Catalan Verb Vowel Alternation and Irregular Conjugation

Understanding Vowel Alternation in Catalan Verbs

As a general rule, all verb forms share the same root and vary primarily with regard to their terminations. However, this standard is not met by irregular verbs, notably those exhibiting vowel alternation in their radical (root vowel).

Alternation of 'A' / 'E'

• Verbs with Two Roots: 'Jaure', 'Treure', 'Néixer'

  Verbs such as jaure (to lie down), treure (to remove), néixer (to be born), and their derived forms, often have two distinct roots:

  1. Forms can be written with a tonic 'a'. This spelling is etymological and corresponds to the spoken pronunciation preserved in some Western Catalan varieties (e.g., néixer, jaure, treure). However, it is incorrect to write them with an 'e' when the pronunciation corresponds to an open or closed 'e' in other geographical varieties (e.g., néixer, jaure, treure).

  2. Forms with an unstressed 'a' are written with 'a' (e.g., néixer, jauràs, treta).

• Homogeneous Alternation Across Varieties

  Other verbs exhibit homogeneous alternation across all geographical varieties. This is the case for verbs like fer (to make) and caure (to fall), which have two tonic roots: one with 'a' and one with 'e'. These are pronounced distinctly (e.g., fa / faci; cau / caigui). Additionally, they have one unstressed root, which is written with 'a' (e.g., farà, faria, caurà, cauria).

Alternation of 'O' / 'U'

• Verbs with Tonic 'U' and Atonic 'O'

  Verbs such as collir (to harvest), cosir (to sew), escopir (to spit), sortir (to go out), tossir (to cough), and their derived forms, have two roots: a tonic root, pronounced with [u] and written with 'u', and an atonic root, written with 'o' and pronounced with [o] in Western Catalan and [u] in Eastern Catalan. Examples include: cosir / cous, collir / cull, sortir / surt.

• The Verbs 'Poder' and 'Voler'

  The verbs poder (can/to be able to) and voler (will/to want), both very frequent, also have two roots:

  1. Forms with a tonic 'o' are written with an open 'o', as are most unstressed forms. Examples: pot, podria, pogués, volia, voldràs.

  2. Forms with a tonic 'u' are written with 'u' and pronounced with [u] (e.g., puc, vull). Unstressed forms like pugui, vulgui (present subjunctive) and pugues, vulguis (imperative) also use 'u'.

Verbs with Radical Ending in Vowel + '-iar'

In verbs ending in -aiar (e.g., esglaiar - to frighten), -eiar (e.g., remeiar - to remedy), and -oiar (e.g., acomboiar - to accompany), an umlaut is written over the endings -i, -is, -in in the present subjunctive and imperative. In these cases, the 'i' of the radical is also eliminated. Examples: esglaiï, esglaiïs, esglaiïn.

Verbs with Radical Ending in '-aure' / '-oure'

In a few verbs ending in -aure (e.g., jaure - to lie down, and verbs derived from plaure - to please) or -oure (e.g., coure - to cook, and verbs derived from cloure - to close), the three singular persons and the third plural person of the imperfect indicative have an umlaut. Examples: clogués, cloguessis, clogués, cloguéssim, cloguéssiu, cloguessin.