Catalan donar and fer have clear literal cores—“give/transfer” and “do/make”—but frequent noun combinations must be learned as whole units. Catalan says fer por, fer una abraçada, fer una pregunta, yet donar suport, donar permís, donar les gràcies, donar una resposta. It accepts both fer classe and, for imparting instruction, donar classe. English and Spanish divide this space differently, so translating only the verb produces plausible but nonidiomatic Catalan.
There is no single semantic slogan that predicts every collocation. A useful workflow starts with participant structure—does something pass to a recipient, or does an event/effect come about?—and then checks the conventional phrase. In a few cases both verbs occur because they construe the same scene differently; in others neither is the idiomatic Catalan choice.
The complete paradigms and wider argument patterns are on the reference pages for donar and fer.
The decision workflow
- If there is literal transfer of an object to a recipient, start with donar: donar les claus a la veïna.
- If the noun names an action, social gesture, sensation, or event brought about by the subject, test fer: fer una pregunta, fer por.
- If the phrase is institutional or formulaic, retrieve the complete unit: donar suport, donar permís, donar les gràcies.
- Check whether Catalan uses a third verb: prendre una decisió, tenir sentit, adonar-se d'una cosa.
- If both verbs are possible, ask whether the focus is creating/performance (fer) or handing/providing (donar).
| Use fer | Use donar | Use neither |
|---|---|---|
| fer una pregunta | donar una resposta | prendre una decisió |
| fer por / ràbia / vergonya | donar suport | tenir sentit |
| fer un petó / una abraçada | donar permís | adonar-se de |
| fer classe / una conferència | donar classe / una conferència also accepted for delivering one | prendre nota |
| fer una volta / una visita | donar la benvinguda | fer cas de (not donar cas) |
Donar: transfer, provision, and an addressee
Literal donar normally has a thing given and a recipient: donar una clau a algú. Many abstract collocations preserve that transfer frame. One gives someone information, an answer, permission, advice, support, or a welcome.
La recepcionista ens va donar una resposta abans del migdia.
The receptionist gave us an answer before noon. (Information transferred to a recipient.)
L'ajuntament donarà suport a les entitats que comparteixin el local.
The council will support the organizations that share the premises. (Fixed donar suport a.)
No et puc donar permís per entrar en aquesta zona.
I can't give you permission to enter this area. (Donar permís per + infinitive.)
Quan acabi el concert, dona les gràcies als tècnics de so.
When the concert ends, thank the sound technicians. (Fixed social formula.)
The first minimal contrast pairs the conventional speech acts:
La periodista va fer una pregunta molt concreta.
The journalist asked a very specific question. (Producing the question → fer.)
El conseller va donar una resposta molt concreta.
The minister gave a very specific answer. (Providing the answer → donar.)
The nouns, not the English verbs ask/give, select the Catalan light verbs.
Fer: actions, gestures, and caused sensations
Use fer with many countable actions and social gestures: fer una trucada, fer una visita, fer una promesa, fer una foto, fer un petó, fer una abraçada. The subject performs or brings about the event rather than transferring a pre-existing object.
Et faré una trucada quan surti de la reunió.
I'll give you a call when I leave the meeting. (English give, Catalan fer.)
Abans de marxar, l'avi va fer una abraçada ben forta a cada net.
Before leaving, Grandad gave each grandchild a big hug. (Catalan fer una abraçada.)
Demà farem una visita al taller on restauren els vitralls.
Tomorrow we'll visit the workshop where they restore stained glass. (Fer una visita.)
Sensation and reaction nouns also favor fer: fer por, fer fàstic, fer ràbia, fer vergonya, fer pena, fer gràcia, fer mal. The experiencer is commonly an indirect object.
Em fa ràbia que hagin cancel·lat el tren sense avisar.
It annoys me that they canceled the train without warning. (Literally, ‘it causes me anger.’)
A la nena li fa por el soroll de la batedora.
The blender's noise scares the girl. (The experiencer is indirect.)
The second minimal contrast distinguishes transfer from a caused effect:
La metgessa em va donar un calmant abans de la prova.
The doctor gave me a painkiller before the test. (Transferred item.)
La punxada em va fer mal durant tota la tarda.
The injection hurt all afternoon. (Caused sensation.)
