by Max Wheeler
(v) saber(-se) ‘know’
Although regarded as a non-standard construction, for the sake of emphasis this verb is occasionally used pronominally with a direct object:
Tot això, m’ho sé de memòria ja. I already know all this off by heart.
(vi) entendre(‘s) ‘understand’
In addition to the normal behaviour of a transitive verb which can be pronominalized with particular effects (Això no s’entén ‘This can’t be understood’, Són dos que s’entenen ‘They’re two people who get on well together’), three specific idioms with this verb are to be noted. One is with the pronominal form entendre’s amb ‘have/come to an understanding with’, which can be ambiguous, with implications of striking up a relationship:
Em vaig entendre amb la seva secretària.
I came to an understanding with her secretary.
S’entenia molt bé amb aquell grup d’alumnes.
She got on very well with that group of students.
The second is entendre’s de ‘be good at’, ‘know all about’, usually appearing with clitic en and the actual complement preceding the verb or following the phrase:
De motos, no me n’entenc gens ni mica.
I don’t know anything about motorbikes.
Ell no se n’entén, d’aquestes qüestions.
He’s no good at this kind of thing.
The third is the intransitive use of the verb with a prepositional object, entendre en ‘be good at’, ‘know all about’ something:
Hi entenen moltíssim en matemàtiques.
They are very good at mathematics.
No li parlis d’art, que no hi entén.
Don’t talk to her about art; she knows nothing about it.
When no object is specified, entendre is pronominalized in this context:
No m’hi entenc gens. I can’t work any of this out.
23.10 PRONOMINAL VERBS WITH SPECIALIZED USES AND MEANINGS
Distinct differences of nuance can be observed between non-pronominal and pronominal uses of certain verbs in different contexts:
(i) morir(-se) ‘die’
The pronominal form morir-se tends to be used when the cause of death is not specified, and in figurative senses. Accidental or deliberately caused death is expressed by morir, the non-pronominal form generally being preferred in formal contexts.
Ha mort el fundador. The founder has died.
(Es) van morir de fam/en un accident de cotxe. They died of hunger/in a car crash.
Ha mort cremat. He was burnt to death.
Aquests arbres es moren tots. All these trees are dying.
Ens moríem de riure. We were dying with laughter.
(ii) trobar(-se) ‘find’, ‘meet’
Transitive trobar means both ‘find’ and ‘meet (by accident)’:
He trobat la peça que faltava. I have found the missing piece.
Saps qui he trobat pel carrer? Do you know who I met in the street?
Used reciprocally trobar-se translates meet (by accident or by design)’:
Es van trobar tot passejant per la Rambla.
They bumped into each other as they were strolling in the Rambla.
Ens hem de trobar a tres quarts de deu.
We are to meet at 9.45.
Trobar-se amb is an alternative to trobar in the sense of ‘meet (by accident)’, ‘come across’:
Saps amb qui m’he trobat pel carrer?
Do you know who I met in the street?
Trobar-se can (like French se trouver) translate ‘be’, either expressing location or introducing an adjective:
Jo aleshores em trobava a Lourdes. At that time I was in Lourdes.
Avui em trobo millor. I’m better today.
(iii) veure’s ‘be’
Like trobar-se with an adjective, this verb can translate ‘be’:
S’hi ha vist ben confós. He was quite confused by it.
(iv) guanyar(-se) ‘earn’, ‘win’
Guanyar generally translates both ‘earn’ and ‘win’:
No guanyen més de 100.000 pessetes la setmana.
They don’t earn more than 100,000 pesetas a week.
Ha guanyat el primer premi.
She has won first prize.
Guanyar-se is used metaphorically and in contexts where the object is being emphasized:
S’han guanyat el respecte de tothom.
They have earned everybody’s respect.
En aquesta operació, s’hi pensa guanyar una fortuna.
He intends to make a fortune in this operation.
(v) riure(’s) ‘laugh’
This verb is pronominalized only when the sense is that of ‘laugh at’, ‘mock’:
Tothom reia. Everybody was laughing.
Tothom es reia d’ell. Everybody was making fun of him.
The transitive use of riure meaning ‘laugh at (something amusing)’ is highly regarded (Tothom reia els seus acudits ‘Everyone laughed at their jokes’), but popular usage resorts to riure’s de with this meaning.
(vi) estar(-se) (variations on) ‘be’
On the function of estar translating ‘be’, see Chapter 30. The pronominal form of this verb is (notionally) optional in virtually all sentences where the meaning is ‘be/stay (for a given period of time)’. Pronominalization often gives force to the idea of ‘staying’:
M’estic en una pensió a la Plaça Major.
I’m staying in a pension in the Plaça Major.
Aviat serem a Reus: no ens hi estarem, però, més de dues hores.
We’ll soon be in Reus: we shan’t be staying there for more than two hours, though.
In some dialects this sense of ‘stay’ extends to that of ‘live’/‘reside’:
Actualment (s’)està al carrer Nàpols.
He lives at present in Nàpols Street.
Note that estar-se de, followed by an infinitive, means ‘refrain from’:
El metge m’ha dit que m’estigui de fumar.
The doctor has told me to stop smoking.
Per mi no us estigueu.
Don’t mind me./Don’t hesitate on my account.
(vii) Idioms with prendre’s and passar-se:
Prendre ‘take’ is always pronominalized when it is used in expressions with the sense of ‘adopt an attitude’:
No t’ho prenguis tan seriosament. Don’t take it so seriously.
Prengui-s’ho amb calma. Take it easy.
Pronominal passar-se always occurs with bé, malament, and certain other adverbs in idioms referring to ‘enjoyment’. Basically passar-s’ho bé means ‘have a good time’, ‘enjoy oneself’ and passar-s’ho malament means the opposite:
M’ho vaig passar molt bé, en aquella excursió.
I had a really good time on that walk.
Entre tot plegat, ens ho vam passar malament.
With one thing and another, we didn’t enjoy ourselves.
(viii) Asseure’s, ajeure’s, and adormir-se are the action verbs (with punctual meaning ‘sit down’, ‘lie down’, ‘go to sleep’) corresponding to the stative verbs seure ‘sit’/‘be seated’, jeure ‘lie’, dormir ‘sleep’/‘be asleep’.
S’ha assegut a la cadira.
She sat (down) in the chair.
Ha segut a la cadira tot el matí.
She sat in the chair all morning.
S’ajeien damunt l’arena cada cop que es trobaven cansats.
They lay down on the sand whenever they felt tired.
Jeien damunt l’arena cada matí.
They lay on the sand every morning./They used to lie …
S’ha adormit a la cadira.
She fell asleep in the chair.
Ha dormit a la cadira tot el mati.
She slept in the chair all morning.
PART IV SENTENCE TYPES: SIMPLE AND COMPLEX
24 INTERJECTIONS AND IDEOPHONES
24.1 INTERJECTIONS
This field being one of the most unstable parts of the grammar due to continuous creation an
d change, we cannot offer more than a selection of the most common expressions in Catalan. (It is observed that interjections very frequently occur in conjunction with exclamations, which are covered in 27.2.) When one of these expressions seems to be limited to a given area we indicate Central, Val(encia) or Bal(earic Islands) after it. Translations, where we supply them, are approximate. In many cases communicative equivalents, from within the semantic area indicated by the heading, will be determined by the context.
Admiration, surprise
Ai, ai!, Ui!, Bufa! Cor!
Ai! Oh dear!/Whoops!
Carai!/Caram!/Caratsus! Gosh!/Blimey!
Hala!, Mira!, Mi-te’l! (Central) (or Mi-te’ls!, Mi-te-la!, etc.), I ara! Never!
Oh!, Ah!, Apa! (Central) Go on!
Renoi! (Central) Crikey!
Vaja!/Què dius ara? Get away!
Ves que tal! (Bal.), Xe! (Val.), Uep! (Bal.), Déu meu!/Déu mevet!/Mare de Déu! Goodness me!/Heavens above!
After another person’s deserved punishment or bother
Elis, elis! (children’s taunt)
Més te’n mereixes/més te’n mereix! Serves you/him right!
T’ho has ben cercat!, Ja t’està bé!, fort! (Bal.)
Answering the telephone
Digui?, Digueu?, Digau? (Bal.) Hello.
Apology
Perdó. Sorry.
Perdona./Perdoni./Perdoneu. I’m sorry.
Disculpa./Disculpi./Disculpeu. I’m sorry.
Ho sento molt. I’m very sorry.
Calling attention
Ei!, Ep!, Alto! Hold it, Stop.
Auxili!, Socors!, Ajuda!, Adjutori! Help!
Confirmation (emphatic)
Això mateix! Quite right./Exactly.
Ja ho crec! Of course.
I tant! Indeed.
Déu n’hi do! (see 24.1.1).
Disapproval, dissent
Ca!, Bah!, Fora!, Fuig!, De cap manera! No way!
I ara! Never!/Get away with you!
Ni de bon tros! Not likely!
Per aquestes!, Ni així!, Ca barret!, Bon vent (i barca nova)! On your bike!
Encouragement
Ànim!, Apa!, Força!, (Au) vinga/vénga!, Som-hi! (see 24.1.1), Amunt!, Au idò! (Bal.)
(Vinga! is used as a farewell greeting in Girona; au idò! (Bal.) is also a farewell greeting.)
Enough
Prou!, Ja està bé!, Ja n’hi ha! Enough.
Good wishes
Enhorabona!/Felicitats! Congratulations!
(Per) molts (d’)anys! Happy birthday!/Many happy returns!
Salut (i força)! Cheers! (in toasts), Good health!
Bon Nadal i any nou! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Records!/Memòries! (Bal.) Regards, Best wishes.
The usual answer to records or memòries is de part teva/seva/vostra.
Happiness (Yippee!’)
Oidà! (Central), Hurra!, Visca!
Incredulity
Ca!, Apa!, Bah!, Hala vés!, No serà tant!, Vols dir? Really?
No fotis! Come off it!
Oaths and curses (‘damn!’, etc.)
Vatua!, Vatua el món!, Hòstia!, Putes! (vulgar), Punyeta! (familiar), Mal llamp! Rellamp!, (Me) cago en …!, Dimoni!, Diantre!
Hòstia! is vulgar. It is often substituted by the euphemisms Ostres!, Òstima!, Ο estimada meva! (Me) cago en ….! is also vulgar. It can be replaced by the euphemism (Me) caso en …!
Pain (‘ouch!’)
Ai!, Oi oi!, Ui!
Oi-oi is also a children’s word for ‘pain’.
Please
per favor, si vols/vol/volen if you would (be so kind)
si et/li/us plau (if you) please (see 28.4)
Putting at ease
No t’amoïnis./No s’amoïni./No us amoïneu. Don’t trouble.
No et preocupis./No es preocupi./No us preocupeu. Don’t worry.
Tranquil./Tranquil·la. Take it easy! (with gender corresponding to the person addressed)
No pateixis./No pateixi./No patiu! Fora nirvis! (Bal.) Don’t worry!/Never mind!
Tu mateix(a)./Vostè mateix(a)./Vosaltres mateixos/-es. Help yourself/yourselves./Go ahead.
Resignation
Què hi farem? (lit. What are we to do about it?)
Revulsion
Ecs! Ugh!/Yuck!
Quin fàstic!, Quin oi! (Bal.) How disgusting!/How revolting!
Salutations
Two systems of greetings exist in Catalan, the continental and the Balearic:
Continental: bon dia ‘good morning’, bona tarda (Central)/bona vesprada (Val.) ‘good afternoon’, bona nit ‘good evening’, ‘good night’.
