Past Participle and Gerund in Catalan

In Brief

Catalan forms the regular past participle with -at, -ut, or -it: parlat, perdut, dormit. It forms the gerund with -ant, -ent, or -int: parlant, perdent, dormint. Use the participle with haver in compound tenses and the gerund for an action in progress or occurring alongside another action.

Overview

The past participle is a verb form such as English “spoken” or “finished.” In Catalan, it appears in compound tenses—tenses built from more than one verb—as in he parlat (“I have spoken”). It can also behave like an adjective, describing a noun: una porta tancada (“a closed door”).

The gerund is an unchanging verb form that usually presents an action as ongoing: està menjant (“he/she is eating”). It can also explain how or while what another action happens: vaig sortir corrent (“I went out running”). Although the Catalan gerund often resembles English -ing, the two are not interchangeable in every sentence.

These forms enter the core grammar at A2 because they unlock the present perfect and the progressive. Start with the three regular endings and the most frequent irregular forms. Agreement, passive structures, and restrictions on advanced gerund clauses are included later in this article so that you can recognise them without treating them as part of the beginner rule.

How It Works

The two forms at a glance

To find the regular form, remove the infinitive ending and add the appropriate participle or gerund ending.

Infinitive group	Infinitive	Past participle	Gerund
-ar	parlar	parlat	parlant
-er/-re	perdre	perdut	perdent
-ir	dormir	dormit	dormint

The gerund does not change for person, gender, or number. Parlant remains the same whether the subject is “I,” “she,” or “they.” The participle is normally unchanged after haver, but it agrees when it functions as an adjective or as part of certain other structures.

Forming the regular past participle

Verbs in -ar: -at

Remove -ar and add -at:

• parlar → parlat (“spoken”)
• treballar → treballat (“worked”)
• acabar → acabat (“finished”)

When these forms act as adjectives, they have the usual four agreement forms:

Gender and number	Form of acabat	Example
Masculine singular	acabat	el treball acabat
Feminine singular	acabada	la feina acabada
Masculine plural	acabats	els treballs acabats
Feminine plural	acabades	les feines acabades

Verbs in -er or -re: usually -ut

Remove the infinitive ending and add -ut:

• perdre → perdut (“lost”)
• témer → temut (“feared”)
• conèixer → conegut (“known/met”)

Some very common verbs in this group alter their stem or have an irregular participle, so it is best to learn the participle with the infinitive.

Verbs in -ir: -it

Remove -ir and add -it:

• dormir → dormit (“slept”)
• sentir → sentit (“heard/felt”)
• servir → servit (“served”)

The -eix- found in some present-tense forms does not appear here: serveixo but he servit and estic servint.

Frequent irregular past participles

Irregular participles are common because many belong to high-frequency verbs.

Infinitive	Past participle	Basic meaning
fer	fet	done, made
dir	dit	said
escriure	escrit	written
veure	vist	seen
prendre	pres	taken
obrir	obert	opened, open
cobrir	cobert	covered
morir	mort	died, dead
resoldre	resolt	resolved

Other common verbs are not irregular in the same way but have a stem worth memorising: beure → begut, venir → vingut, tenir → tingut, and néixer → nascut.

Past participle with haver

The auxiliary verb haver (a helping verb used to build a tense) combines with the participle:

Person	haver + parlat	English
jo	he parlat	I have spoken
tu	has parlat	you have spoken
ell/ella/vostè	ha parlat	he/she has spoken; you have spoken
nosaltres	hem parlat	we have spoken
vosaltres	heu parlat	you have spoken
ells/elles/vostès	han parlat	they have spoken; you have spoken

In the basic pattern, the participle does not agree with the subject: ella ha arribat, elles han arribat. Do not write han arribades merely because the subject is feminine plural.

Catalan and English do not divide the past in exactly the same way. Catalan commonly uses the present perfect for a period felt to be still current, such as avui (“today”): Avui he treballat molt. The choice between this tense and the periphrastic past is a separate tense-contrast question; the participle itself is formed in the same way in all compound tenses.

Past participle as an adjective or result

A participle can describe a noun (a word for a person, thing, place, or idea). It then agrees with that noun in gender and number:

• un llibre escrit en català — a book written in Catalan
• una carta escrita a mà — a letter written by hand
• les botigues estan tancades — the shops are closed

With estar, the participle often describes the resulting state: La finestra està oberta focuses on the window being open. In a passive construction with ser, it presents what receives the action: La carta va ser escrita per la directora (“The letter was written by the director”). In both uses, agreement is visible: escrit, escrita, escrits, escrites.

Forming the gerund

The regular gerund endings are:

• -ar → -ant: parlar → parlant
• -er/-re → -ent: perdre → perdent, beure → bevent
• -ir → -int: dormir → dormint, servir → servint

Several frequent gerunds have a changed stem or spelling:

Infinitive	Gerund	English
dir	dient	saying
fer	fent	doing, making
veure	veient	seeing
viure	vivint	living
escriure	escrivint	writing
tenir	tenint	having, holding
venir	venint	coming
caure	caient	falling

Estar + gerund: an action in progress

Conjugate estar and leave the gerund unchanged:

• estic llegint — I am reading
• estàs llegint — you are reading
• està llegint — he/she is reading
• estem llegint — we are reading
• esteu llegint — you are reading
• estan llegint — they are reading

This structure puts the action visibly in progress. The simple present can also describe what is happening, especially when no special emphasis on duration is needed. For example, Què fas? is the normal everyday question “What are you doing?” You do not need Què estàs fent? in every situation, though it is correct when the ongoing activity matters.

Gerund alongside another action

A gerund can describe an action happening at the same time as the main verb or the manner in which it happens:

• Va entrar somrient. — He/she came in smiling.
• Aprèn català mirant sèries. — He/she learns Catalan by watching series.
• Vaig sortir corrent. — I went out running.

Usually, the understood performer of the gerund is the same as the subject of the main verb. In La Júlia va entrar cantant, Júlia both entered and sang. Keeping that link clear prevents ambiguous sentences.

Examples in Context

Catalan	English	Note
He parlat amb ella aquest matí.	I spoke/have spoken with her this morning.	Haver + regular -ar participle
Encara no hem acabat el projecte.	We have not finished the project yet.	The participle stays unchanged after hem
Has vist les meves claus?	Have you seen my keys?	Irregular participle vist
Avui han obert una botiga nova.	They have opened a new shop today.	Irregular participle obert
El llibre escrit per ella va guanyar un premi.	The book written by her won a prize.	Adjectival participle agreeing with llibre
Les finestres estan tancades.	The windows are closed.	Feminine plural agreement in a resulting state
La notícia va ser publicada ahir.	The news item was published yesterday.	Agreement in a passive construction
Està menjant a la cuina.	He/she is eating in the kitchen.	Action in progress
Ara estem esperant l'autobús.	We are waiting for the bus now.	Conjugated estar + unchanged gerund
Què esteu fent?	What are you doing?	Second-person plural progressive
Va entrar parlant per telèfon.	He/she came in talking on the phone.	Simultaneous action
Vaig sortir corrent perquè arribava tard.	I went out running because I was late.	The gerund expresses manner
Aprenc paraules noves llegint el diari.	I learn new words by reading the newspaper.	The gerund expresses means
Els nens van tornar a casa cantant.	The children returned home singing.	Same subject for both actions

Common Mistakes

Making the participle agree with the subject after haver

• Wrong: Les noies han arribades.
• Right: Les noies han arribat.
• Why: In an ordinary compound tense, the participle after haver does not agree with the subject.

Using a regular ending for an irregular participle

• Wrong: He feit la feina.
• Right: He fet la feina.
• Why: The participle of fer is fet. Learn frequent verbs as pairs: fer–fet, dir–dit, veure–vist, escriure–escrit.

Treating every English -ing form as a Catalan gerund

• Wrong: M'agrada nedant.
• Right: M'agrada nedar.
• Why: English uses “swimming” as the name of an activity, but Catalan normally uses the infinitive—the dictionary form of the verb—after agradar: M'agrada nedar.