Spanish dar miedo, dar rabia, dar vergüenza makes donar especially tempting, but neutral Catalan uses fer in these expressions.
Teaching, events, and routine actions
Standard idiomatic Catalan says fer classe, whether the subject teaches or attends according to context; add complements when needed to prevent ambiguity. With a teacher as subject, donar classe is also standard and specifically presents the teaching activity. The same overlap is accepted with delivered events such as fer/donar una conferència. Other routine combinations here select fer: fer una reunió, fer una pausa, fer esport, and fer els deures.
La professora Rius fa classe de fonètica els dimarts al matí.
Professor Rius teaches phonetics on Tuesday mornings.
La professora Rius dona classe de fonètica els dimarts al matí.
Professor Rius teaches phonetics on Tuesday mornings. (With a teacher as subject, donar classe is also standard.)
Avui els alumnes fan classe al laboratori, no a l'aula habitual.
Today the students have class in the laboratory, not in their usual classroom.
That third minimal set shows both overlap and an asymmetry. With the teacher as subject, fa classe and dona classe are both accepted for “teaches.” With the students as subject, fan classe reports participation in class, whereas donen classe would instead portray them as teaching it. Participant roles come from the selected light verb together with subject and context.
Farem una pausa de deu minuts abans de continuar el debat.
We'll take a ten-minute break before continuing the debate.
Do not assume English make always gives fer. “Make a decision” is prendre una decisió; “make sense” is tenir sentit; “make sure” is assegurar-se. Collocational choice can send you outside the donar/fer pair.
Both verbs, different construals
With certain nouns, both verbs are grammatical but focus on different phases of an event. Fer un regal presents choosing or offering a present as a social act; donar el regal presents the physical handover of an already identified item.
Entre tots li farem un regal quan es jubili.
We'll all give her a present when she retires. (The social act of arranging a gift.)
Li donarem el regal després dels discursos.
We'll hand her the present after the speeches. (The identified present is transferred.)
This fourth minimal contrast is not a synonym test: the article and discourse status also change. The same logic can distinguish fer una còpia “produce a copy” from donar una còpia a algú “hand someone a copy.”
La gestora farà una còpia del contracte per a l'arxiu.
The administrator will make a copy of the contract for the archive. (Creation.)
La gestora donarà una còpia del contracte a cada soci.
The administrator will give a copy of the contract to each member. (Transfer.)
That fifth pair holds the noun constant and changes the event structure. With consell, donar un consell provides advice; fer de consell would belong to a different construction and cannot replace it.
Fixed results and support expressions
Several high-frequency donar expressions have no literal recipient on the surface: donar resultat “work/yield results,” donar lloc a “give rise to,” donar peu a “provide grounds for,” and donar per fet/acabat/perdut “take as given/finished/lost.” Their complements and prepositions are fixed.
La primera reparació no va donar resultat i vam haver de canviar la peça.
The first repair didn't work, and we had to replace the part.
La frase pot donar peu a dues interpretacions contradictòries.
The sentence may give rise to two contradictory interpretations. (formal)
Fer costat a and donar suport a both mean “support,” but they evoke different collocations and registers. Fer costat a often sounds personal or solidaristic; donar suport a is neutral and frequent in institutional prose.
Els companys li van fer costat durant les setmanes més difícils.
Her colleagues stood by her during the hardest weeks. (Personal solidarity.)
Tres grups municipals van donar suport a la proposta.
Three council groups supported the proposal. (Neutral/institutional.)
This sixth minimal contrast shows a real overlap in outcome, but the stored phrases and discourse coloring differ.
A dialogue where the verb changes the event
—Ja has fet les còpies de l'acta? —Sí, i n'he donat una a cada representant.
—Have you made the copies of the minutes? —Yes, and I've given one to each representative. (Creation followed by distribution.)
—La portaveu farà una pregunta? —Sí, quan el president li doni la paraula.
—Will the spokesperson ask a question? —Yes, when the chair gives her the floor. (Two fixed collocations.)
In the first exchange, swapping the verbs would swap production and transfer. In the second, English offers no reliable one-word guide: Catalan stores fer una pregunta and donar la paraula.
