Contractions and Elision in Catalan

Overview

Catalan makes extensive use of contractions and elision — the shortening or merging of words when they meet certain conditions. At the A1 level, you need to master these because they appear in virtually every sentence and are mandatory, not optional.

Contractions occur when certain prepositions combine with the masculine definite articles el and els: a + el = al, de + el = del, per + el = pel. These are not casual abbreviations but required forms in both speech and writing.

Elision is the dropping of a vowel and replacing it with an apostrophe when two vowels would otherwise clash. The most common case is the article before a vowel: el + home = l'home, la + escola = l'escola. Elision also affects weak pronouns before verbs starting with vowels: me + agrada = m'agrada.

How It Works

Preposition-Article Contractions

Preposition	+ el	+ els
a (to)	al	als
de (of/from)	del	dels
per (for/through)	pel	pels

No contraction occurs with la, les, or l'.

Article Elision

Full form	Elided form	Condition
el + vowel/h	l'	l'arbre, l'home
la + vowel/h	l'	l'escola, l'hora
la + unstressed i/u	la (no elision!)	la idea, la universitat

Pronoun Elision

Full form	Elided form	Example
me + vowel	m'	m'agrada (I like)
te + vowel	t'	t'ajudo (I help you)
se + vowel	s'	s'ha anat (he/she has left)
de + vowel	d'	d'acord (agreed)
que + vowel	qu'	(rare in modern usage)

Examples in Context

Catalan	English	Note
Vaig al cinema.	I go to the cinema.	a + el = al
El cotxe del veí.	The neighbor's car.	de + el = del
Pel camí de la platja.	Along the road to the beach.	per + el = pel
L'escola és gran.	The school is big.	la → l'
L'home és aquí.	The man is here.	el → l'
M'agrada la música.	I like music.	me → m'
T'he vist al parc.	I saw you at the park.	te → t'
S'ha acabat el pa.	The bread has run out.	se → s'
Als matins treballo.	In the mornings I work.	a + els = als
La idea és bona.	The idea is good.	No elision (unstressed i)

Common Mistakes

Forgetting to contract

• Wrong: Vaig a el cinema.
• Right: Vaig al cinema.
• Why: Contractions with el/els are mandatory. Writing the full forms is a spelling error.

Eliding before unstressed i/u

• Wrong: l'universitat
• Right: la universitat
• Why: Feminine article "la" does NOT elide before unstressed i- or u-. It does elide before other vowels: l'escola, l'àvia.

Forgetting pronoun elision

• Wrong: Me agrada el cafè.
• Right: M'agrada el cafè.
• Why: When a weak pronoun ending in a vowel precedes a verb starting with a vowel, elision is mandatory.

Double contraction errors

• Wrong: a l'mercat
• Right: al mercat (if the noun starts with a consonant) or a l'escola (if it starts with a vowel)
• Why: Contraction applies with el/els; elision applies when the next word starts with a vowel.

Practice Tips

1. Read a short Catalan text and circle every contraction and elision. Count how many you find — you will be surprised how frequent they are.
2. Practice writing sentences with the prepositions a, de, and per followed by masculine nouns: "Vaig al parc. Vinc del treball. Passem pel pont."
3. Say aloud: "l'home, l'escola, l'arbre, l'hora" to train your ear and mouth for natural elision.

Related Concepts

• Basic Prepositions — the prepositions that form contractions
• Definite Articles — the articles involved in contractions and elision