by Max Wheeler
Agreement in possessives
Number and gender agreement of the possessives is determined by the number and gender of what is possessed: el meu amic ‘my friend (m.sg.)’, la teva millor amiga ‘your (sg.) best friend(f.sg.)’, els seus cosins ‘his/her/their cousins (m.pl)’, els nostres bons consells ‘our best advice (m. pl.)’, les vostres relacions íntimes ‘your (pl)intimate relationships (f.pl)’, els seus problemes ‘their problems (m.pl.)’,
7.1.1 POSSESSIVE POSITION AND USE WITH OTHER DETERMINERS
Possessives usually precede the noun (as above) but may sometimes follow, and determiners other than the definite article may be used.
(i) Possessives with the indefinite article: un meu llibre/un llibre meu ‘a book of mine’, un seu parent/un parent seu ‘a relative of his/hers/theirs’, unes vostres amigues/unes amigues vostres ‘some friends (f.) of yours’.
(ii) Possessives with a demonstrative adjective: aquest meu gos/aquest gos meu ‘this dog of mine’, aquell seu fill petit/aquell fill petit seu ‘that younger son of his/hers/theirs’, etc.
Whether it stands before or after a noun a possessive adjective is always accompanied by a determiner (typically an article or demonstrative), with the following exceptions only where the possessive follows the noun:
(a) The set expression casa meva ‘my house/home’, casa teva, etc.
(b) vocative formulae:
Tot això, fill meu, algun dia serà teu. All this, my son, one day will be yours.
La vida és molt dura, amic meu. Life is very hard, my friend.
(c) Indefinite noun predicates:
–Per què ho fa així? –Manies seves.
‘Why does he do it like that?’ ‘He has these quirks.’
Allò eren aspiracions nostres; ben diferent de les meves aspiracions personals.
Our aspirations were one thing; quite another thing are my personal aspirations.
The presence of the definite article is what, generally, differentiates between a possessive adjective predicate and a possessive used pronominally. In the sentence Aquesta calculadora és la meva ‘This calculator is mine’ the possessive is pronominal, standing for a specific noun, so that the meaning is ‘this (and not any other) calculator is mine’. It might also be translated ‘This is my calculator’ or ‘This calculator is my one’. The same sense might be expressed in Aquesta (calculadora) és la meva calculadora. As a predicate without the article, on the other hand, Aquesta calculadora és meva is a general statement of possession, glossed as ‘This calculator is mine’ or ‘This calculator belongs to me’, where meva is a predicate adjective referring back to the noun calculadora, like japonesa ‘Japanese’, for example, or potent ‘powerful’ might be in this same context. The distinction is further illustrated in the alternatives possible in a sentence like: És difícil saber quines fotos són (les) nostres i quines són (les) vostres ‘It is hard to tell which photos are ours and which are yours’. Les nostres presupposes that there are some photos which are ours. Without the article the sentence suggests that your and our photos may be hard to tell apart in principle, without presupposing any particular set of mixed-up photos.
7.1.1.1 Llur ‘their’
The archaic possessive llur(s) ‘their’ stands without the definite article when it introduces a noun: llur (= la seva) incomprensió ‘their lack of understanding’. This form has disappeared from all spoken dialects (except in North Catalonia where its use is supported by the model of French leur). However, it has been artificially reinstated in the normative formal repertoire of modern Catalan, where it sits rather uncomfortably (a favourite Aunt Sally for critics of stilted or hypercorrect expression). Use of llur can be justified, and retains viability, in educated discourse, to avoid confusion with the singular possessor el seu, etc. In speech and less formal writing, though, the ambiguity of la seva cosina ‘his/her/their/your cousin’ is more likely to be resolved by la cosina d’ells ‘their cousin’, la cosina d’ell ‘his cousin’, la cosina d’ella ‘her cousin’, la cosina de vostè ‘your cousin’, etc. Cases of llur(s) with the definite article are occasionally recorded, exemplifying the most rarefied level of style:
Els arquitectes i llurs col·laboradors (els llurs col·laboradors/els col·laboradors llurs) mereixen els màxims elogis.
