Present-Tense -ir Verbs in Catalan

In Brief

Catalan verbs ending in -ir follow two main present-tense patterns. Pure verbs use forms such as dormo, dorms, dorm, while inchoative verbs insert -eix- in the singular and the third-person plural: serveixo, serveixes, serveix, serveixen. Because the infinitive alone does not always reveal the pattern, learn a new verb with its jo form: dormir — dormo but servir — serveixo.

Overview

The infinitive is the dictionary form of a verb, corresponding to English “to sleep” or “to serve.” Catalan infinitives are traditionally divided into three conjugations (groups of verbs that form their endings in similar ways). Verbs in the third conjugation end in -ir, as in dormir (“to sleep”), sortir (“to go out” or “to leave”), servir (“to serve”), and preferir (“to prefer”).

At A1, the present indicative—the ordinary present tense used for facts and real situations—lets you talk about routines, preferences, and what is happening now. Catalan often uses one simple present form where English chooses either a simple or a progressive form: Dormo can mean “I sleep” or, in a suitable context, “I am sleeping.” Catalan does have a progressive construction, but it is not required every time English uses “be + -ing.”

The important split within the -ir group is between pure and inchoative verbs. “Inchoative” is simply the traditional name for verbs that use an extra element, usually written -eix-, in four present-tense forms. The label does not mean that the verb always describes the beginning of an action. It describes its conjugation pattern.

How It Works

Start with the subject

Catalan has six grammatical persons. The subject is the person or thing doing the action. Subject pronouns are often omitted because the verb ending usually makes the person clear.

Person	Pronoun	English idea
first-person singular	jo	I
second-person singular	tu	you, one person, informal
third-person singular	ell, ella, vostè	he, she, formal you
first-person plural	nosaltres	we
second-person plural	vosaltres	you, more than one person
third-person plural	ells, elles, vostès	they, formal you plural

Thus Dormim aquí already means “We sleep here”; nosaltres is optional unless it adds emphasis or contrast.

Pattern 1: pure -ir verbs

To see the basic pattern, use dormir. Remove infinitive -ir to find the stem (the main part that carries the meaning), dorm-, and add the present endings.

Person	Ending	dormir	English
jo	-o	dormo	I sleep
tu	-s	dorms	you sleep
ell/ella/vostè	no added ending	dorm	he/she sleeps; you sleep
nosaltres	-im	dormim	we sleep
vosaltres	-iu	dormiu	you all sleep
ells/elles/vostès	-en	dormen	they sleep; you all sleep

The endings -im and -iu are especially useful clues for third-conjugation verbs. In dormim and dormiu, the stress falls on the ending; in the other forms, the stem is stressed.

Not every pure verb keeps an entirely unchanged stem. Sortir is extremely common and uses sur- in the singular and third-person plural, but sort- before -im and -iu.

Person	sortir	English
jo	surto	I go out / leave
tu	surts	you go out / leave
ell/ella/vostè	surt	he/she goes out; you leave
nosaltres	sortim	we go out / leave
vosaltres	sortiu	you all go out / leave
ells/elles/vostès	surten	they go out; you all leave

Other useful pure-pattern verbs include obrir (“to open”: obro, obres, obre, obrim, obriu, obren) and sentir (“to hear” or “to feel”: sento, sents, sent, sentim, sentiu, senten). These examples also show why it is better to learn real forms than to assume that every pure verb behaves exactly like dormir.

Pattern 2: inchoative -ir verbs

Many -ir verbs add -eix- in the three singular persons and the third-person plural. The first- and second-person plural forms do not contain it.

Person	servir	English
jo	serveixo	I serve
tu	serveixes	you serve
ell/ella/vostè	serveix	he/she serves; you serve
nosaltres	servim	we serve
vosaltres	serviu	you all serve
ells/elles/vostès	serveixen	they serve; you all serve

A compact way to remember the distribution is 1–2–3 singular plus 3 plural. Compare the two plural forms:

• nosaltres servim — no -eix-
• vosaltres serviu — no -eix-
• ells serveixen — -eix- returns

The same broad pattern appears in many high-frequency verbs:

Infinitive	jo	nosaltres	Meaning
preferir	prefereixo	preferim	to prefer
decidir	decideixo	decidim	to decide
llegir	llegeixo	llegim	to read
seguir	segueixo	seguim	to follow / continue
existir	existeixo	existim	to exist

Spelling can adjust to preserve the sound of the stem. For example, llegir has llegeixo but llegim. Treat these spelling alternations as part of the verb’s written pattern rather than adding a new spoken ending.

How to know which pattern a verb follows

There is no completely dependable rule based only on the final -ir. A dictionary or conjugation reference will tell you the class, but one carefully chosen form can also reveal it. Learn the infinitive with the first-person singular:

• dormir — dormo: pure
• sortir — surto: pure, with a stem change
• servir — serveixo: inchoative
• preferir — prefereixo: inchoative

Once you know that a verb is inchoative, you can normally predict where -eix- appears. Once you know that a verb is pure, you should still watch for stem changes in common verbs.

What the Catalan present can express

The present indicative has several everyday uses:

• habits: Dormo vuit hores cada nit. — “I sleep eight hours every night.”
• facts or states: Existeixen dues opcions. — “Two options exist.”
• an action in progress when context makes it clear: Ara serveixo el cafè. — “I’m serving the coffee now.”
• a scheduled or firmly arranged future: Demà sortim a les set. — “Tomorrow we’re leaving at seven.”

English learners should not search for a separate Catalan equivalent of “do” in questions or negatives. Use intonation for a question and put no before the verb for a negative: Dorms bé? (“Do you sleep well?”), No dormo bé (“I don’t sleep well”).

