Likes and Going in Catalan

In Brief

Catalan normally expresses “I like X” as m'agrada X, literally closer to “X is pleasing to me”: M'agrada el cinema. Use agraden when the thing liked is plural. Anar means “to go”; anar a + infinitive can express movement toward an activity or an immediate plan, while anar-se'n means “to leave” or “to go away.”

Overview

This A1 topic brings together two extremely useful verbs. Agradar lets you talk about food, places, people, and activities you enjoy. Its sentence pattern differs from English: the thing liked controls the verb, while the person experiencing the feeling is shown by a short pronoun such as m', t', or li. Once you stop trying to translate “I like” word for word, the pattern becomes predictable.

Anar is the everyday verb “to go,” but it is irregular: its present-tense forms must be learned rather than built from a regular ending. It appears with destinations (Vaig a Girona), activities (Anem a sopar), and plans (Vaig a trucar-la ara). The related pronominal verb anar-se'n adds two small pronouns and changes the meaning to “leave” or “go away.”

For a beginner, the essential rules are simple: use agrada with one thing or an activity, agraden with several things, and memorize the six forms of anar. Later sections explain contrasts that become important when you meet Catalan past and future forms.

How It Works

Expressing likes with agradar

In English, the person who has the feeling is the subject: “I like the film.” With agradar, Catalan organizes the idea around the thing that causes the feeling:

indirect-object pronoun + agradar + thing liked

An indirect object is the person who receives or experiences the effect of something. Here, m' means “to me,” and the film is the grammatical subject—the part that determines whether the verb is singular or plural:

• M'agrada la pel·lícula. — I like the film. Literally, “The film is pleasing to me.”
• M'agraden les pel·lícules. — I like films/the films.

The pronouns needed with agradar are weak pronouns (short, unstressed words placed next to a verb):

Experiencer	Pronoun	Example	Meaning
I	em / m'	M'agrada.	I like it.
you, singular informal	et / t'	T'agrada?	Do you like it?
he, she, formal you	li	Li agrada.	He/she likes it; you like it.
we	ens	Ens agrada.	We like it.
you, plural	us	Us agrada?	Do you like it?
they, formal you plural	els	Els agrada.	They like it; you like it.

Before the vowel in agrada or agraden, em becomes m' and et becomes t'. The other forms stay as shown.

Choosing agrada or agraden

For everyday statements, these are the two forms learners need most:

What is liked	Form	Example
one singular noun	agrada	Li agrada aquesta cançó. — He/she likes this song.
an uncountable or general idea	agrada	Ens agrada el cafè. — We like coffee.
an infinitive or activity	agrada	M'agrada caminar. — I like walking.
several plural nouns	agraden	T'agraden aquests llibres? — Do you like these books?

An infinitive is the dictionary form of a verb, such as llegir “to read” or viatjar “to travel.” An infinitive counts as one activity, so use singular agrada: Us agrada cuinar?

Catalan often uses a definite article where English speaks generally without “the”: M'agrada el te means “I like tea,” and M'agrada la música means “I like music.”

Negation and questions do not change the basic order:

• No m'agrada la pluja. — I do not like the rain.
• T'agrada Barcelona? — Do you like Barcelona?
• No els agraden els matins. — They do not like mornings.

To emphasize or contrast the person, add a mi, a tu, and so on, but keep the short pronoun:

Emphasized person	Pattern	Example
me	a mi m'agrada	A mi m'agrada més el tren. — I prefer the train.
you	a tu t'agrada	A tu t'agrada cuinar? — Do you like cooking?
him/her	a ell/ella li agrada	A ella li agrada ballar. — She likes dancing.
us	a nosaltres ens agrada	A nosaltres ens agrada la costa. — We like the coast.
you all	a vosaltres us agrada	A vosaltres us agrada el barri? — Do you like the neighborhood?
them	a ells/elles els agrada	A ells els agraden els museus. — They like museums.

The longer phrase identifies or stresses the person; it does not replace m', t', li, ens, us, or els.