Overusing estar + gerund

• Less natural for a routine: Estic treballant cada dia a l'oficina.
• Better: Treballo cada dia a l'oficina.
• Why: A routine normally takes the simple present. Use estar treballant for work in progress at a particular moment: Ara estic treballant.

Giving the gerund a different hidden subject

• Unclear: Anant cap a casa, va començar a ploure.
• Clear: Quan anava cap a casa, va començar a ploure.
• Why: The first version can make it sound as though the rain was going home. A finite clause with quan clearly states the intended relationship.

Using a gerund for a later result

• Avoid: Va caure, trencant-se el braç.
• Clear: Va caure i es va trencar el braç.
• Why: The broken arm results from and follows the fall. In careful Catalan, a simple gerund should normally express an action simultaneous with, or prior to, the main action—not a later consequence.

Usage Notes

The progressive is available and common in Catalan, but it is less automatic than in English. English often requires “be + -ing” for an action happening now; Catalan can choose the simple present when the context already makes that clear. Compare Què llegeixes? (“What are you reading?”) with Què estàs llegint ara mateix? (“What are you reading right now?”). The second deliberately focuses on the activity in progress.

Do not confuse estar + gerund with anar + gerund. The latter can express gradual development or continuation: Va millorant (“It is gradually getting better”). It is not the periphrastic past, because the periphrastic past uses a conjugated form of anar followed by an infinitive: va millorar (“it improved”). The contrast between va millorant and va millorar is therefore a contrast between gerund and infinitive as well as meaning.

Participles used adjectivally may develop a meaning that feels like an ordinary adjective: obert (“open”), tancat (“closed”), cansat (“tired”). Agreement still applies: una porta oberta, dues botigues tancades, estem cansades if a group identifying as feminine is speaking.

Beyond the Basics: Advanced Use

You do not need to produce all of these patterns at A2, but you will meet them in careful speech and writing.

Agreement with a preceding object pronoun

A direct object is the person or thing directly affected by an action. When a third-person direct-object pronoun comes before a compound tense, Catalan may show agreement on the participle, especially in careful usage and particularly with feminine forms:

• Has vist la Maria? Sí, l'he vista. — Have you seen Maria? Yes, I have seen her.
• Les cartes, ja les he escrites. — The letters—I have already written them.
• De cadires, n'he comprades dues. — As for chairs, I have bought two.

Actual usage varies, and unchanged participles are also widespread in speech. The important beginner distinction remains: do not agree the participle merely with the subject. At higher levels, learn agreement with el, la, els, les and en as a separate pattern.

Absolute participle clauses

A participle can head a shortened clause with its own noun:

• Acabada la reunió, tothom va marxar. — Once the meeting was over, everyone left.
• Vistos els resultats, hem decidit canviar. — Having seen the results, we have decided to change.

The participle agrees with that noun: acabada with reunió, and vistos with resultats. This compact pattern is more characteristic of formal or written language.

Compound gerund and other gerund clauses

The compound gerund, havent + participle, places one action before another: Havent acabat la feina, va sortir (“Having finished the work, he/she went out”). This is concise but more formal than Després d'acabar la feina, va sortir.

A simple gerund can express time, manner, means, or cause when the relationship is clear: Treballant junts, acabarem abans (“By working together, we will finish sooner”). Because a gerund can compress several possible meanings, a full clause with quan, mentre, perquè, or si is often clearer.

Practice Tips

1. Learn forms in sets of three. For each new verb, record the infinitive, participle, and gerund: escriure–escrit–escrivint. This catches irregular forms early.
2. Sort examples by function. Make three small groups: haver + participle (he menjat), participle as a description (la porta tancada), and gerund (està menjant). Say why each form is used rather than only translating it.
3. Check English -ing carefully. When you see an English -ing form, ask whether it means an ongoing action (està llegint), a method (aprèn llegint), or the name of an activity (llegir). This prevents one of the most persistent transfer mistakes.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Present Perfect (Perfet d'Indicatiu) — practises haver with the past participle in a complete tense.
• Next steps: Absolute Participle and Gerund Clauses — develops the compact formal patterns introduced in the advanced section.