Catalan

by Max Wheeler

  Indirect object but no direct object

  (i) Receiving or acquiring something:

  A veure si li toca un premi. Let’s see if she gets a prize.

  Els correspon la meitat dels beneficis. They are entitled to half of the profits.

  Li interessa saber-ho. It’s in his interest to know.

  No li sembla que …? Doesn’t she think that…?

  No els convenia que s’anunciés. It didn’t suit them for it to be announced.

  El clima no li provava. The climate didn’t suit her.

  Els sonava malament. It sounded wrong to them.

  Li és igual. It’s all the same to him.

  Li consta que … She knows for sure that…

  Què li passa? What’s wrong with him?

  No li agrada això? Doesn’t he like this?

  Els va caure bé el guia. The guide made a good impression on them.

  I ara li sap molt de greu. And now he is very sorry. (lit. It causes much regret to him.)

  Els arribava una pudor d’oli barat. A smell of cheap oil reached them.

  (ii) Loss or removal from:

  Els queia la bava. They were drooling.

  (ii) ((In)sufficiency, lack, excess:

  No els basta això? Isn’t that enough for them?

  Li faltava un pulmó. One of his lungs was missing.

  Els pantalons li venien massa estrets. Her trousers were too tight.

  No els ha sobrat res del que els vam donar. They have nothing over from what we gave them.

  This multiplicity of meanings and nuances associated with the indirect object can give rise to various ambiguities:

  Li van adquirir un cotxe nou.

  They acquired a new car from him or for him.

  No li penso comprar res.

  I don’t intend to buy anything from him or for him.

  Algú li ha pispat un boli.

  Someone has pinched a biro from him or for him.

  Context nearly always clarifies what meaning is intended. Otherwise ambiguity can be resolved by recasting the sentence: Va comprar el regal per a mi/d’ella ‘He bought the present for me/from her’. Correspondingly, gender ambiguity in li or els can be resolved, where circumstance makes it necessary, by introducing a ell, a ella, a ells, a elles (or a fuller reference to the actual indirect object) as appropriate:

  No cal explicar-li a ella que …

  There’s no need to explain to her that…

  I tu creus que a ells els ha d’importar més que a elles?

  And you think it’s more important to the men than to the women?

  (See 12.8 below on redundant pronouns.)

  Unlike the direct object third-person pronouns, which can refer both to persons and to things, the use of li and els is restricted in some measure to personal indirect objects. The pronoun hi, discussed in 12.7, covers many of the cases where an indirect object construction has an inanimate object, as in La salsa era bona, però hi faltava un poc més de sal The sauce was good, but it needed a bit more salt’; Α aquests diners s’hi ha d’afegir una nova aportació ‘A new contribution is to be added to this money’; Acosta la cadira a en Joan ‘Move the chair closer to Joan’ → Acosta-li la cadira, but Acosta la cadira a la paret ‘Move the chair closer to the wall’ → Acosta-hi la cadira. For further discussion, see 12.7ii.

  12.4 THIRD-PERSON REFLEXIVE CLITICS

  Reflexive and pronominal verbs are discussed in detail in Chapter 23. For the purposes of the present chapter the point to be remarked on is that, while for the first two persons the reflexive pronoun is not distinct from the normal indirect object and direct object forms (em, etc., et., etc., ens, etc., us/vos), there is a separate form for the third-person reflexive pronoun. Es (s’, -se, ’s) is used for both singular and plural (and is also the form corresponding to vostè(s)). It performs both the direct object and the indirect object functions.

  Direct object

  S’ha vestit ella sola.

  She got dressed all by herself.

  S’han rentat però encara no s’han pentinat.

  They’ve got washed but they haven’t combed their hair yet.

  Indirect object

  S’ha deixat una nota. She has left herself a note.

  S’han arrissat els cabells. They have had their hair curled.

  S’ha begut un got de llet. He’s drunk a glass of milk.

  See Chapter 29 on es as impersonal subject.