The architects and those who worked with them deserve the highest praise.
7.2 UNSTRESSED POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES
Corresponding to el meu, el teu, el seu, there are the following alternative weak or unstressed forms:
singular plural
masculine feminine masculine feminine
my mon ma mos mes
your ton ta tos tes
hislherltheir son sa sos ses
Before a feminine noun beginning with a vowel or h + vowel, mon, ton, and son replace ma, ta, sa, respectively:
son àvia hislher grandmother
These unstressed forms have no equivalents for first- and second-person plural subjects, they never appear preceded by the definite article or other determiner, and they are not used pronominally.
In most varieties of Catalan the unstressed possessives have a restricted use, accompanying only names of relatives and the nouns casa ‘house’, ‘home’ and vida ‘life’: mon avi ‘my grandfather’, ta mare ‘your mother’, ses nétes ‘his/her/their granddaughters’ (for each of which el meu, la teva, les seves, respectively, would be more common), Vine a ma casa ‘Come to my house’, En ma vida no havia vist un espectacle semblant ‘Never in my life had I seen such a sight’. The third-person forms are also found in certain formulas of respect (note capitals): Sa Majestat ‘His/Her Majesty’, Sa Excel·lència ‘His/Her Excellency’, Ses Alteses Reials ‘Their Royal Highnesses’, Sa Santedat ‘His Holiness’. In this formulaic use, Sa not *Son is used before a feminine noun beginning with a vowel. The weak system of possessives is frequent in older texts and in certain styles of poetry.
In Balearic, probably due to identity between f.sg.possessive sa and f.sg. article sa, a redundant use of the third-person weak possessive can be observed as in sa mare d’en Miquel, ‘Miquel’s mother’, son pare d’en Miquel ‘Miquel’s father’.
7.3 POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS
Possessives which take the definite article (i.e. all except llur(s) and the weak forms) can, like any adjectives, be used pronominally. The distinction between the adjectival or pronominal function depends on whether, in context, the possessive stands for a specific noun, as discussed in 7.1.1:
Quin paraigua agafem, el meu o el teu?
Which umbrella shall we take, mine or yours?
Les vostres (e.g. cortines) no són les blanques?
Aren’t yours the white ones?
Aquesta cartera és la meva.
This wallet is mine/my one.
In some cases context alone is sufficient to indicate which noun is implied, and the English translation will be more explicit:
Acabo de rebre la teva del 18 de juliol.
I have just received your (letter) of July 18.
els nostres
our relatives, members of our group
There are a number of idiomatic expressions involving pronominal possessives, where the reference is to a notional cosa ‘thing’. For example: sortir-se amb la seva ‘to have one’s way’, dir la seva ‘to have one’s say’, Ja n’has feta una de les teves ‘You’ve been up to your usual tricks’; see 3.4.
The possessive is occasionally introduced by the neuter article el or demonstrative això/allò (see 6.5 and 9.2):
Que cadascú pagui el seu. Let everybody pay their own share.
Tot el meu és vostre. Everything of mine is yours.
Allò teu va ser molt divertit. What you did/said was very amusing.
7.4 POSSESSION: OTHER EXPRESSIONS
A Catalan possessive adjective does not occur on every occasion where one would be used in English:
quan vaig obrir els ulls when I opened my eyes
un home que maltracta els fills a man who mistrea
ts his children
Sempre arriba puntual al despatx. She always arrives punctually at her office.
To supply seves at either * or ** in a statement like Caminava amb les * mans a les ** butxaques ‘He was walking along with his hands in his pockets’ would be considered obtrusive or excessive. Where possession is obvious or inherent, as in the examples just given, the article is sufficient to convey it, as again in this variation on the previous example: Caminava amb una mà a la butxaca ‘… with one hand in his pocket’. Similarly, On he deixat les claus? could be ‘Where have I left the keys?’ but could also imply the possessive meaning of ‘Where have I left my keys?’ Compare then: Parlava amb els ulls fixats en la meva cara ‘He was speaking with his gaze fixed on my face’, and the difference between Anem a casa ‘Let’s go home’ (i.e. to our house) and Anem a casa teva ‘Let’s go to your house’.
