Basic Weak Pronouns in Catalan

In Brief

Catalan weak pronouns are short, unstressed words placed next to a verb: La conec means “I know her,” while Pots ajudar-me? means “Can you help me?” As a beginner rule, put the pronoun before a conjugated verb but attach it after an infinitive or an affirmative command. The forms el, la, els and les agree with the gender and number of the person or thing they replace.

Overview

A weak pronoun, called a pronom feble in Catalan, is a short pronoun without its own stress. It refers back to a person or thing without repeating the noun: instead of Veig el Marc (“I see Marc”), you can say El veig (“I see him”). Grammatically, el Marc is the direct object—the person or thing directly affected by the action—and el takes its place.

This is an important A2 topic because Catalan uses these pronouns constantly in ordinary conversation. English object pronouns normally come after the verb: “I see her.” Catalan often reverses that order by putting the weak pronoun before a conjugated verb: La veig. With an infinitive—the dictionary form of a verb, such as veure “to see”—the pronoun is normally attached at the end: veure-la.

The basic set in this lesson covers em/me (“me”), et/te (“you” singular), el/la (“him, her, it”), ens (“us”), us/vos (“you” plural), and els/les (“them”). Some of these forms can also have reflexive or indirect-object uses, but the core focus here is recognizing and using them as objects of a verb.

How It Works

Choosing the pronoun

For first- and second-person objects, choose the form according to the person being referred to. For third-person direct objects, choose it according to the noun’s grammatical gender and number.

Meaning	Basic form before a verb	Example noun replaced
me	em	a mi (“me”)
you, singular informal	et	a tu (“you”)
him; it, masculine singular	el	el llibre, el Marc
her; it, feminine singular	la	la clau, la Marta
us	ens	a nosaltres (“us”)
you, plural	us	a vosaltres (“you all”)
them, masculine or mixed plural	els	els llibres, els nois
them, feminine plural	les	les claus, les noies

The gender distinction is not limited to people. Catalan nouns have grammatical gender, so “I buy it” can be El compro when “it” is el pa (bread), but La compro when “it” is la fruita (fruit). In the plural, a mixed group takes els: Veig el Pau i la Laia. Els veig.

Do not choose el or la according to the subject—the person doing the action. In La veu el Joan (“Joan sees her”), la refers to the feminine direct object, while el Joan is the subject.

Position with different verb forms

The easiest reliable rule is to identify the form of the verb first.

Verb construction	Position	Pattern	Example
Conjugated verb	before, written separately	pronoun + verb	La conec.
Negative sentence	before the verb, after no	no + pronoun + verb	No la conec.
Infinitive	attached after the verb	verb-pronoun	conèixer-la
Affirmative command	attached after the verb	verb-pronoun	Mira-la!
Negative command	before the verb	no + pronoun + verb	No la miris!

A conjugated verb is a verb changed to show person or tense, such as veig (“I see”), coneixes (“you know”), or ajudaran (“they will help”). The pronoun goes before it:

• Em veu. — “He/She sees me.”
• Et truco demà. — “I’ll call you tomorrow.”
• Les coneixem. — “We know them.”

With an infinitive, attach the pronoun using a hyphen or apostrophe as required:

• ajudar-me — “to help me”
• veure’l — “to see him/it”
• conèixer-les — “to know them”

An affirmative command tells someone to do something. Its pronoun follows the verb: Escolta’m! (“Listen to me!”), Agafa’l! (“Take it!”), Obriu-la! (“Open it!”). A negative command uses the opposite order: No m’escoltis!, No l’agafis!, No l’obriu!

Apostrophes and attached forms

The written form changes to fit the sound next to it. Before a consonant, the common forms are em, et, el, la, ens, us, els, and les. Before a vowel or silent h, em, et, and singular el normally become m’, t’, and l’:

• m’ajuda — “he/she helps me”
• t’escolto — “I’m listening to you”
• l’obro — “I open it”

Feminine singular la also usually becomes l’ before a vowel: l’escolto can mean “I listen to him” or “I listen to her,” depending on context. A useful spelling exception is that feminine la remains uncontracted before an unstressed i or u (with or without silent h): la imagino, la utilitza. Masculine el still contracts: l’imagino.