  As a single pronoun, es behaves, phonologically and orthographically, exactly like a normal pronominal clitic (on the pattern of em and et) in relation to the verb with which it stands: Es posarà dret ‘He will stand up, S’ha posat dret ‘He has stood up’, Posi’s dret/Posin-se drets ‘Stand up’ (vostè(s)).

  Various combinations of weak pronouns involving es will be encountered in 12.9.3.7.

  12.5 THE NEUTER PRONOUN HO

  This weak pronoun represents the direct object ‘it’ when the direct object complement cannot be identified as a specific noun. Ho thus refers to something actually or notionally represented by això/allò ‘this’/’that’, or it can stand for a whole idea or sentence. The use of neuter pronouns in general is discussed in 6.5.

  –Heu descobert quan arribarà l’avió? –No, encara no ho hem pogut saber.

  ‘Have you discovered when the plane gets in?’ ‘No, we haven’t found out yet.’

  No volia dir-nos el que cercava i era impossible endevinar-ho.

  He wouldn’t tell us what he was looking for and it was impossible to guess.

  In the last two cases the subordinate clauses quan arribarà l’avió and el que cercava could both be represented by això/allò: Heu descobert això, No volia dir-nos allò. The same examples also illustrate how the anaphora with ho is not always expressed in English:

  Ho sento.

  I’m sorry.

  No ho sé.

  I don’t know.

  Li hem explicat com s’ha de fer, però no sé si ho ha entès.

  We’ve explained to him how it has to be done, but I don’t know if he’s understood.

  Aquella és una heroïna, però mai no ho diries.

  That woman is a heroine, but you’d never tell.

  English ‘it’ is translated by ho in sentences like Ho trobo increïble ‘I find it incredible’, Ho crèiem impossible ‘We thought it impossible’, Ho veig difícil ‘It looks hard to me’ (lit. I see it hard), but not when ‘it’ anticipates a full complement clause following the main verb:

  Considero intolerable que facin tal proposta.

  I consider it intolerable that they should make such a proposal.

  Trobàvem escandalós que no se’ls castigués.

  We found it scandalous that they weren’t punished.

  The clitic ho is also used to represent the predicate (an indefinite noun phrase, an adjective phrase or an adverbial/prepositional phrase) of the verbs ser ‘be’, estar ‘be’, semblar/parèixer ‘seem’, ‘look’, aparentar ‘show’, ‘look’, resultar ‘turn out’, esdevenir ‘become’:

  Indefinite noun phrases:

  Voldria esser metge, però no ho seré.

  I would like to be a doctor, but I won’t be one.

  Ja no ho som, de veïnes.

  We aren’t any more – neighbours, that is.

  Adjective phrases:

  Et pregunto si és llicenciada ο no ho és.

  I’m asking you whether she is a graduate or not.

  Està malalta, però no ho aparenta.

  She is ill, but she doesn’t show it.

  Adverbial/prepositional phrases:

  –Aquelles flors són per al menjador? –Aquestes ho són.

  ‘Are those flowers for the dining room?’ ‘These are’ (sc. for the dining room).

  Aquest xicot és d’Albaida, i aquell altre també ho és.

  This lad is from Albaida, and that one is (sc. from Albaida) too.

  –És prop? –Sí, però no ho sembla.

  ‘Is it near?’ ‘Yes, but it doesn’t seem li
ke it.’

  Avui se’ls veu molt afectats, però demà no ho estaran pas tant.

  They appear very upset today, but tomorrow they won’t be so badly affected.

  (The predicate of estar is always expressed with hi in Balearic; see 12.7iv.)

  Where a noun attribute is definite rather than indefinite, use of el/els is preferred to ho in the normative standard language:

  –Vostè no és el senyor Ribes. –I si el fos?

  ‘You aren’t Mr Ribas.’ ‘And (what) if I was (him)?’

  Vull saber si és el cap de departament ο no l’és.

  I want to know if he is the head of department or not.