Present tense of anar

Anar is irregular in the present indicative, the ordinary present tense used for facts, habits, and current movement.

Person	Catalan	English
jo	vaig	I go / am going
tu	vas	you go / are going
ell, ella, vostè	va	he/she goes; you go
nosaltres	anem	we go / are going
vosaltres	aneu	you all go / are going
ells, elles, vostès	van	they go; you go

Catalan often leaves out the subject pronoun because the verb form already identifies the person: Anem al mercat is normally more natural than Nosaltres anem al mercat unless “we” is being contrasted with someone else.

A destination normally follows anar a:

• Vaig a Barcelona. — I am going to Barcelona.
• Vas a casa? — Are you going home?
• Anem al cinema. — We are going to the cinema.
• Van als afores. — They are going to the outskirts.

Before el and els, a contracts: a + el = al and a + els = als. There is no contraction with la, les, or l': a la feina, a les nou, a l'estació.

Anar a + infinitive: movement and plans

With an infinitive, anar a commonly presents movement toward an activity, an intention, or something about to happen:

• Anem a sopar! — Let's go have dinner!
• Vaig a comprar pa. — I am going to buy bread.
• Ara et vaig a explicar què ha passat. — Now I am going to explain what happened.

Context decides whether physical movement is central. Vaig a comprar pa may literally mean that the speaker is going somewhere to buy bread; in another context, it can announce the next intended action.

For a neutral prediction or a more distant future, Catalan also has a simple future, introduced at a later level: Demà plourà “It will rain tomorrow.” At A1, use anar a + infinitive most confidently for an immediate intention, a planned next action, or literal movement toward an activity.

Anar-se'n: to leave or go away

Anar-se'n is not just anar followed by an optional extra word. It is a pronominal verb: its pronouns are part of the expression. In the present tense they come before the conjugated verb.

Person	Form	English
jo	me'n vaig	I leave / am leaving
tu	te'n vas	you leave / are leaving
ell, ella, vostè	se'n va	he/she leaves; you leave
nosaltres	ens n'anem	we leave / are leaving
vosaltres	us n'aneu	you all leave / are leaving
ells, elles, vostès	se'n van	they leave; you leave

Compare the meanings:

• Va a l'oficina a les sis. — He/she goes to the office at six.
• Se'n va de l'oficina a les sis. — He/she leaves the office at six.
• Me'n vaig. — I'm leaving / I'm off.

Examples in Context

Catalan	English	Note
M'agrada el cinema.	I like the cinema.	Singular idea: agrada.
No li agrada la pluja.	He/she doesn't like the rain.	No comes before the pronoun and verb.
T'agraden aquestes sabates?	Do you like these shoes?	Plural subject: agraden.
Ens agrada cuinar junts.	We like cooking together.	An activity takes singular agrada.
A la Júlia li agrada molt aquest barri.	Júlia likes this neighborhood a lot.	The name identifies the experiencer; li remains.
Als nens els agraden els animals.	The children like animals.	Both the experiencer and liked thing are plural.
Vaig a la feina amb bicicleta.	I go to work by bicycle.	a + la does not contract.
Anem a sopar!	Let's go have dinner!	A natural suggestion involving movement.
Aneu al mercat avui?	Are you going to the market today?	a + el becomes al.
Vaig a trucar-li ara mateix.	I am going to call him/her right now.	Immediate intention.
Se'n va a les sis.	He/she leaves at six.	anar-se'n means “leave.”
Estem cansats; ens n'anem a casa.	We're tired; we're going home.	Plural ens n'anem.

Common Mistakes

Making the person the subject of agradar

• Wrong: Jo agrado la música.
• Right: M'agrada la música.
• Why: Catalan presents the music as pleasing “to me.” Use the indirect-object pronoun m', not jo, for the ordinary meaning “I like.”

Ignoring singular and plural agreement

• Wrong: M'agrada els llibres.
• Right: M'agraden els llibres.
• Why: The books control the verb, so a plural liked thing requires agraden. An activity remains singular: M'agrada llegir llibres.

