WORD CLASS: MODAL/AUXILIARY VERBS

1. Modals and auxiliary verbs are non-lexical verbs that bring syntactic values to the main verb. Some of them can also work like lexical verbs, for example ser (=’be’), and other do not, for example poder (=’can’). The cluster of one or more auxiliary-modal verbs is known as periphrastic conjugation. 

2. Ser + V_participle is used to express the passive voice:

la seva opinió va ser rebutjada	his/her opinion was rejected
la ciutat serà declarada patrimoni de la humanitat	the city will be declared world heritage

3. Anar + V_infinitive is used to express simple past; in this case, the auxiliary is used just in the present tense, yet it always expresses a past time:

vaig perdre la cartera al metro	I lost my wallet in the underground
us van invitar a la festa?	were you invited to the party?

4. Haver has two main uses.

a) Haver + V_participle to form compound (perfect tenses)

has vist la meva camisa blava	have you seen my blue shirt?
quan vas venir, jo encara no havia arribat	when you came, I hadn’t come yet

b) Haver de + V_infinitive to express obligation or advice (in conditional)

hauries de caminar més	you should walk more
he de fer un viatge i no en tinc ganes	I must make a trip and I don’t feel like

5. Estar + V_gerund to form continuous tenses:

estic mirant el preu d’aquests pantalons	I’m having a look at the price of these trousers
no us esteu comportant bé	you aren’t behaving properly

6. Deure+ V_infinitive to express:

ja deuen ser quarts de deu	it must already be half past nine
deuen venir d’ací a poc	they must be coming soon

7. Poder + Vi_nfinitive to express ability and also permission (including polite questions)

no puc llevar-me tan d’hora	I can’t get up so early
el meu germà no pot beure llet	my brother can’t drink milk
no pots sortir d’ací sense permís	you may not get out of here without permission
puc pagar amb la targeta?	can I pay with credit card?
em sap greu, però no es pot	sorry, but it’s not possible

WORD CLASS: VERBS, THE IMPERATIVE

1. The simplest way to express commands or orders in English is by means of the imperative mood.

2. The imperative mood possesses two forms, both related to the second person, singular and plural. However, by means of the present subjunctive, which lends its forms to the imperative, the first person singular is also reached, as well as the courtesy persons (see personal pronouns).

Parla-hi (amb ella)	talk to her
Parleu-hi (amb ella)	talk (pl.) to her
Parlem-hi (amb ella)	let’s talk to her
Parli-hi (amb ella)	talk (court. sg.) to her
Parleu-hi (amb ella)	talk (court. pl.) to her

3. It is even possible to express a kind of imperative of the third persons by means of subjunctive constructions headed by que:

que vinguin ells	let them come
que es compri un cotxe	let him buy a car

4. Negative imperative is just expressed by means of the present subjunctive forms preceded by the negator no.

no hi parlis (amb ella)	talk to her
no hi parleu (amb ella)	talk (pl.) to her
no hi parlem (amb ella)	let’s talk to her
no hi parli (amb ella)	talk (court. sg.) to her
no hi parleu (amb ella)	talk (court. pl.) to her

5. All in all, the whole picture about the imperative conjugation is as follows, including both affirmative and negative tables:

PERSON	AFFIRMATIVE	NEGATIVE
1PS
2PS	canta	no cantis
2PS (court.)	canti / canteu	no canti / no canteu
3PS	que canti	que no canti
1PP	cantem	no cantem
2PP	canteu	no canteu
2PP (court.)	cantin / canteu	no cantin / no canteu
3PP	que cantin	que no cantin

SYNTAX: VERBAL VOICE OR DIATHESIS

1. In Catalan, like in most Romance languages, there are three voices (or diatheses): active, middle and passive. The active voice is unmarked and the preferred one in Catalan.

2. The passive voice has a much more reduced use if compared with English, since it is rather formal and remains almost reduced to very formal speech, mainly written. The process to build up a passive sentence is simple:

subject	verb		object	adjunct
Les autoritats	construeixen		autopistes	sense criteri
subject	diathetizer	verb	(agent)	adjunct
Les autopistes	són	construïdes	[per les autoritats]	sense criteri

>> The authorities build highways with no criteria

>> Highways are built with no criteria

The diathetizer is the element that allows the transformation of an active construction into a passive one.

3. There are two subtypes of middle voice: impersonal and ergative.

3.1. The first one, the impersonal middle voice, refers to constructions where no original subject can be retrieved (thus, there is no agent, no doer). Unlike passive constructions, impersonal middle voice constructions can also be used intransitively. The usual English equivalence of these sentences is a passive statement.

3.1.1. As for their structure, the diathetizer is the clitic se. The process can be described as follows:

subject	verb		object	adjunct
Les autoritats	construeixen		autopistes	sense criteri
(–––)	diathetizer	verb	object	adjunct
	es	construeixen	autopistes	sense criteri

>> Highways are built up with no criteria

3.1.2. From a syntactic point of view, the original object does not become a subject, as it occurs in passive constructions, but it keeps on being an object. The matter of object agreement is quite interesting, since it is not mentioned by traditional grammar handbooks.

These are examples of object agreement with the verb [ObjAgr] (see Agreement)

ací es construeix una autopista	a new highway is being build up here
ací es construeixen molts pisos	new flats are being built up here

The syntactic proof that we are dealing with objects and not with subjects is that clitic en may substitute both phrases in the previous examples:

>> se’n construeix una ací

>> se’n construeixen ací

3.1.3. When dealing with intransitive constructions, there is no Object Agreement; therefore the verb is always to be found in singular, whose English equivalent would show an almost semantic empty subject:

es treballa molt ací	people work hard around here
al Mediterrani es viu molt bé	people live fine by the Mediterranean

3.2. Ergative middle voice refers to a process by which the object (experiencer), becomes the subject. Unlike passive voices, the original subject has another semantic nature and syntactically the construction process is much more similar to impersonal middle voice constructions. Ergative constructions have in common with passive ones that the starting construction from which the transformation is carried out must be transitive. Besides, English ergative constructions show two different structures, either with no diathetizer or with get + participle. The transformation process can be described as follows:

(–––)	verb		object	adjunct
	trenca		la cadira	fàcilment
subject	diathetizer	verb	object	adjunct
la cadira	es	trenca	la cadira	fàcilment

>> The chair breaks easily