Constructions with the verb tenir ‘to have’ may likewise bypass the use of possessive adjectives:
Tenia els ulls blaus. (better than Els seus ulls eren blaus.) His eyes were blue.
Heu tingut una paciència exemplar. (La vostra paciència ha estat exemplar.) Your patience has been exemplary.
7.4.1 POSSESSIVE FUNCTIONS OF THE DATIVE
Often it is an indirect object pronoun (12.3.2.3 and 25.4) that corresponds to an English possessive:
M’he tallat el dit. I’ve cut my finger.
Li van robar el cotxe. They stole his car./His car was stolen.
No sap fer-se el nus de la corbata. He can’t tie the knot in his own tie.
This applies, as illustrated, both to ‘reflexive’ actions (23.2) and to actions done to others:
Renta’t les mans. Wash your hands.
Treu-te l’abric. Take your coat off.
Renta-li la cara. Wash his/her face.
This dative construction is usual with parts of the body, clothing, and other personal effects. In the case of personal effects and clothing, alternative use of the possessive adjective is possible:
He deixat la teva cartera a l’armari./T’he deixat la cartera a l’armari.
I’ve left your briefcase in the cupboard.
The possessive adjective may also be used when the thing possessed is emphasized or particularized by context, by an adjective or other words, or when ambiguity is to be avoided:
Vaig agafar la seva mà tremolosa. I took hold of her trembling hand.
Note that a part of the body, etc., is expressed in the singular if only one per person is meant (2.2.2):
Recomanem que us tragueu l’americana.
We recommend you to take off your jackets.
Compare:
Li vaig estrènyer les mans amb les meves.
I grasped his two hands in mine.
7.4.2 INANIMATE OR NON-PERSONAL ‘POSSESSORS’
There is a strong tendency for the possessive not to be used when the possessor is inanimate or impersonal and is not the subject of the sentence:
Vam considerar el problema i vam concloure que la solució seria massa costosa.
We considered the problem and concluded that its/the solution would be too costly.
While the presence of the possessive in Els arbres deixaven caure les (seves) fulles ‘The trees were shedding their leaves’ is tolerable to the native ear (with the inanimate noun as sentence subject), it would be avoided in Va sacsejar l’arbre per fer-ne caure els fruits ‘He shook the tree to bring down its fruit’. Sometimes a phrase involving a possessive concept is more naturally expressed by an alternative construction: La casa està arruïnada, i la (seva) reconstrucció costarà dos milions de pessetes ‘The house is in ruins, and its reconstruction will cost two million pesetas’ might preferably be rephrased as La casa està arruïnada, i costarà dos milions de pessetes de reconstruir-la ‘… to restore it will cost …’.
A factor influencing ‘avoidance’ of the possessive in this area is the availability of the Catalan adverbial pronoun en (see 12.6) with its anaphoric possessive function (= de + pronoun), referring to the object of a transitive verb:
Va agafar la capsa i en va aixecar la tapa.
He took hold of the box and raised its lid.
Quan estudiïs el text, en comprendràs la complexitat.
When you study the text you will understand its complexity.
7.5 POSSESSIVES AFTER PREPOSITIONS AND PARTICIPLES
Compound prepositions (principally those expressing position) can be followed by the possessive substituting de + the prepositional object pronoun (see 14.2.3):
En Mateu està amagat darrere seu (= darrere d’ell/ella/ells/elles/vostè/vostès).
Mateu is hidden behind him/her/them/you.
Posa’t davant meu (= davant de mi).
Stand in front of me.
Volen seure a prop/a vora teu (= a prop de/a vora de tu).
They want to sit near you.
S’han declarat a favor nostre (= a favor de nosaltres).
They have spoken out in our favour.
Associated with this construction, and with the fact that agents can in some cases be introduced by de, is the use of the possessive instead of per + a strong pronoun to express the agent in a limited range of passive sentences (see 29.1.2).
Tot això és fet meu (= fet per mi).
All this has been done by me.
No he localitzat la versió en disquet del capítol X, però n’he trobat una versió corregida teva en paper (= corregida per tu).
I haven’t located the disk version of Chapter X, but I have found a version of it corrected by you on paper.
8 MISCELLANEOUS ADJECTIVES AND PRONOUNS (QUANTIFIERS AND INDEFINITES)
8.1 GENERAL AND MORPHOLOGY
Quantifiers occupy an intermediate area of meaning between numerals and indefinites, as is seen in the relationship between dos dies ‘two days’ (numeral), uns quants dies ‘a few days’ (quantifier), alguns dies ‘some days’ (indefinite; compare uns dies (indefinite article)). The distinction between quantifiers and indefinites is hard to establish, and is perhaps more conventional than real.
Like adjectives in general, both quantifiers and indefinites can have pronominal uses: N’he agafat uns quants/alguns ‘Ihave taken a few/some (e.g. books)’. There is also a discrete set of indefinite pronouns, e.g. algú ‘someone’, ningú ‘no one’, etc. (see 8.5). Some quantifiers are used adverbially, e.g. bastant/prou ‘enough’, força ‘a lot’ (see 8.2.2 and 13.6).
Certain quantifying and indefinite adjectives are inflected, agreeing both in number and gender (molt/molta/molts/moltes ‘much’/‘many’, algun/alguna/alguns/algunes ‘some’); some are variable without having all four differentiated forms (bastant m.sg. and f.sg., bastants m.pl. and f.pl. ‘enough’, altre m.sg., altra f.sg, altres m.pl. and f.pl. ‘other’). Others are invariable, showing no number-gender agreement: força ‘much/many’, prou ‘enough’, més ‘more’, cada ‘each’; the colloquial forms bastanta and bastantes (f.sg. and f.pl.), forces, prous and masses (m.pl. and f.pl.) are avoided in formal contexts.
For easy reference quantifiers and indefinites are discussed under single headings, arranged alphabetically, at 8.2 and 8.3 respectively.
8.2 QUANTIFIERS
bastant ‘enough’, marked only for number:
He llegit bastants diaris per avui.
I’ve read enough newspapers for today.
–Tenim pomes? –Sí, encara ens en queden bastants.
‘Have we got any apples?’ ‘Yes, we’ve still got a good few left.’
In the last example it can be seen that bastant may convey the idea of ‘a certain amount or quantity’ of something, as well as of sufficiency: see below under prou.
força ‘very much/many’, ‘a lot (of)’, invariable:
M’agrada l’amanida amb força ceba. I like salad with plenty of onion.
Han sorgit força dificultats. A lot of difficulties have arisen.
gaire ‘(not (very)) much/many’, marked only for number:
This word occurs only in n
egative constructions (see 8.4), or after si ‘if’ or in interrogatives (that is, it is a negative polarity item; see 26.1.5):
No té gaire paciència.
She hasn’t got much patience.
No sé si hi haurà gaires complicacions.
I don’t know if there’ll be many complications.
Tens gaire interès a fer-ho?
Are you very interested in doing it?
Gaire is invariable in Balearic: No sé si hi haurà gaire complicacions.
gens (de) ‘none (at all)’, ‘any’:
Strictly a degree adverbial, gens can stand on its own; otherwise it is almost invariably followed by de, in negative (see 8.4) or interrogative contexts, or after si ‘if’. See 8.6iii for the distinction in usage between gens and cap. Gens de introduces a singular non-count noun:
Si teniu gens de compassió m’escoltareu amb atenció.
If you have any compassion at all you’ll listen to me carefully.
–On és el sucre? –No ensn’ha quedat gens.
‘Where’s the sugar?’ ‘We’ve none left.’
Anaphoric constructions relating to gens (de) involve pronominalization with the clitic en, as in the first and last examples above. See 12.6v.
massa ‘too much’, ‘too many’, invariable:
Tenia massa pressa per saludar-me.
She was in too much of a hurry to say hello to me.
Ens han donat massa maldecaps.
They have given us too many headaches.