Dropping the weak pronoun after an emphasized person

• Wrong: A mi agrada el cafè.
• Right: A mi m'agrada el cafè.
• Why: A mi adds emphasis, but the normal short pronoun is still required.

Translating a general English noun without its article

• Wrong: M'agrada música.
• Right: M'agrada la música.
• Why: Catalan commonly uses the definite article with a general category or substance, even where English has no article.

Confusing a plan with the Catalan past

• Wrong for “I am going to eat”: Vaig menjar.
• Right: Vaig a menjar.
• Why: The small word a matters. Vaig a menjar presents movement or intention; vaig menjar is a very common Catalan past form meaning “I ate.”

Leaving en out of anar-se'n

• Wrong: Es va a les sis when you mean “He/she leaves at six.”
• Right: Se'n va a les sis.
• Why: The expression meaning “leave” is anar-se'n. Without en, the sentence no longer has that complete pronominal form.

Usage Notes

People as the thing liked

A person can also be the grammatical subject of agradar: M'agrada la Maria means “I like Maria.” Word order and pronouns prevent confusion with A la Maria li agrada el jazz “Maria likes jazz.” In the second sentence, a la Maria names the experiencer and el jazz is what she likes.

M'agrada versus m'encanta

M'agrada is a broad, neutral “I like it.” For stronger enthusiasm, Catalan often uses m'encanta “I love it”: M'encanta aquesta cançó. The same agreement logic applies in the plural: M'encanten aquestes cançons.

Invitations with anem?

The first-person plural can make a friendly suggestion. Anem? means “Shall we go?” and Anem a prendre un cafè? means “Shall we go for a coffee?” An exclamation such as Anem! can also encourage people to get moving: “Let's go!”

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master these points at A1, but they explain forms you will encounter soon.

First, do not confuse three similar-looking structures:

Structure	Typical meaning	Example
present anar + a + infinitive	movement, immediate intention, next action	Vaig a preparar el dinar. — I am going to prepare lunch.
special form of anar + infinitive, without a	completed past event	Vaig preparar el dinar. — I prepared lunch.
simple future	neutral future, promise, or prediction	Prepararé el dinar. — I will prepare lunch.

The past construction is called the periphrastic past and is exceptionally frequent in Catalan. The presence or absence of a can therefore change the time reference completely.

Second, agradar has other person forms when the thing doing the pleasing is a person. T'agrado? means “Do you like me?” Here the verb is agrado because “I” am the grammatical subject. Similarly, Ens agradeu can mean “We like you all” in the literal structure “You all are pleasing to us.” These forms are regular, but beginners hear the third-person forms agrada and agraden far more often.

With a modal verb, the pronouns of anar-se'n may appear before the conjugated modal or attached to the infinitive: Me'n vull anar and Vull anar-me'n both mean “I want to leave.” Commands attach the pronouns after the verb, producing forms such as Ves-te'n! “Go away!” These combinations belong to the wider system of Catalan weak pronouns.

Finally, anar appears in useful expressions that do not describe travel: Com va? means “How's it going?”, Això va bé means “This is going well,” and La situació va millorant means “The situation is gradually improving.” In the last example, a gerund (an -ant, -ent, or -int verb form describing an unfolding action) presents gradual development.

Practice Tips

1. Sort likes into two columns. Write five singular things or activities with agrada and five plural things with agraden: M'agrada nedar but M'agraden les platges.
2. Drill the two six-form sets aloud. Alternate vaig, vas, va, anem, aneu, van with me'n vaig, te'n vas, se'n va, ens n'anem, us n'aneu, se'n van. This makes the extra pronouns easier to hear.
3. Use a three-way timeline check. For each sentence, decide whether you mean movement/immediate intention (vaig a fer), a completed past action (vaig fer), or a neutral future action (faré). Pay special attention to the word a.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Subject Pronouns — review the person system used to organize the forms of anar and understand why Catalan often omits the subject pronoun.