Spanish and English transfer traps
Spanish dar un paseo, dar miedo, and darse cuenta can prompt nonstandard Catalan donar una passejada, donar por, and donar-se compte. Standard Catalan instead has fer una passejada/una volta, fer por, adonar-se. Spanish dar clase is a different case: both fer classe and donar classe are accepted in Catalan when the subject teaches. English can mislead in the other direction: make a decision is prendre una decisió, and do someone a favor is fer un favor a algú, while give advice is donar un consell.
Ens vam adonar de l'error quan ja havíem enviat el formulari.
We realized the mistake after we had already sent the form. (Adonar-se de, not donar-se compte de.)
Em pots fer un favor i apagar el llum del passadís?
Can you do me a favor and switch off the hallway light?
Regional and register guidance
The principal collocations on this page are shared by IEC and AVL standards. Contact intensity can make Spanish-patterned expressions more frequent in informal speech, but regional Catalan must not be reduced to contact errors. (Regional: Valencian) and (regional: Balearic) verb forms differ systematically—such as Valencian done/faça and Balearic don/feim—without changing which noun selects which verb. (Formal/academic) prose favors expressions such as donar lloc a, donar suport a, and sometimes nominal dur a terme constructions; good editing still avoids stacking unnecessary light verbs.
Common Mistakes
❌ Aquesta olor em dona fàstic des que han aixecat la tapa de la claveguera.
Spanish-influenced light verb: the conventional Catalan sensation expression uses fer.
✅ Aquesta olor em fa fàstic des que han aixecat la tapa de la claveguera.
This smell has disgusted me since they lifted the sewer cover.
❌ Una persona del públic va donar una pregunta al final de la xerrada.
Incorrect collocation: a question is formulated or asked with fer.
✅ Una persona del públic va fer una pregunta al final de la xerrada.
Someone in the audience asked a question at the end of the talk.
❌ La directora va fer suport a la proposta dels estudiants.
Incorrect collocation: suport selects donar and the preposition a.
✅ La directora va donar suport a la proposta dels estudiants.
The director supported the students' proposal.
❌ Finalment vam fer una decisió sobre el calendari.
English-influenced collocation: Catalan normally takes a decision with prendre.
✅ Finalment vam prendre una decisió sobre el calendari.
We finally made a decision about the schedule.
Correction task
Correct La tutora ens va donar una abraçada, va fer les gràcies a tothom i després ens va fer posar davant la càmera per donar una foto del grup. The embrace and photo-taking are events made with fer; thanks are given with donar:
La tutora ens va fer una abraçada, va donar les gràcies a tothom i després ens va fer posar davant la càmera per fer una foto del grup.
The tutor gave us a hug, thanked everyone, and then had us stand in front of the camera to take a group photo.
The robust method is to learn complete frames—fer por a algú, donar suport a algú, fer cas de, donar permís per. Literal transfer favors donar and event creation often favors fer, but conventional phraseology has the final word.
Key Takeaways
- Literal and abstract transfer often selects donar; performed actions and caused sensations often select fer.
- The noun and its full frame make the final choice: fer una pregunta but donar una resposta; fer por but donar suport.
- When both verbs occur, fer can foreground creation or performance and donar the later transfer.
- Always test a third Catalan verb: prendre una decisió, tenir sentit, and adonar-se resist English and Spanish calques.
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Start learning Catalan →Related Topics
- Conjugation of donarA1 — Complete contemporary conjugation of donar for transfer, recipients, effects, support, time, clitics, and pronominal uses.
- Conjugation of ferA1 — Complete contemporary conjugation of fer for doing, making, weather, elapsed time, causatives, idioms, and pronominal fer-se.
- Expressions with FerB1 — Understand how fer organizes weather, elapsed time, activities, causation, appearance, measurements, and Catalan do/make collocations.
- Expressions with DonarB1 — Distinguish literal and idiomatic donar from Catalan fer, including transfer, permission, results, reactions, clitics, and Spanish calques.
- Light-Verb ConstructionsB2 — Use Catalan support verbs such as fer, donar, prendre, and tenir with the nouns they conventionally select.
- Common Spanish Grammatical CalquesB2 — Diagnose Spanish-shaped Catalan in pronouns, prepositions, periphrases, articles, and connectors without mislabeling genuine regional usage.