by Max Wheeler
L’any passat varen tenir un fill. = L’any passat tingueren un fill.
Last year they had a son.
*Enguany varen tenir un fill./*Enguany tingueren un fill.
This year they had a son. (The preterite is unacceptable in Catalan because enguany ‘this year’ includes the present moment: here the present perfect is required: Enguany han tingut un fill.)
No vares veure el teu germà ahir?/No veieres el teu germà ahir?
Didn’t you see your brother yesterday? (*No vares veure el teu germà avui de matí? or *No vares veure el teu germà avui de matí? is impossible for ‘Didn’t you see your brother this morning?’ which can only be No has vist el teu germà avui de matí?)
English speakers need to be particularly careful over how Catalan distinguishes in this way between two degrees of remoteness in the past. Use of the preterite very clearly marks reference to a past that is cut off from the present. It is thus quite ungrammatical to use this tense for events that occurred in the same unit of time as the moment of utterance, i.e. a period including ‘today’, or a period referred to with the demonstrative aquest ‘this’. We return to this matter in discussion of the present perfect in 17.2.2.
The above discussion highlights the perfective aspect of the preterite tense which presents events as over and complete, cut off in a past time, with the idea of completeness (ending but also sometimes beginning) to the fore. Understanding the relation of the preterite to the imperfect tense is essential for correct translation of the English simple past, and the rest of this section should be read in conjunction with 17.1.3 (especially 17.1.3.1) below.
Main areas of use of the preterite:
(i) Single completed events/situations (or, in the negative, non-events):
Es van treure els abrics abans d’entrar a l’auditori.
They took off their coats before going into the auditorium.
Va ser una bestiesa no aprofitar aquella ocasió.
It was stupid not to take that opportunity.
No van haver de repetir-m’ho dues vegades.
They didn’t have to tell me twice.
(ii) Events or situations occurring in a specific, finite period of time:
Va estar un any a la presó.
He was in prison for a year.
Durant tot aquell temps no vàrem parlar de cap altra cosa.
During all that time we spoke of nothing else.
Per un segon vaig pensar que em volien matar.
For a second I thought that they wanted to kill me.
Va estar resant durant ben bé una hora.
He spent a good hour praying. (See 18.1.l iii on past progressive.)
If, as above, the period of time that saw completion of the event is mentioned, the preterite must be used. Sometimes the actual period of time is implicit rather than explicit, and it may be force of the preterite itself which conveys the idea that the event took place in a finite time-span now seen as completed.
Va ser el millor cap de secció que hem tingut mai.
He was (during his period of office) the best section head we have ever had.
Que jo sàpiga, mai no visqueren aquí.
As far as I know, they never lived here.
If the event is repeated but discontinuous within a specified period, the preterite may be used (instead of the more frequent option of the imperfect):
Aquell estiu vam anar cada matí a la platja.
That summer we went to the beach every morning.
(iii) Indicating the beginning of a state or event:
Així que vaig poder li vaig tornar la quantitat que li devia.
As soon as I could I paid him back the amount I owed him.
Un somriure irònic es va dibuixar en els seus llavis.
An ironic smile began to form on his lips.
(iv) Other nuances:
The meaning of certain verbs can be modified in line with the perfective aspect of the preterite. Thus, in this tense, poder ‘be able to’ can acquire the sense of ‘manage to’, ‘succeed in’:
No van poder visitar-nos aquell dia.
They didn’t get/manage to see us that day.
Saber in the preterite can mean ‘find out’, ‘realize’:
Ho vaig saber preguntant pel bar.
I found out by asking around in the bar.
Quan saberen que havien aprovat …
When they found out they had passed …
The preterite of tenir ‘have’ and voler ‘want’, ‘be willing’ emphasizes the idea of a single event:
Vaig tenir la impressió que …
I had the impression that…/I was struck by the idea that …
No van voler entrar-hi.
They did not want to go in. (i.e. they made the decision or declared that they would not go in)
Volgueren convèncer-nos que era veritat.
They tried to convince us that it was true.
Conèixer in the preterite means ‘get to know’/‘meet’ or ‘be introduced to’:
Ens vam conèixer a la universitat. We met at university.
Quan dius que la vas conèixer? When do you say you got to know her?
The clearly perfective force of the sentences given above contrasts with the much more general, descriptive aspect conveyed when these verbs are used in the imperfect tense: e.g., Tenia la impressió que …, No volien entrar-hi express not single events but states of mind, in line with further discussion provided in 17.1.3.1.
17.1.3 IMPERFECT
The imperfect indicative is defined by two features: the past-ness and the extension over time of the event or state referred to. Expressing imperfective aspect, it refers to events or states seen as having temporal extent, either in themselves, or at least relative to some other state or event which interrupts them. Thus, it is the tense used for habitual events or states in the past.