  Té dinou anys pero no els aparenta.

  She is nineteen but she doesn’t look it.

  Ho would be acceptable in these last examples (Vull saber si és el cap de departament ο no ho és): see also 12.6vi and 12.7iv for en and hi in this attributive function.

  12.6 THE ADVERBIAL PRONOUN EN

  This adverbial pronoun represents basically de + noun phrase in a variety of constructions:

  (i) En meaning ‘from’ or ‘out of’ in expressions of place:

  Han entrat a classe a les nou i no n’han sortit fins gairebé la una.

  They went into lessons at nine o’clock and didn’t come out until nearly one.

  Ell devia sortir cap a Palma justament quan jo en tornava.

  He must have been setting out for Palma just as I was coming back (from there).

  Si vas al pis de dalt, baixa’n les capses.

  If you’re going to the top floor bring down the boxes (from there).

  (ii) En meaning ‘of’/‘about’ or ‘from’ in other contexts (including the complements of adjectives):

  –T’ha explicat allò de la vaga? –No; és que no volia parlar-ne (i.e. de la vaga).

  ‘Did he explain to you about the strike?’ ‘No, he didn’t want to talk about it.’

  La física no és el seu fort: no en té ni idea (i.e. de la física).

  Physics isn’t his strong point: he’s got no idea about it.

  –Ja estic fart d’aquesta feina. –Paciència, que tots n’estem farts (i.e. d’aquesta feina; fart de = ‘tired of’).

  ‘I’m sick and tired of this job.’ ‘Have patience, we’re all fed up with it.’

  La iniciativa d’enganxar els cartells va ser un gran èxit; tot el barri n’era ple (ple de = ‘full of’).

  The initiative of sticking up the posters was a great success; the whole neighbourhood was covered in them.

  (iii) En in a possessive function relating to the complement of a direct object:

  Hem vist els efectes de la reacció, però encara no n’hem descobert les causes.

  We have seen the effects of the reaction, but still haven’t discovered its causes.

  Era un poble molt bonic, però ara no puc recordar-ne el nom.

  It was a very attractive village, but I can’t remember the name of it now.

  (iv) En referring to the object of a verb that takes a prepositional object with de:

  Has aconseguit una gran victòria i ara en presumeixes.

  You have achieved a great victory and now you are boasting about it.

  Si fem això crec que ens en penedirem ben aviat.

  If we do that I think we’ll very soon regret it.

  As many such verbs are pronominal (formed with the reflexive pronoun) such constructions involve en in a two-pronoun group: see below 12.9.3.7.

  In popular speech the prepositional verb recordar-se de has the en encrusted on to the infinitive (forming non-standard enrecordar-se de), so that en is repeated to express the object: No sé si se n’enrecordarà (instead of… se’n recordarà) ‘I don’t know if she will remember’.

  (v) En representing a noun phrase presented in a partitive sense (for example, the complement of a numeral or quantifier):

  –Ha vingut algun client? –No, no n’ha vingut cap encara.

  ‘Have any customers come?’ ‘No, none have come yet.’

  –Prendreu cafè? –No, gràcies, ja n’he pres.

  ‘Will you have coffee?’ ‘No thanks, I’ve had some already.’

  De tots els convocats, només n’han assistit cinc.

  Only five have turned up out of all those who were invited.

  Tenia tres fills, però va morir-ne un en un accident de treball.

  She used to have three sons, but one (of them) died in an accident at work.

  –Encara queden sol·licitants per entrevistar? –Ja no en queden gaires.

  ‘Are there still some applicants to be interviewed?’ ‘There aren’t many left now.’

  Ja són sis els morts … i en podrien ser més.

  Six people are already dead …and there could be more.

  When a noun is represented by partitive en, any adjectives referring to that noun are preceded by de (often with no direct structural equivalence in English):

  D’aquests sobres, en vull deu de corrents i tres de grans.

  I want ten normal-size and three big envelopes like these.

  Tinc tres camises verdes però només en tinc una de blanca.

  I’ve got three green shirts but only one white one.

  Volíem comprar maduixes però no en trobàvem de fresques.

  We wanted to buy some strawberries but couldn’t find any fresh ones.

  Similarly, a noun represented by partitive en is preceded by de if it is repeated, either before or after the verb (left- or right-detached, see Chapter 36):

  De paciència no en té gens.

  She has no patience at all.

  Jo no en pronunciaria mai, de renecs així.

  I would never utter curses like that.

  De totes les cartes que he rebut encara no n’he contestades (or contestat) més que dues ο tres.

  Of all the letters I have received I have still answered only two or three.

  (On the optional agreement of the past participle with a clitic en, see 21.1.2iv.)

  Partitive en occurs frequently as complement of hi ha ‘there is’ (in all tenses) so that the combination n’hi (en + hi) is something of a fixed idiom (see 12.7v):

  Compra pa, que no n’hi ha gens a casa.

  Buy some bread because there’s none at home.

  Buscava una altra solució però em vaig adonar que no n’hi havia cap/que no podia haver-n’hi cap.

  I was looking for another solution but realized there wasn’t one/could not be one.

  (vi) Attributive en:

  The pronoun ho used to represent the complement of ser, estar, semblar, etc., as described in 12.5, is colloquially replaced by en:

  La recompensa important que s’havia esmentat, no en va resultar tant com ens havíem imaginat.

  The significant reward that had been mentioned proved to be less so than we’d imagined.

  In this example no ho va resultar would be preferred by normative grammar, but constructions with en do seem firmly rooted, and ho would be avoided by some in exclamations like Que n’és, de valent! ‘How brave he is!’ (see 27.2.2.2).

  (vii) En with verbs of motion:

  Anar-se’n ‘to go (away)’ and tornar-se’n ‘to return’ have the pronouns (pronominal + en) idiomatically as an integral part. (On the position and spelling of pronouns in combination, see section 12.9.)

  Quan jo me n’anava tu ja te’n tornaves.

  As I was leaving you were already coming back.

  Other common verbs of motion (venir, volar, pujar, baixar) are also occasionally found in an analogous prepositional form: venir-se’n ‘come back’, ‘come down’, (en)volar-se’n ‘fly away’, pujar-se’n ‘climb up’, baixar-se’n ‘go down’ (see 23.6):

  Se’n ve la vaca tota sola. És cega. (Joan Maragall, La vaca cega)

  The cow comes back this way all on her own. She is blind.

  Els ocells se’n volaran si el xiquet se’n puja a l’arbre. (Solà, Normativa)

  The birds will fly away if the boy climbs the tree.

  So
rtir-se’n (eixir-se’n in Valencia), from sortir/eixir ‘go/come out’, is used idiomatically to mean ‘get by’, ‘manage’, ‘cope’:

  –Com va la feina? –Me’n vaig sortint.

  ‘How’s the job going?’ ‘I’m getting along nicely.’

  La seva situació era difícil, però se’n va sortir molt bé.

  Her situation was very difficult, but she coped very well.

  (viii) en with dir ‘call’ and associated idioms:

  En represents a complement of the verb dir in the sense of ‘call’, ‘say (= name, designate)’:

  Per què li dius Mariana, si no se’n diu pas?

  Why are you calling her Mariana if that’s not her name?

  Els valencians diuen rabosa de la guineu: com en diuen a les Balears?

  The Valencians say rabosa for ‘fox’: what’s it called in the Balearic Islands?

  Likewise with nomenar ‘appoint’:

  Podrà ser el nou secretari del partit, encara que ell no creu que l’en nomenin.

  He could be the new party secretary, although he doesn’t think he’ll be appointed.

  Note the idiomatic use of dir-ne in the conditional, meaning ‘might call’, ‘might refer to’ and so on; and similarly diguem-ne ‘so to speak’, ‘as it were’:

  Em refereixo a allò que en diríem el seu tacte diplomàtic.