by Max Wheeler
I am referring to what we might call his diplomatic tact.
en aquesta mena de relació diguem-ne platònica
in this type of, as it were, Platonic relationship
(ix) Examples of other idioms involving en:
Es va fer comunista quan estudiava en la universitat, i la seva dona també se’n va fer per aquell temps.
He became a communist while at university, and his wife also became one around that time.
Quinze i vuit fan vint-i-tres, i en porto dos.
Fifteen and eight make twenty-three, so carry two.
haver-n’hi prou: Ja n’hi ha prou de xafardeig!
That’s enough gossip!
tenir-ne prou: Amb això en tinc prou.
That’s enough for me.
No n’hi ha per tant!
There’s no need to make such a fuss!
See 25.2 for discussion of en corresponding to the subject of certain unaccusative verbs.
12.7 THE ADVERBIAL PRONOUN HI
Use of this pronoun can be described under seven main headings:
(i) Hi standing for the combination of any preposition, other than de, with a noun phrase. Representing a/en + noun phrase, hi frequently corresponds to ‘there’ in expressions of place and movement:
Vaig buscar-te al bar, però no hi eres.
I looked for you in the bar but you weren’t there.
Obre el calaix i posa-hi aquests papers.
Open the drawer and put these papers in (it).
Per molt que els altres critiquin la teva gestió, jo no hi veig cap deficiència.
However much the others criticize your procedure, I don’t see any deficiency in it.
Ens havien parlat tant de Morella que al final vam decidir d’anar-hi.
We had heard so much about Morella that we finally decided to go there.
–Heu vingut a través del bosc? –No, avui no hi hem vingut.
‘Did you come through the wood?’ ‘No we didn’t come that way today.’
There are many cases where a or en does not refer to physical location or direction (see (ii) below):
No el conec ni sé si hi puc confiar. (hi = en ell)
I don’t know him and don’t know if I can trust him.
Si jo renunciava a tenir-ho, hi renunciaries tu també? (hi = a tenir-ho)
If I turned it down would you (do so) as well?
La situació és dura i li costarà d’acostumar-s’hi. (hi = a ella = a la situació)
The situation is hard and he’ll find it difficult to get used to it.
Examples of other prepositions (+ noun phrase) represented by hi:
Avui juguem contra un equip que fa anys que no hi juguem.
Today we are playing a team that we haven’t played against for years.
–Encara penses en la Carme? –No deixaré mai de pensar-hi.
‘Are you still thinking about Carme?’ ‘I’ll never stop thinking about her.’
Sortia amb en Terenci, però ja no hi surt.
She used to go out with Terenci but she doesn’t (go out with him) any more.
El camí era tan estret que el camió no podia passar-hi.
The track was so narrow that the lorry couldn’t get along it.
(ii) Hi standing for an inanimate indirect object:
En Nicolau dedicarà l’estiu a la redacció de la gramàtica.
Nicolau will devote the summer to writing the grammar.
→ En Nicolau hi dedicarà l’estiu.
Nicolau will devote the summer to it.
Gemma donà colps a la taula.
lit. Gemma gave blows to the table.
→ Gemma hi donà colps.
lit. Gemma gave blows to it.
El govern no concedia prou importància a les crítiques de l’oposició.
The government did not grant enough importance to opposition criticisms.
→ El govern no hi concedia prou importància.
The government did not grant them enough importance.
Α això, hi he dedicat molt de temps.
I have devoted a lot of time to this.
El problema sembla insoluble si no hi apliquem la ciència.
The problem seems insoluble if we don’t apply science to it.
Use of hi instead of li (see 12.3.2.3) for an inanimate indirect object appears to be affected by various fine distinctions. There is clearly an overlap between the locative/directional function of a (covered in (i) above), as can be detected in some examples already given: Acosta-hi (a la paret) la cadira ‘Move the chair closer to it (the wall)’, La situació és dura i li costarà d’acostumar-s’hi ‘The situation is hard and he’ll find it difficult to get used to it’, si no hi apliquem (al problema) la ciència ‘if we don’t apply science to it (the problem)’.
The impersonal/personal distinction is readily observed in contrasting sentences like:
En aquest edifici hi trobo un sol punt flac.
I find just one weak point in this building.
A en Pere li trobo un sol punt flac.
I find just one weak point in Pere.
Hi dedica la tarda (a la feina).
He devotes the afternoon to it (work).
Li dedica la tarda (a la seva filla).
He devotes the afternoon to her (his daughter).
Hi, on the other hand, would not be used in examples like the following:
(A la parròquia), el governador li ha regalat un orgue.
The governor has made a present of an organ to the parish.
(A la Universitat), li ha llegat el seu arxiu.
He has left his archive to the University.
(A l’Ajuntament), li han ofert un nou cotxe de bombers.
The Town Council has been offered a new fire engine.
Here it would seem that the human constituents of the impersonal indirect object (the parishioners, the members of the University, the Town Councillors, respectively) are understood. This may be seen as a sort of personification of the inanimate indirect object, a feature affecting the issue when li is used instead of hi in alternatives such as the following:
Aquest rellotge s’aturarà si no li/hi dónes corda.