Balearic: bon dia ‘good day’ i.e. ‘good morning’ or ‘good afternoon’, bon vespre ‘good evening’ as opening greeting; bona nit ‘good night’, or as a greeting exchanged when passing someone without stopping.
General greetings used all day are hola ‘hello’, adéu or adéu-siau ‘goodbye’. Uep! is also used in Balearic instead of hola. Com està/estàs/esteu/estan?, Com va?, or Com anam? (Bal.), are equivalents of ‘How are you?’ (Com va? is conjugated in Northern Catalonia, i.e., Com vas?/Com aneu?)
Silence
Pst!, Silenci!, Calla!/Calleu!
Sympathy
Quina llàstima!
What a pity!/How sad! (for general purposes)
Us/T’/L’acompanyo en el sentiment.
You have my sympathy/condolences.
Que en el cel el/la vegem./Que pugueu pregar molts d’anys per ell/ella. (at funerals)
May we see him/her in heaven./May you be able to pray for him/her for many years.
Talking to large animals
Arri! Gee up!
Oixque! Go to the left
Ollaó! Go to the right
Xo! Whoa!
Ou! Stop! (Bal.)
Arruix! Go away! (for any kind of animal, Bal.)
Thanks
Gràcies./Mercès. Thank you.
Moltes gràcies. Many thanks.
De res. You’re welcome.
No hi ha per a tant. Don’t mention it.
No s’ho val. (less common) Don’t mention it.
Thanks are expressed less commonly and less elaborately in Catalan than in English.
Threats
Ja veuràs! You’ll see!
Sols que m’entenguis! Understand! (used in Balearic after an explicit threat)
Warnings
Ves amb compte! Be careful!
Atenció!, Compte!, Alerta!, (non-standard) Cuidado! Careful!, Look out!
Alertar can be conjugated as an intransitive verb in this use in Bal.; thus, you say alerta! for the 2nd person singular and alertau! for the 2nd person plural.
Wishes and curses
Tant de bo + complement clause (verb in subjunctive, see 19.6):
Tant de bo que plogui aviat. It would be nice if it rained soon.
If the wish is hostile, then mal + curse (verb in subjunctive):
Mal et pegués un llamp a sobre! May you be struck by lightning!
24.1.1 SOME SPECIAL INTERJECTIONS
Certain interjections are characteristic of specific conversational contexts, and, being very typical of colloquial Catalan, merit separate comment here.
I tant! and I tant que … ! communicate emphatic affirmation, agreement with or confirmation of an idea just expressed:
-T’han agradat els regals? -I tant (que m’han agradat)!
‘Did you like the presents?’ Ί certainly did!’
Si m’ho torna a dir, m’enfadaré de debò. I tant que m’enfadaré!
If he says that to me again I’ll get really cross. I sure will!
Home! literally ‘man!’ appears frequently in exclamations of encouragement or surprise, or simply as a means of reinforcing what is being said (repetition often being the English equivalent):
Corre, home!, que farem tard! Get a move on, man! We’re going to be late.
Sí, home!, sí! Yes, of course!
Home, podria
haver estat molt pitjor. It really could have been a lot worse.
The interjection home! may be addressed to a woman, but dona! is also available as alternative in this case:
No t’hi amoïnis, dona! Don’t let it bother you, dear!
Sí, dona!, sí. Yes, of course!
The emphatic affirmation sí, senyor(a)! ‘yes, yes’/‘yes, of course!’ is also worth observing in this context.
Déu n’hi do! is used to stress, with moderation, both quantity or quality:
–Tens gana? –Home, Déu n’hi do!
‘Are you hungry?’ ‘Well, yes I am quite.’
–És gaire lluny? -Déu n’hi do! No hi seran pas abans de mitjanit.
‘Is it far?’ ‘It’s a good way off. They won’t be there before midnight.’
This expression may be bound syntactically into a sentence by use of que:
El xaval aquell juga que Déu n’hi do!
That lad is a pretty good player.
Hi fan uns plats que Déu n’hi do!