The plural forms do not lose a letter before a vowel: ens ajuda, us escolta, els obre, les imagina. An apostrophe replaces omitted letters; never add both the omitted letter and the apostrophe.

After a verb, Catalan uses full or reduced attached forms. These are the main patterns you will meet:

Meaning	After a verb ending in a consonant or diphthong	After a verb ending in a vowel
me	-me: ajudar-me	’m: ajuda’m
you, singular	-te: ajudar-te	’t: mira’t
him/it	-lo: comprar-lo	’l: veure’l, mira’l
her/it	-la: comprar-la	-la: veure-la, mira-la
us	-nos: ajudar-nos	’ns: ajuda’ns
you, plural	-vos: ajudar-vos	-vos: mireu-vos
them, masculine/mixed	-los: veure-los	’ls: mira’ls
them, feminine	-les: veure-les	-les: mira-les

These spellings may look like many separate pronouns, but they are positional versions of the same small set. Learn them in a phrase: em mira alongside mirar-me and mira’m.

Two verbs together

When a conjugated verb is followed by an infinitive, Catalan often allows two positions. You can put the pronoun before the conjugated verb or attach it to the infinitive:

• Em pots ajudar? = Pots ajudar-me?
• El vull veure. = Vull veure’l.
• Les hem de comprar. = Hem de comprar-les.

Do not use the pronoun in both positions. The two versions above have the same basic meaning, although one may sound more natural in a particular sentence or region.

Examples in Context

Catalan	English	Note
Em diu Marta.	She calls me Marta.	Em comes before a conjugated verb.
El veig cada dia.	I see him every day.	Masculine singular direct object.
No la conec.	I don’t know her.	No comes before the pronoun.
Pots ajudar-me?	Can you help me?	Attached to the infinitive.
T’espero davant del cinema.	I’ll wait for you outside the cinema.	Et becomes t’ before a vowel.
Ens conviden a sopar.	They’re inviting us to dinner.	Ens stays unchanged before the verb.
Us truco quan arribi.	I’ll call you all when I arrive.	Plural “you”; common throughout Catalan.
On és el mòbil? No el trobo.	Where is the phone? I can’t find it.	El replaces a masculine noun.
La porta és oberta; tanca-la, si us plau.	The door is open; close it, please.	Feminine -la follows an affirmative command.
Els bitllets ja els tinc.	I already have the tickets.	Masculine plural; the noun is stated as the topic.
Les claus? No les veig.	The keys? I can’t see them.	Feminine plural.
Obre’l amb compte.	Open it carefully.	Reduced ’l follows a vowel-final command.
No l’obris encara.	Don’t open it yet.	In a negative command, the pronoun moves before the verb.
Volem visitar-los demà.	We want to visit them tomorrow.	-los is attached to the infinitive.
Les volem visitar demà.	We want to visit them tomorrow.	An equally possible position with two verbs.

One correction is worth noting: Em diu Marta literally means “She/He calls me Marta.” For the ordinary introduction “My name is Marta,” Catalan normally uses the reflexive construction Em dic Marta.

Common Mistakes

Putting the pronoun after every verb because English does

• Wrong: Veig la cada dia.
• Right: La veig cada dia.
• Why: Before a conjugated Catalan verb, the weak pronoun comes first. English “see her” does not provide the Catalan word order.

Using a hyphen before a conjugated verb

• Wrong: La-veig.
• Right: La veig.
• Why: A preverbal pronoun is a separate word. Hyphens and apostrophes attach pronouns after infinitives and affirmative commands, or show elision where a sound is omitted.

Forgetting gender or number

• Wrong: Tens les entrades? Sí, els tinc.
• Right: Tens les entrades? Sí, les tinc.
• Why: Entrades is feminine plural, so its direct-object pronoun is les. Match the noun being replaced, not the English word “them.”

Keeping the full form before a vowel

• Wrong: Em ajuda molt.
• Right: M’ajuda molt.
• Why: Em normally loses its vowel before a vowel-initial verb and is written m’. The same basic pattern gives t’ajuda and l’ajuda.

Attaching the pronoun after a negative command

• Wrong: No obris-la.
• Right: No l’obris.
• Why: Pronouns follow affirmative commands but precede negative commands: Obre-la! versus No l’obris!

Repeating the pronoun in a two-verb construction

• Wrong: El vull veure’l.
• Right: El vull veure. / Vull veure’l.
• Why: For the basic construction, choose one available position. Using both repeats the same object.

Usage Notes

Weak pronouns are genuinely unstressed. In speech, they form one sound group with the verb, which explains both their position and their shortened spellings. Practising la veig or ajudar-me as a single rhythm is usually more effective than pausing before the pronoun.

Us is the standard preverbal form for plural “you”: Us veig demà. After a verb, the corresponding attached form is -vos: Vull veure-vos demà. You may also hear regional variation in how speakers pronounce or select certain clitic forms, but the written patterns in this article are a sound general standard for learners.

A weak pronoun is not the same as a stressed pronoun such as mi, tu, ell, or ella. Stressed forms can follow a preposition and carry emphasis: Aquest regal és per a ella (“This gift is for her”). Do not replace them mechanically with weak forms: not per a la when la is intended as the pronoun “her.”

Catalan often states a direct-object noun as the topic and repeats it with a pronoun: Els bitllets ja els tinc (“The tickets, I already have them”). This is natural in conversation. It is different from accidentally doubling a pronoun in El vull veure’l, where both pronouns occupy the two alternative positions of the same verb construction.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master all of the following at A2, but these patterns explain forms you will soon encounter.

With a gerund—a verb form corresponding roughly to English “-ing” and ending in -ant or -ent—the pronoun attaches after it: Està mirant-la (“He/She is looking at her”). In a compound tense formed with haver plus a past participle, the pronoun instead goes before the auxiliary haver: L’he vista (“I have seen her”), not He vist-la. A past participle is the form used in constructions such as he vist (“I have seen”).

In careful standard Catalan, a preceding third-person direct-object pronoun can trigger written agreement on the past participle, especially with feminine objects: L’he vista for a woman or feminine noun, Les he vistes for feminine plural. Actual usage varies, and this agreement belongs beyond the beginner rule; first learn to place the pronoun before haver.

Catalan also combines two or more weak pronouns, as in expressions meaning “give it to me” or “take some away.” Their order and spelling require a separate system, and combinations can vary across major Catalan varieties. Likewise, li and indirect uses of els identify a recipient (“to him/her/them”), while en and hi replace other kinds of complements. Do not try to derive those forms from the direct-object table here.

Finally, el and la can both appear as l’ before a vowel, so the written pronoun may stop showing gender: L’escolto can mean “I listen to him” or “I listen to her.” Context supplies the answer. Gender becomes visible again before many consonant-initial verbs: El conec versus La conec.

Practice Tips

1. Build three-form chains. Take one pronoun and say it before a conjugated verb, after an infinitive, and after a command: em mira → mirar-me → mira’m; el compra → comprar-lo → compra’l. This turns spelling changes into a predictable pattern.
2. Replace real nouns. Write five pairs such as Compro la revista → La compro and Veig els veïns → Els veig. Mark each noun masculine/feminine and singular/plural before choosing the pronoun.
3. Contrast positive and negative commands aloud. Practise pairs such as Obre-la! / No l’obris! and Mira’ls! / No els miris! The movement of the pronoun is easier to remember as a contrast than as an isolated rule.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Subject Pronouns — distinguishes the person doing the action from the object replaced by a weak pronoun.
• Next step: Reflexive Verbs — uses related weak forms when the subject acts on itself.
• Next step: Indirect Object Pronouns — introduces pronouns for recipients, such as “to him” or “to her.”
• Later topic: Pronouns En and Hi — replaces complements that English often expresses with “some,” “of it,” “there,” or a prepositional phrase.