The English simple past ‘ I went there’ may be perfective or imperfective, and can only be translated into Catalan when it is known which aspect is meant. This will depend on actual clues (usually adverbials) in the sentence or from implications of context: thus, ‘ I went there yesterday’ is perfective and accordingly preterite in Catalan: Hi vaig anar ahir, while ‘ I went there often when I was young’ is (typically, though not necessarily) imperfective and accordingly imperfect in Catalan: Hi anava sovint quan era jove.
English constructions like ‘I used to go’, ‘I was going’, and ‘I would (habitually) go’ will almost always correspond to the Catalan imperfect. Further discussion is provided at 17.1.3.1.
Examples of the imperfect in use:
Quan érem més joves anàvem a ballar cada dissabte.
When we were younger we used to go dancing every Saturday.
En temps dels meus avis la gent era més galant.
In my grandparents’ day people were more courteous.
Els antics creien que el sol s’encenia cada matí.
The ancients used to believe that the sun was lit every morning.
Quan vaig arribar-hi, en Miquel ja tocava.
When I got there Miquel was already playing.
Brillava el sol i vaig decidir de fer un tomb.
The sun was shining and I decided to take a stroll.
The last two examples, where the preterite and the imperfect operate together in one sentence, illustrate how (especially in narration) the imperfect is the form used for description and for supplying ‘background’ to other (usually preterite) events/states. This includes reference to a situation which is seen as having already begun at the time of another completed event occurring:
Jo me n’anava quan va sonar el timbre.
I was just leaving when the phone bell rang.
Hi passaven dos anys ‘They spent two years there’ (imperfect) is appropriate when the speaker is going on to mention some event which happened during that period, or perhaps has already mentioned an event which gave rise to the state of their spending two years. Hi passaren dos anys ‘They spent two years ther
e’ (preterite) is appropriate when the speaker states a historical fact, without relating it explicitly to other events or states.
Other functions of the imperfect tense:
(i) Dramatization:
In literary and journalistic styles the imperfect can acquire a perfective value, i.e. it can be used instead of the preterite. The effect of this device (which is always deployed sparingly) is to dramatize the action, presenting it as though it were unfolding in the narrative past. This can only be done when the time in which the event occurs is mentioned explicitly:
Vint anys després es declarava la guerra.
Twenty years later war was being declared/was declared.
El 1833 s’iniciava la Renaixença a Catalunya.
The Catalan Renaixença began in 1833.
(ii) Courtesy:
Together with the conditional (see 17.1.5), the imperfect is also the tense of politeness in making requests:
Volia saber el preu del vestit verd.
I (just) wanted to know how much the green suit is.
Venia per la feina que ofereixen a I’anunci.
I’ve come about the job announced in the advert.
(iii) Intention or imminence:
Que bé que hagis trucat: ara mateix veníem a veure’t.
How lucky you should phone: we were just coming to see you.
L’autobús ja partia, però he pogut aturar-lo.
The bus was just leaving but I managed to stop it.
In a related context, the imperfect can point towards the future:
Quina llàstima que estigui malalt: demà havíem d’anar d’excursió.
What a pity he’s ill: we were going hiking tomorrow.
Ha dit que no vindria, justament avui que teníem partit a la tarda.
He said he wouldn’t come, today of all days when we’ve got a match this afternoon.
(iv) Condition:
Si venies a veure’m et convidaria a dinar.
If you came to see me I’d invite you to lunch.
In the following example (colloquial style) the imperfect indicative is used in both clauses of an unreal (counterfactual) condition.
Si m’ho tornava a dir, et juro que el matava.
If he’d said it to me again, I swear I’d have killed him.
For more on conditional sentences generally and use of the imperfect indicative/subjunctive in these constructions, see 34.1–6.
(v) Alternation with the imperfect progressive:
Unless imminence is implied (Ens n’anàvem aquella tarda ‘We were leaving that afternoon’, a quasi-future as covered in (iii) above), the progressive and simple imperfect forms are virtually interchangeable:
Jo mirava/estava mirant les notícies quan vaig sentir un xiscle.
I was watching the news when I heard a scream.
Of these alternatives, the simple imperfect is perhaps the more traditional usage, while the progressive is increasingly common.
17.1.3.1 Preterite versus imperfect: translation issues
In the examples used and discussed in this section all instances of the preterite tense would be substituted by the perfect – e.g. he vist for vaig veure – if the event referred to took place in a time period including ‘today’ or in a past time still seen as connected to the present, as explained in 17.1.2.1 and 17.2.2.
