Common Irregular Verbs in Catalan

In Brief

Seven Catalan verbs are especially useful from the start: anar (go), fer (do or make), dir (say or tell), poder (can), voler (want), saber (know), and venir (come). Their present-tense forms do not fully follow the usual verb patterns, so learn the short forms as a set: vaig, faig, dic, puc, vull, sé, vinc.

Overview

An irregular verb is a verb whose forms do not follow a completely predictable pattern. The infinitive (the dictionary form, such as anar or fer) tells you which verb you are using, but it is not enough to predict every present-tense form. For example, nothing in anar makes the first-person form vaig obvious.

These seven verbs occur constantly in everyday Catalan. They let you talk about movement, actions, speech, ability, wishes, and knowledge: Vaig a casa (I go home), Fem el sopar (We make dinner), and No ho sé (I don't know). This is A1 material because even a basic conversation quickly needs several of them.

Catalan usually leaves out the subject pronoun (the word naming who acts, such as jo for “I”) when the verb ending already makes the subject clear. English requires “I” in “I can come,” but Catalan normally says simply Puc venir. Pronouns remain useful for emphasis or contrast: Jo puc venir, però ella no (I can come, but she cannot).

How It Works

The present indicative is the ordinary present tense used for facts, habits, current situations, and many actions happening now. Learn each row below together rather than trying to build every form from the infinitive.

Person	anar (go)	fer (do/make)	dir (say/tell)	poder (can)	voler (want)	saber (know)	venir (come)
jo (I)	vaig	faig	dic	puc	vull	sé	vinc
tu (you, singular informal)	vas	fas	dius	pots	vols	saps	vens
ell / ella / vostè (he / she / formal you)	va	fa	diu	pot	vol	sap	ve
nosaltres (we)	anem	fem	diem	podem	volem	sabem	venim
vosaltres (you, plural informal)	aneu	feu	dieu	podeu	voleu	sabeu	veniu
ells / elles / vostès (they / formal plural you)	van	fan	diuen	poden	volen	saben	venen

The first-person singular forms deserve special attention because all seven are distinctive. Three end in -c—dic, puc, vinc—but this is only a memory aid, not a rule that you can apply to every Catalan verb. The plural forms are often closer to the infinitive: compare puc with podem, and vull with volem.

Anar: movement away or toward a destination

Use anar with a before most destinations: Vaig a la feina (I go to work) and Anem al mercat (We go to the market). Al combines a + el. With certain familiar places and activities, Catalan commonly uses no article: anar a casa (go home), anar a classe (go to class), and anar a dormir (go to sleep).

Catalan does not normally copy English “go” in every expression. For transport, anar amb tren means “go by train”; for manner, anar de pressa means “go quickly.” Learn these as whole phrases.

Fer: both “do” and “make,” plus fixed expressions

English separates “do” and “make,” but Catalan often uses fer for both: fer els deures (do homework), fer una pregunta (ask a question), and fer un pastís (make a cake). It also appears in expressions where English uses “be”: Fa calor means “It is hot,” and Fa fred means “It is cold.”

Dir: saying, telling, and naming

Use dir for words or information: Dic la veritat (I tell the truth) and Diu que vindrà (She says that she will come). The reflexive form dir-se is used for names: Em dic Anna literally follows the pattern “I call myself Anna,” but natural English says “My name is Anna.” Parlar means “speak” or “talk,” so dir and parlar are not interchangeable.

Poder, voler, and saber before an infinitive

These three verbs often come before another infinitive:

• Puc entrar? — Can I come in?
• Vull descansar. — I want to rest.
• Sap nedar. — He or she knows how to swim.

Do not insert an equivalent of English “to” between the two Catalan verbs. English says “want to leave,” but Catalan says voler sortir: Volem sortir ara (We want to leave now).

Poder expresses ability, possibility, or permission. Voler expresses a wish or intention and can also take a noun: Vols un cafè? (Do you want a coffee?). Saber + infinitive means knowing how to do something. With information, saber means knowing a fact: Sé la resposta (I know the answer).

Venir: movement toward a reference point

Venir usually describes movement toward the speaker, listener, or a place treated as the current reference point: Vens a la festa? (Are you coming to the party?). Use de for the starting point—Vinc de Girona (I come from Girona)—and a for the destination: Venim a casa teva (We are coming to your house).

Questions and negatives

Catalan does not use an extra verb like English “do” to make present-tense questions. The statement Vols un cafè becomes the question Vols un cafè? through intonation and the question mark. Question words come before the verb: Què fas? (What are you doing?) and On aneu? (Where are you going?).

For a negative sentence, put no directly before the conjugated verb: No puc venir (I can't come), No ho sé (I don't know), and No volen esperar (They don't want to wait).

Examples in Context

Catalan	English	Note
Vaig a la feina cada matí.	I go to work every morning.	anar a + destination
On aneu aquest cap de setmana?	Where are you going this weekend?	Question without an extra “do”
Què fas?	What are you doing?	fer for an activity in progress
Avui fem el sopar nosaltres.	Today we're making dinner.	nosaltres adds contrast: we are making it
Fa molta calor aquí.	It is very hot here.	Impersonal weather expression with fer
No dic res.	I'm not saying anything.	no comes before dic
La Marta diu que arriba tard.	Marta says that she is arriving late.	dir que introduces reported information
Puc obrir la finestra?	Can I open the window?	Asking permission with poder
No puc venir demà.	I can't come tomorrow.	poder + infinitive
Vols un cafè?	Do you want a coffee?	voler + noun
Volem aprendre català.	We want to learn Catalan.	No preposition before the infinitive
Saps cuinar?	Do you know how to cook?	saber + infinitive means know how
No sé l'adreça.	I don't know the address.	Knowing a piece of information
Els meus amics venen a sopar.	My friends are coming for dinner.	Movement toward the speaker's place
Vinc amb autobús, però torno a peu.	I'm coming by bus, but I'm going back on foot.	venir contrasts with returning or going away

Common Mistakes

Trying to build the first-person form regularly

• Wrong: Jo ano a casa.
• Right: Vaig a casa.
• Why: The first-person singular of anar is vaig, not a form made by removing -ar. The same issue affects faig, dic, puc, vull, sé, and vinc.

Adding English “do” to questions

• Wrong: Fas tu vols un cafè?
• Right: Vols un cafè?
• Why: Catalan forms this question with the conjugated verb itself. It does not need an auxiliary equivalent to English “do.”

Putting a before an infinitive after a modal verb

• Wrong: Vull a aprendre català.
• Right: Vull aprendre català.
• Why: Poder, voler, and saber connect directly to an infinitive: puc parlar, vull sortir, sé nedar.

Using saber for knowing a person

• Wrong: Sé la teva germana.
• Right: Conec la teva germana.
• Why: Saber is for facts and knowing how to do something. Use conèixer for being acquainted with a person or place. Compare Sé on viu (I know where she lives) with Conec la Maria (I know Maria).

Translating “do” and “make” as different Catalan verbs

• Wrong: Creo els deures cada vespre.
• Right: Faig els deures cada vespre.
• Why: Catalan fer covers many meanings divided between English “do” and “make.” Learn common combinations such as fer els deures, fer esport, fer una foto, and fer el sopar.

Mixing up anar and venir

• Wrong: Vaig a casa teva ara mateix when speaking to the person waiting there and meaning “I'm coming to your house now.”
• Right: Vinc a casa teva ara mateix.
• Why: Venir presents movement toward the listener or reference point; anar presents movement away toward another destination. Context can shift the reference point, so pay attention to where the conversation is centred.

Usage Notes

Catalan is a pro-drop language, meaning that speakers can leave out the subject pronoun when the verb form identifies the subject. Fem el sopar is normally enough for “We are making dinner.” Add nosaltres when you need emphasis, correction, or contrast: Nosaltres fem el sopar; vosaltres pareu taula (We are making dinner; you set the table).

The pronouns vostè and vostès are formal “you,” but they use third-person verb forms: Vostè pot passar (You may come in) and Vostès poden esperar aquí (You may wait here). Informal singular tu takes pots; informal plural vosaltres takes podeu. In real life, the choice between informal and formal address varies by region, age, workplace, and relationship.

A bare present tense can describe both habits and something happening now. Què fas? may mean “What do you do?” or “What are you doing?” Context supplies the difference. Catalan can use estar + gerund for an action specifically in progress, but it is less automatic than the English “be + -ing” form; the simple present is often natural.

With requests, voler can sound direct if the situation calls for extra politeness. Vols un cafè? is perfectly natural when offering something. When ordering or making a formal request, the conditional voldria (“I would like”) is softer: Voldria un cafè, si us plau.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master the following points at A1, but these same verbs reappear in several important structures.

Anar and the periphrastic past

Catalan builds a very common past tense with special present forms of anar plus an infinitive. There is no a between them:

• Vaig estudiar ahir. — I studied yesterday.
• Van fer el sopar. — They made dinner.
• Vam dir la veritat. — We told the truth.

This periphrastic past (a multi-word past form) must not be confused with present movement or intention. Compare the structures carefully:

• Vaig a estudiar a la biblioteca. — I am going to study at the library.
• Vaig estudiar a la biblioteca. — I studied at the library.

The small word a changes the structure. In the past construction, the plural auxiliary forms are commonly vam and vau, not the movement forms anem and aneu.

Object pronouns with two verbs

An object pronoun is a short word standing for the person or thing affected by an action. With a conjugated verb plus an infinitive, it can often appear before the conjugated verb or attach to the infinitive:

• Ho puc fer / Puc fer-ho — I can do it.
• Et vull dir una cosa / Vull dir-te una cosa — I want to tell you something.

The choice affects placement and spelling, not the basic message. This becomes more important when you study Catalan weak pronouns in detail.

Later tenses and moods

Irregularity is not limited to the present. You will later meet forms such as the past participles fet (done/made) and dit (said), the future podré (I will be able to), and subjunctive forms such as pugui and vingui. A participle is a verb form used with an auxiliary to build a tense, while the subjunctive is a verb mood often used for wishes, uncertainty, or reactions. Recognising the present forms now gives you a strong base, but do not assume that every later form can be predicted from them.

Practice Tips

1. Learn in person-based sets. Recite all seven first-person forms—vaig, faig, dic, puc, vull, sé, vinc—then do the same for tu. Short horizontal sets make the irregular changes easier to compare.
2. Build one useful sentence frame per verb. Change only one element at a time: Vaig a la feina / a classe / al mercat; Vull menjar / descansar / sortir; Sé cuinar / conduir / nedar. This connects each form to real speech rather than an isolated chart.
3. Practise without pronouns. Look at a form such as venim or diuen and identify the subject from the ending. Then add a pronoun only to create contrast: Jo no puc, però ells poden.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Subject Pronouns — review who each verb form refers to and why Catalan often omits the pronoun.
• Next step: Modal Verbs: Poder, Voler, Saber — explore ability, wishes, permission, and knowing how in more detail.
• Later development: Verbal Periphrases — learn common verb-plus-infinitive structures, including anar a, acabar de, and haver de.