Examples in Context

Catalan	English	Note
Jo dormo vuit hores.	I sleep eight hours.	Pure pattern; the pronoun adds or permits emphasis.
El nen dorm al sofà.	The child is sleeping on the sofa.	The simple present can describe the current action.
Dormiu bé en aquest hotel?	Do you sleep well in this hotel?	Second-person plural, with -iu.
Nosaltres sortim a les vuit.	We go out at eight.	Pure verb; no stem change in sortim.
Avui surten més tard.	Today they are leaving later.	Sortir changes sort- to sur- here.
Obro la finestra perquè fa calor.	I’m opening the window because it is hot.	Obrir is pure.
Ella serveix el dinar.	She serves lunch.	Inchoative third-person singular.
Servim cafè fins a les cinc.	We serve coffee until five.	No -eix- with nosaltres.
Els cambrers serveixen a la terrassa.	The waiters serve on the terrace.	-eix- returns in the third-person plural.
Prefereixo el tren.	I prefer the train.	Inchoative first-person singular.
Preferiu te o cafè?	Do you all prefer tea or coffee?	No -eix- with vosaltres.
Decidim demà.	We’ll decide tomorrow.	Present tense used for a future arrangement.
Llegeixes abans d'anar a dormir?	Do you read before going to sleep?	Inchoative llegir.
Segueixo aquesta ruta cada matí.	I follow this route every morning.	Inchoative seguir.
No senten el telèfon.	They don’t hear the phone.	Pure sentir; no comes before the verb.

Common Mistakes

Adding -eix- to every -ir verb

• Wrong: Jo dormeixo vuit hores.
• Right: Jo dormo vuit hores.
• Why: Dormir belongs to the pure group. Its standard present forms do not use -eix-.

Leaving -eix- out of an inchoative form

• Wrong: Ella serv el dinar.
• Right: Ella serveix el dinar.
• Why: Servir is inchoative, and its third-person singular contains -eix-.

Using -eix- with nosaltres or vosaltres

• Wrong: Nosaltres serveixem cafè.
• Right: Nosaltres servim cafè.
• Why: In the standard inchoative pattern, -eix- appears in the singular and third-person plural, not in nosaltres or vosaltres forms.

Regularising sortir too far

• Wrong: Ell sort a les sis.
• Right: Ell surt a les sis.
• Why: Sortir is a pure verb, but its stem changes to sur- in this form. The plural forms sortim and sortiu keep sort-.

Copying English question and progressive structures

• Wrong: Fa tu dormir bé? for “Do you sleep well?”
• Right: Dorms bé?
• Why: Catalan does not add an auxiliary equivalent to English “do” to make an ordinary present-tense question. Likewise, a simple present can often translate English “am/is/are + -ing” when the context already shows that the action is current.

Usage Notes

In everyday Catalan, subject pronouns are less frequent than in English. Prefereixo el tren is a complete, natural sentence. Add jo when you want a contrast—Jo prefereixo el tren, però ella prefereix l'autobús—or when the subject might otherwise be unclear.

The spelling and pronunciation of inchoative forms vary across the Catalan-speaking area. Forms with -eix-, such as serveixo and serveixen, are widespread and are the main model taught here. In Valencian, you will commonly meet forms such as servisc, servixes, servix, and servixen. These are systematic regional forms, not careless versions of the same conjugation. Beginners can use one consistent standard while learning to recognise the others.

The English verb “leave” can correspond to several Catalan verbs depending on meaning. Sortir means to go out or leave a place: Surto de casa. It does not cover every use of English “leave,” such as leaving an object somewhere. Learning verbs in a full sentence helps prevent this kind of one-word matching.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master every exception yet, but the third conjugation contains more variation than the two model tables suggest. Some pure verbs change a vowel or consonant when the stem is stressed. Others have spelling changes required by Catalan sound and spelling rules. That is why dormir, sortir, and obrir are all called pure even though their visible forms are not identical in every person.

A few verbs can show variation between pure and inchoative conjugation depending on the verb, meaning, region, or accepted standard usage. When reliable speakers or references use a form that does not match your first model, check that individual verb rather than extending the difference to all -ir verbs.

Later, you will also meet the same verbs in forms built from other stems or markers: the gerund dormint (“sleeping”), the past participle dormit (“slept”), and subjunctive forms such as dormi. The -eix- distribution in the present indicative should not be copied automatically into every tense and mood. A mood is a verb system that presents an action as a fact, wish, possibility, command, and so on.

Finally, Catalan can use estar + gerund to focus explicitly on an action in progress: Estic llegint (“I am reading”). This construction is useful, but it is narrower than the English progressive. If the context already supplies ara or makes the ongoing action obvious, the simple present may be the more natural choice: Ara llegeixo el correu.

Practice Tips

1. Learn two anchor forms. Record each new -ir verb as infinitive + jo + nosaltres: servir — serveixo — servim; dormir — dormo — dormim. This captures both the class and the form without -eix-.
2. Practise in four-person blocks. For an inchoative verb, say jo, tu, ell/ella, ells/elles together, then contrast them with nosaltres and vosaltres: prefereixo, prefereixes, prefereix, prefereixen versus preferim, preferiu.
3. Build short daily contrasts. Use one pure and one inchoative verb in realistic sentences: Dormo fins a les set, però serveixo esmorzars a les vuit. Change the subject each time and omit the pronoun unless you need emphasis.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Subject Pronouns — learn the six grammatical persons that the verb forms refer to, and when Catalan can omit the pronoun.