This clock will stop if you don’t wind it up.
Mirava el cartell i li/hi donava cops.
She was looking at the poster and hitting it.
(iii) Hi corresponding to an adverb or an adverbial (a prepositional phrase). Note that, unlike in (i) above, hi may represent an adverbial containing the preposition de.
Si els teus amics es porten sempre tan bé, perquè no t’hi saps portar tu?
If your friends always behave so well, why can’t you?
Normalment comencen a les vuit, però avui no hi començaran pas.
They normally begin at eight o’clock but they won’t today.
Diu que treballa de pressa, però veig que no hi treballa gens.
He says he works quickly but I can see that he doesn’t at all.
(iv) Hi representing the predicate complement (adjective, adverb, or indefinite noun phrase) of verbs like quedar(-se), tornar-se, posar-se ‘become’, aparèixer, presentar-se ‘appear’, anar ‘go’ (in the sense of ‘become’), resultar ‘turn out’, tenir ‘have’, trobar ‘find’, romandre ‘remain’:
Digué que el ferro es tornaria or, però no s’hi va tornar.
He said the iron would turn into gold but it didn’t.
–Té les cames molt llargues. –Sí que les hi té.
‘He has very long legs.’ ‘He certainly has’.
Jo vaig quedar vermell, i ella s’hi va posar encara més.
I turned red, and she went even redder.
Abans aquesta recepta ens ha resultat molt bé, però sembla que aquesta vegada no hi resulti.
This recipe has worked well for us before, but this time it looks as though it won’t.
–És gaire salat aquest arròs? –Sí que l’hi trobo.
‘Is this risotto very salty?’ ‘I certainly find it is.�
�
Note, however, that the attribute of ser, estar, semblar, esdevenir and aparentar is expressed with ho, as explained at 12.5 above. Despite this, everyday language sometimes produces hi instead of ho with the verbs just mentioned, as, for example in:
Ell estarà content, però els altres no hi (for ho) estarem gens.
He’ll be satisfied, but the rest of us won’t be at all.
(On en instead of hi in this context, see 12.6vi.)
(v) hi standing with the verb haver in the impersonal expression ‘there is/ there are’, etc.
No pot haver-hi cap altra explicació.
There can be no other explanation.
Un quiosc que hi ha a la plaça.
A news-stand in the square.
Demà hi haurà pluges arreu del país.
Tomorrow there will be rain all over the country.
Informal colloquial usage sometimes makes haver agree with a plural ‘subject’, but sentences like Hi han molts que s’ho creuen ‘There are many who believe it’ or Hi havien cues a totes les botigues ‘There were queues in all the shops’ would be out of place in formal written styles.
As remarked in 12.6v, partitive en frequently occurs with hi ha, etc. (in the combination n’hi), indicating the quantity of whatever the impersonal expression refers to. See the examples given in 12.6v in line with:
Si vols una carpeta, en aquest calaix n’hi ha de totes les mides.
If you want a folder, there are some of every size in this drawer.
Només va haver-n’hi dos ο tres, d’errors per corregir.
There were only two or three mistakes to correct.
(vi) Hi accompanying verbs of seeing and hearing used intransitively, including figurative senses:
Pobre noia: no hi veu ni hi sent.
Poor girl: she can neither see nor hear.
Havien apagat els llums i no ens hi vèiem.
They had put the lights out and we couldn’t see.
No s’hi veia de contenta.
She was absolutely thrilled. (lit. She could not see, so pleased was she.)
No hi veu més enllà del nas.
He can’t see further than the end of his nose.
(vii) Examples of other idioms involving hi:
No hi fa res.
It doesn’t matter.
No s’hi val que em facin això.
It’s not right that they should do this to me.
Tothom pot dir-hi la seva.
Everyone can have their say.
Em sembla que el conec, però no hi caic.
I think I know him, but I can’t place him.
Què hi farem?
What is to be done (about it)? (expressing resignation)
Per molt que s’hi miri, farà un bunyol.
However careful he is, he’ll make a mess of it.
No et pot entendre, home: no veus que no hi és tot?
He can’t understand you, you know: can’t you see he’s not all there?
L’oncle repapieja; ja no hi toca.
Uncle is now doddery; he’s lost his marbles.
No hi entenc gens, en geografia.
I’m no good at geography.
Fent-ho així, no hi perds res.
By doing it this way you’ve nothing to lose.
On combinations of third-person object pronouns in which hi stands for indirect object li, see 12.9.3.3 below, and for non-standard uses of ‘indirect object’ hi, 12.3.2.2 above and 12.9.3.5.
12.7.1 NON-USE OF EN AND HI IN VALENCIAN DIALECTS
Ordinary Valencian Catalan displays only a restricted range of the uses of en and hi discussed in 12.6 and 12.7. The following examples (taken mainly from Solà, Sintaxi i normativa) illustrate spontaneous Valencian usage:
Si vas al pis de dalt, baixa les capses/baixa d’allí les capses. (standard: … baixa’n les capses.)
If you’re going to the flat upstairs, bring the boxes down (from there).
–Vas a Girona? –Justament jo ara vinc de Girona/ara vinc d’allí. (standard: … jo ara en vine.)
‘Are you going to Girona?’ ‘I’ve just come from there.’
Vés al menjador: encara trobaràs (allà) el meu germà. (standard: … encara hi trobaràs …)
Go to the dining room; my brother will still be there.
No veu els seus amics, però manté contacte epistolar. (standard: … hi manté …)
He doesn’t see his friends, but he is in touch (with them) by letter.
Em volien obligar a votar, però em vaig negar. (standard: … m’hi vaig negar…)
They wanted to make me vote but I refused.
Si aquests voten a favor del projecte, jo votaré en contra. (standard: … hi votaré en contra …)
If these people vote in favour of the plan I’ll vote against.
Alguns troben que té els cabells massa llargs: jo no veig que els tinga. (standard: … que els hi tinga.)
Some find his hair is too long: I don’t find it so.
Tothom pot dir la seua. (standard … dir-hi…)
Everyone can have their say.
12.8 ‘REDUNDANT’ CLITIC OBJECT PRONOUNS
Catalan makes frequent use of clitic object pronouns in situations where these are apparently superfluous, as the person or thing to which they refer is represented in the sentence either by a strong pronoun or by a noun: No hi penso tornar mai més, a aquell lloc nefast ‘I don’t intend to go back to that dreadful place ever again’, D’això en diem una ficada de pota ‘That’s what we call putting your foot in it’ (see 36.4–5).
Some occurrences of these apparently redundant pronouns are structural, virtually obligatory in that without them the sentence would be ungrammatical. Others (12.8.2) are regarded as characteristic of uneducated speech and are discouraged by normative grammar.
12.8.1 STRUCTURALLY REDUNDANT CLITICS
Old Catalan a mi pareix que ‘it seems to me that’ has evolved to modern a mi me/em pareix que, so that this particular construction without ‘redundant’ reiteration of the personal pronoun object in the weak pronoun me/em would nowadays be completely ungrammatical. This structural redundancy is likewise illustrated in the Catalan equivalent of ‘everything’, where direct object tot cannot stand without ho (cf. ‘it all’): Ho comprèn tot ‘She understands everything/understands it all’ (see 8.2).
In modern Catalan when a sentence begins with a verbal argument – a direct or indirect object, or an adverbial complement – it is necessary to repeat reference to it in the form of the corresponding weak object pronoun.
A la mare li comprarem un rellotge. We’ll buy mother a watch.
De vosaltres en parlem sovint. We are often talking about you.
Α nosaltres no ens perdonaran mai. They will never forgive us.
Això, ho hem de tenir sempre en compte. We must always bear this in mind.
This construction effectively topicalizes the object by giving it priority in the sentence (see 36.4), giving an emphasis that in English would be conveyed by intonation. The simple construction (different word order) which does not involve repetition carries the same semantic value, with neutral emphasis: Comprarem un rellotge a la mare, Parlem sovint de vosaltres, Hem de tenir sempre en compte això.
If the object is not placed first in the sentence, a distinction is observed in the behaviour of ‘redundant’ pronouns. Normative grammar allows (but does not impose) duplication of first- and second-person pronouns:
M’acusen a mi de … I am accused of…
Us felicito a tots vosaltres. I congratulate all of you.
No destruirem el planeta, mateixos. (El Temps) però sí que podem destruir-nos a nosaltres
We won’t destroy the planet, but we may destroy ourselves.
With third-person objects (including vostè(s)), however, repetition of the weak pronoun is deemed acceptable only when, as illustrated above, the other specification of the object comes before the verb, not after it:
Felicito a tots vostès. I congratulate all of you.
Dius a en Frederic que … You can tell Frederic that…
In cases resembling these but with the object placed before the verb, structural redundancy is quite normal: A en Frederic li dius que …, with emphasis now on Frederic.
12.8.2 NON-STANDARD CONSTRUCTIONS WITH REDUNDANT PRONOUNS
In 36.5 we discuss the phenomenon of right detachment, where an element of a sentence is placed at the end, as a kind of ‘afterthought’, separated from the main structure by a pause or a comma, as in:
T’hi acostumaràs aviat, a la nova feina. You’ll soon get used to it, your new job.
In this construction, the detached element is always represented explicitly in the main part of the sentence, that is, the following is ungrammatical:
*T’acostumaràs aviat, a la nova feina. You’ll soon get used, to your new job.
(The same elements, without the pause or comma, are perfectly all right, of course:
T’acostumaràs aviat a la nova feina. You’ll soon get used to your new job.)
What is quite common in colloquial usage is a pattern which seems to combine the right-detached structure with the basic sentence pattern to give the following, with redundant pronoun, yet with no pause, or comma:
