritefuture
jofaigfeiafiufaré
tufasfeiesferesfaràs
ell, ella, vostèfafeiafeufarà
nosaltresfemfèiemféremfarem
vosaltresfeufèieuféreufareu
ells, elles, vostèsfanfeienferenfaran

As well as meaning ‘to do’ or ‘to make’, fer is used when talking about the weather. For example, fa fred means ‘it is cold’.

Some idiomatic phrases use fer:

  • fer cinc cèntims – to summarise
  • bufar i fer ampolles – a piece of cake, a walk in the park (lit. to blow and make bottles, referring to bottle makers who blew glass)

5. tenir – to have

personpresentimperfectpreteritefuture
jotincteniatinguítindré
tutensteniestinguerestindràs
ell, ella, vostèteniatinguétindrà
nosaltrestenimteníemtinguéremtindrem
vosaltresteniuteníeutinguéreutindreu
ells, elles, vostèstenentenientinguerentindran

Unlike haver, tenir‘s meaning of ‘to have’ is the same as ‘to possess or own something’. Useful!

6. poder – to be able to, can

personpresentimperfectpreteritefuture
jopucpodiapoguípodré
tupotspodiespoguerespodràs
ell, ella, vostèpotpodiapoguépodrà
nosaltrespodempodíempoguérempodrem
vosaltrespodeupodíeupoguéreupodreu
ells, elles, vostèspodenpodienpoguerenpodran

The Catalan word potser which means ‘maybe’ or ‘perhaps’ is a joining of two different verb forms – pot (‘it may’) and ser (‘to be’).

7. arribar – to arrive

personpresentimperfectpreteritefuture
joarriboarribavaarribíarribaré
tuarribesarribavesarribaresarribaràs
ell, ella, vostèarribaarribavaarribàarribarà
nosaltresarribemarribàvemarribàremarribarem
vosaltresarribeuarribàveuarribàreuarribareu
ells, elles, vostèsarribenarribavenarribarenarribaran

An idiomatic phrase that uses arribar is arribi el que arribi, which means ‘come what may’.

8. trobar – to find

personpresentimperfectpreteritefuture
jotrobotrobavatrobítrobaré
tutrobestrobavestrobarestrobaràs
ell, ella, vostètrobatrobavatrobàtrobarà
nosaltrestrobemtrobàvemtrobàremtrobarem
vosaltrestrobeutrobàveutrobàreutrobareu
ells, elles, vostèstrobentrobaventrobarentrobaran

Several verbs in Catalan have different meanings if they are used with a reflexive pronoun, and trobar is one of them. If you see the verb trobar-se, then it will mean ‘to meet’ instead of ‘to find’.

The proverb tal faràs, tal trobaràs uses both trobar and the verb fer [link to fer]. It means ‘you make the bed you lie in’; or, more literally, ‘so you do, thus will find’.

9. obrar – to act, to behave, to work

personpresentimperfectpreteritefuture
joobroobravaobríobraré
tuobresobravesobraresobraràs
ell, ella, vostèobraobravaobràobrarà
nosaltresobremobràvemobràremobrarem
vosaltresobreuobràveuobràreuobrareu
ells, elles, vostèsobrenobravenobrarenobraran

The meaning of ‘to work’ here is not ‘to go and do a job’ (that’s treballar!), but ‘to function correctly’. Another synonym for this meaning would be funcionar.

The Catalan word for a play (theatre production), obra is related to obrar. Obra can also be translated as a literary or artistic work (e.g. a book or painting) or as the effort expended on a task (e.g. I put in a lot of work).

10. partir – to divide, to part, to split

personpresentimperfectpreteritefuture
joparteixopartiapartípartiré
tuparteixespartiesparitrespartiràs
ell, ella, vostèparteixpartiapartípartirà
nosaltrespartimpartíempartírempartirem
vosaltrespartiupartíeupartíreupartireu
ells, elles, vostèsparteixenpartienpartirenpartiran

The preposition a partir de involves partir and means ‘starting from’, or ‘beginning’.

11. estar – to be, to be situated

personpresentimperfectpreteritefuture
joesticestavaestiguíestaré
tuestàsestavesestigueresestaràs
ell, ella, vostèestàestavaestiguéestarà
nosaltresestemestàvemestiguéremestarem
vosaltresesteuestàveuestiguéreuestareu
ells, elles, vostèsestanestavenestiguerenestaran

Like we said when referring to ser, estar is used to talk about temporary qualities or states. It is also used to talk about where something is in terms of its location.

Estar is also used to form something called the continuous aspect. This is something we have in English – ‘He is already sleeping’ as opposed to ‘he sleeps’. In Catalan, you use estar + present participle, like in English. So, ‘he is already sleeping’ becomes Ja està dormint.

12. començar – to begin

personpresentimperfectpreteritefuture
jocomençocomençavacomencícomençaré
tucomencescomençavescomençarescomençaràs
ell, ella, vostècomençacomençavacomençàcomençarà
nosaltrescomencemcomençàvemcomençàremcomençarem
vosaltrescomenceucomençàveucomençàreucomençareu
ells, elles, vostèscomencencomençavencomençarencomençaran

The verb començar is suspected to come from the Vulgar Latin *cominitāre, which is also where we get the English word ‘commence’!

13. morir – to die

personpresentimperfectpreteritefuture
jomoromoriamorímoriré
tumorsmoriesmoriresmoriràs
ell, ella, vostèmormoriamorímorirà
nosaltresmorimmoríemmoríremmorirem
vosaltresmoriumoríeumoríreumorireu
ells, elles, vostèsmorenmorienmorirenmoriran

The word mort, which derives from morir, means ‘dead person’, but also colloquially refers to difficult problems a person can face.

14. passar – to happen, to spend, to pass

personpresentimperfectpreteritefuture
jopassopassavapassípassaré
tupassespassavespassarespassaràs
ell, ella, vostèpassapassavapassàpassarà
nosaltrespassempassàvempassàrempassarem
vosaltrespasseupassàveupassàreupassareu
ells, elles, vostèspassenpassavenpassarenpassaran

The meaning ‘to spend’ is almost exclusively used to refer to time – as that is something that ‘passes by’.

The phrase qui dia passa, any empeny literally translates as ‘he who passes a day, pushes a year’. It means the same as ‘never put off until tomorrow what you can do today’.

15. donar – to give

personpresentimperfectpreteritefuture
jodonodonavadonídonaré
tudonesdonavesdonaresdonaràs
ell, ella, vostèdonadonavadonàdonarà
nosaltresdonemdonàvemdonàremdonarem
vosaltresdoneudonàveudonàreudonareu
ells, elles, vostèsdonendonavendonarendonaran

The Catalan verb donar comes from the Latin donāre, which is the present active infinitive of the verb dōnō. Dōnō means ‘I give, I present’.

16. dir – to say, to tell

personpresentimperfectpreteritefuture
jodicdeiadiguídiré
tudiusdeiesdigueresdiràs
ell, ella, vostèdiudeiadiguédirà
nosaltresdiemdèiemdiguéremdirem
vosaltresdieudèieudiguéreudireu
ells, elles, vostèsdiuendeiendiguerendiran

Dir is used in the phrases és a dir, which means ‘that is, in other words’, as well as voler dir, which is often used to mean ‘to be sure’ but only as a question tag (e.g. vols dir? means ‘are you sure?’).

The reflexive version of the verb, dir-se, means ‘to be called’.

17. anomenar – to call, to name, to mention

personpresentimperfectpreteritefuture
joanomenoanomenavaanomeníanomenaré
tuanomenesanomenavesanomenaresanomenaràs
ell, ella, vostèanomenaanomenavaanomenàanomenarà
nosaltresanomenemanomenàvemanomenàremanomenarem
vosaltresanomeneuanomenàveuanomenàreuanomenareu
ells, elles, vostèsanomenenanomenavenanomenarenanomenaran

One proverb that uses the verb anomenar is a casa d’un penjat no hi anomenis cordes. The equivalent meaning in English is ‘don’t talk about an uncomfortable situation in the presence of someone affected by it’.

18. rebre – to receive, to get

personpresentimperfectpreteritefuture
joreborebiarebírebré
turepsrebiesreberesrebràs
ell, ella, vostèreprebiarebérebrà
nosaltresrebemrebíemrebéremrebrem
vosaltresrebeurebíeurebéreurebreu
ells, elles, vostèsrebenrebienreberenrebran

In Catalan, a building’s entrance hall is called a rebedor, which is derived from this verb. Rebre also has some alternative forms – you might hear or see recebre instead or, if you are in Alghero, Italy, the Catalan dialect spoken there tends to use the term recivir.

19. tornar – to come back, to return

personpresentimperfectpreteritefuture
jotornotornavatornítornaré
tutornestornavestornarestornaràs
ell, ella, vostètornatornavatornàtornarà
nosaltrestornemtornàvemtornàremtornarem
vosaltrestorneutornàveutornàreutornareu
ells, elles, vostèstornentornaventornarentornaran

The reflexive form of tornar, tornar-se, means ‘to turn’ or ‘to become’. Tornar comes from the Old Catalan tornar, which is derived from the Latin tornāre, meaning ‘I turn, I round off’.

20. conèixer – to know

personpresentimperfectpreteritefuture
joconecconeixiaconeguíconeixeré
tuconeixesconeixiesconegueresconeixeràs
ell, ella, vostèconeixconeixiaconeguéconeixerà
nosaltresconeixemconeixíemconeguéremconeixerem
vosaltresconeixeuconeixíeuconeguéreuconeixereu
ells, elles, vostèsconeixenconeixienconeguerenconeixeran

Conèixer‘s meaning of ‘to know’ refers to knowing a person or place, getting to know somebody, or recognising something. ‘To know’ a fact is the verb saber.

The phrase donar a conèixer combines two of the verbs on our list and means ‘to make known’.

What’s next?

Now you’ve learnt more about the 20 most common Catalan verbs, it’s time to use them! Put them into practice in your next conversation, or why not use the uTalk app and see which of these verbs crop up in the sentences on there?

You can learn Catalan with uTalk for less. Get 40% off your next subscription and level up your language learning by playing games, scoring points, and having fun.

Happy language learning!

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