As already illustrated, the question of aspect (perfective or imperfective) is fundamental in differentiating between use of the preterite or the imperfect tense in Catalan. The aspectual distinction is elusive for English speakers, mainly because the English simple past-tense form (‘I went’, ‘I gave’, etc.) can cover both. The presence of adverbial clues in the sentence may give an indication of which aspect is being expressed, thereby facilitating translation: compare Ho fèiem molt sovint ‘We did it very often’ with Ho vam fer per primera vegada ‘We did it for the first time’. Note however that the presence of an additional time adverbial may override this: Durant aquell curs ho férem molt sovint ‘We did it very often that year’, Ho fèiem per primera vegada quan va sonar el telèfon ‘We were doing it for the first time when the phone rang’. These examples illustrate nicely the fact that aspectual choice is not directly determined by the nature of situations, but rather by how the speaker wishes to present them in relation to other situations. Where no such clues are provided, the tense used in Catalan will be determined by (and itself convey) the aspect in which the speaker considers the event referred to: Ho va pagar tot amb xecs de viatge ‘He paid for everything in travellers’ cheques’ expresses a single, completed event, while Ho pagava tot amb xecs de viatge, still translatable as ‘He paid for everything in travellers’ cheques’, nonetheless expresses that the paying was extended in time – in relation to something or other – inviting typically the inference that the event was repeated.
Clarification of this matter can be gained by considering some particular cases where the use of one form or the other presents nuances of meaning very closely tied to questions of aspect. The comments on the following pairs explain the implications of aspectual choice:
Era impossible convence’l.
It was impossible to convince him. (description of the other’s attitude)
Va ser impossible convence’l.
It was impossible to convince him. (We tried but failed.)
Havia de consultar el metge.
I needed to see the doctor. (no information implied about whether the consultation took place)
Vaig haver de consultar el metge.
I had to (and did) consult the doctor.
No volíem entrar-hi.
We didn’t want to go in.
No vam voler entrar-hi.
We didn’t want to go in (and we didn’t).
Estaven mirant les estrelles.
They were looking at the stars. (descriptive)
Van estar mirant les estrelles.
They stood (stayed) looking at the stars. (for a finite period of time: a perfective demarcation given to a state marked as inherently extended by the progressive periphrasis)
The last pair above illustrates how use of the preterite can imply a finite timespan for the event, presenting duration as a single completed event. This idea may be associated with a lifetime, as in:
Visqueren sempre junts i s’estimaren fins al final.
They lived together always and loved one another until the end.
Repeated or habitual events will typically be in the imperfect, but the preterite is alternatively found when the period in which repetition occurs is itself specified. So, Anava cada matí a la platja ‘He went to the beach every morning’ is distinctly imperfective in aspect, but addition of a qualifying phrase like durant aquella setmana ‘during that week’ allows the perfective aspect of each repeated event to be optionally foregrounded: Durant aquella setmana anava/va anar cada matí a la platja. Similarly:
Aquell any només treballàvem/vam treballar dos dies a la setmana.
That year we only worked two days a week.
Uncertainty can often be resolved by attempting the paraphrase of an English simple past as either of these alternative imperfects, or by testing aspect through introducing a notional adverbial. Thus ‘made’ will be feia if ‘was making’ or ‘used to make’ can be substituted without disruption: La màquina feia molt de soroll ‘The engine made/used to make/was making a lot of noise’ (cf. La màquina va fer molt de soroll quan la vam engegar ‘The engine made a lot of noise when we started it up’). Similarly, out of context, there is no way of telling whether ‘He gave me good advice’ means Em va donar bons consells or Em donava bons consells. If the context would allow ‘on that occasion’, for example, the preterite is appropriate; or if the context suggests ‘usually’ then the imperfect will be appropriate.
17.1.4 FUTURE
The future tense in Catalan behaves in many respects like the ‘shall/will’ English counterpart:
Demà es declararà el veredicte.
Tomorrow the verdict will be declared.
Avui tancarem a les dues.
We’ll close at two o’clock today.
Estic segur que vendrem tot el gènere.
I’m sure we shall sell all the stock.
Si no em dius res, et passaré a recollir sobre les vuit.
If you don’t let me know differently, I’ll pick you up around eight o’clock.
Ens ha promès que no ho tornarà a fer.
He has promised us not to do it again.
Informal replacement of the future by the present indicative is common (see above 17.1.1), extending slightly further than the corresponding substitution in English:
Demà anem a Ciutadella. We’re going to Ciutadella tomorrow.
On posem les maletes? Where shall we put the cases?
Other uses of the future tense involve pragmatic connotations of probability, surprise, or concession.
(i) Future of probability
With the presence of the adverb potser ‘perhaps’, or a synonym like tal vegada, tal volta, per ventura, etc., the future can express probability or doubt. Note the rendering by ‘may’ in the following examples:
