WORD CLASS: LINKERS

1. Linkers or conjunctions are words that link sentences and clauses.

2. Sentences can be linked together, as in:

avui tinc feina, però sortiré abans de l‘oficina	today I’ve got pending work, but I’ll leave the office earlier
em compraré aquesta camisa, encara que no me l’he emprovada	I will buy this shirt, though I haven’t tried it on

The previous examples are known as complex sentences, where no sentence is above the other one.

3. The main linkers of this type (coordination) are:

TYPE	FORM	ENGLISH	EXAMPLE	TRANSLATION
Copulative	i	and	tu i jo	you and me
	ni... ni	neither… nor	ni tu ni jo	neither you nor me
Disjunctive	o	or	la gent es riu o es queixa	people laugh or complain
	o... o	either… or	o vens o et quedes	either you come or you remain
Adversative	però	but	no sóc jo, però podria ser-ho	it isn’t me, but it could be me
	sinó	but	no sóc jo, sinó ella	it’s not me, but her
Explicative	és a dir	it means / i.e.	no és d’ací, és a dir, és estranger	it’s not from here, I mean, it’s foreign

4. Clauses are also linked. In that case, sentences possess more than one clause, for which they are known as compound sentences (see here for the different types thereof, which include its main linkers):

no vull que vinguis	I don’t want you to come
si vols alguna cosa, compra-te-la tu mateix	if you want something, buy it yourself

5. However, some linkers also link items within a phrase:

ni tu ni jo no ens entenem	neither you nor I understand each other
aquesta empresa neteja i pinta l’edifici per menys diners	this firm cleans and paints the building for less money

SEMANTICS: MODE ADVERBS AND LINKERS

1. Interrogator

>    com (=how)

>    de quina manera (=in which way)

com es fabriquen aquestes galetes?	how are these biscuits manufactured?
com has après japonès tan ràpidament?	how could you learn Japanese so quickly?

2. Adverbs

>    així (=so, like this)

no ho facis d’aquesta manera	don’t do it in this way
sempre em parla així	(s)he always talks to me like that

>    bé >< mal(ament) (=well >< bad(ly))

t’entenc molt bé	I understand you very well
s’ha comportat molt malament	(s)he’s behaved very badly

>    Most adverbs ending with –ment (= –ly) are to be deemed mode adverbs. Furthermore, the noun phrase-like periphrasis d’una manera + adjective (= in a(n) + adjective way) works as if it were an adverb or an adverbial

ho va dir d’una manera molt estranya	(s)he said it in a rather weird way
em parla massa confusament	(s)he speaks to me rather confusingly

>    de pressa >< a poc a poc) (=quickly/fast>< slowly))

hem d’anar de pressa a la botiga	we must go quickly/faster to the shop
sempre camina a poc a poc	(s)he always walk slowly

4. Linkers expressing mode

>    com (=how), always followed by indicative

no sé com funcionen les coses ací	I don’t know how things work out here
t’han dit com van arribar?	did they tell you how they arrived?

>    com que (=since, as), always followed by indicative. It has quite a consecutive value

com que no et veuré durant dos mesos, escriu-me	since I won’t see you for two months, write to me [from time to time]
com que no hi ha aigua, no ens podem dutxar	as/since there’s no water, we can’t take a shower.

>    com si (=as if), always followed by preterit subjunctive

no em parlis com si jo fos un desconegut	don’t talk to me as if I were a stranger
actuen com si jo no hi fos	they act as if I were not present

SEMANTICS: FREQUENCY ADVERBS AND LINKERS

1. Interrogator

>    Quantes vegades (=how many times)

>    Amb quina freqüència (=how often)

quantes vegades has vingut per ací?	how often have you come around?
amb quina freqüència et fan les proves a l’hospital	how often do you take the tests at hospital?

2. Adverbs

>    sovint (=often, frequently)

viatjo sovint a Galícia	I often travel to Galicia
no els veig sovint	I don’t see them frequently

>    de vegades (=at time, sometimes)

de vegades pareixes imbècil	at times you look like stupid
el periòdic només el compro de vegades	I just buy the newspaper from time to time

>    sempre

sempre he usat aquesta marca	I’ve always used this mark
espero que siguis sempre feliç	I expect you’ll always be happy

>    mai

mai no em llevo abans les 10	I never get up before 10
no els he vist mai	I’ve never seen them

3. The expression of frequency may be represented by means of a table:

+	sempre	always
	quasi sempre	almost always
	(molt) sovint	(very) often
	de vegades	at times, ever
	poc sovint	not very often
	algunes vegades	some times
	quasi mai	almost never
–	mai	never