A real or open conditional presents a condition as a genuine possibility or a repeatable fact: Si acabem aviat, soparem junts “If we finish early, we’ll have dinner together.” Catalan puts an indicative form in the si-clause because the speaker is not moving the condition into an unreal world. The result clause then states a consequence, a habit, an instruction, or a commitment.
The core contrast with English is tense choice. English also normally says “if we finish,” but learners sometimes try to match a future result with a future inside the if-clause. Standard Catalan does not do that: future time is interpreted from context, while si takes the present indicative.
The basic present–future pattern
The neutral pattern for a possible future event is:
[si + present indicative], [future result]
Si acabem l'inventari abans de les set, soparem al bar de la cantonada.
If we finish the inventory before seven, we'll have dinner at the bar on the corner.
Si demà reben l'autorització, començaran les obres dilluns.
If they receive authorization tomorrow, the work will begin on Monday.
In bracketed form, the first sentence is [condició si acabem l'inventari abans de les set] [resultat soparem al bar]. The si-clause is an adjunct to the result clause, not its subject. Its present tense has future reference because abans de les set and the future soparem locate the whole relation later.
❌ Si acabarem l'inventari abans de les set, soparem fora.
Incorrect — a future open condition does not take the future tense after conditional 'si'.
✅ Si acabem l'inventari abans de les set, soparem fora.
If we finish the inventory before seven, we'll eat out.
The ban concerns conditional si. In No sé si acabarem abans de les set, si means “whether” and introduces an indirect question, so the future is perfectly grammatical.
No sé si acabarem abans de les set; si acabem aviat, t'escriuré.
I don't know whether we'll finish before seven; if we finish early, I'll message you.
Results in the present: offers and immediate consequences
The result clause need not be future. The present indicative is natural when the consequence is immediate, arranged, or offered as the speaker’s current commitment.
Si et va bé, et porto els llibres després de dinar.
If that works for you, I'll bring you the books after lunch.
Si prems aquest botó, la pantalla torna al menú principal.
If you press this button, the screen returns to the main menu.
The first sentence is an offer; the second can be read as an instruction or a general cause-and-effect relation. Catalan present forms cover both current and scheduled readings more freely than a word-for-word English translation with “will” might suggest.
Object and indirect-object clitics remain required. In te'ls porto, te marks the recipient and els resumes the books. Leaving them out because English can repeat or omit an object changes the Catalan argument structure.
Els comprovants, si me'ls envies avui, els reviso abans de la reunió.
As for the receipts, if you send them to me today, I'll review them before the meeting.
The initial els comprovants is a topic, not the subject. It is resumed inside both clauses: me'ls in the condition and els in the result.
Imperatives, requests, and advice
A real condition can license an imperative result. This is the ordinary pattern for instructions that apply only under a certain circumstance.
Si trobes la porta tancada, truca al timbre de l'esquerra.
If you find the door closed, ring the bell on the left.
Si no recordeu la contrasenya, demaneu-ne una de nova al servei tècnic.
If you don't remember the password, request a new one from technical support.
The partitive clitic en in demaneu-ne una refers back to the understood class “of passwords.” English speakers often omit it because English “request a new one” needs no equivalent particle.
An interrogative result can soften a request:
Si tens un moment, em podries comprovar aquesta adreça?
If you have a moment, could you check this address for me?
Although podries is conditional in the request, the condition remains open and therefore uses indicative tens. The conditional here expresses politeness, not an unreal conditional frame.
Habitual conditions
When the same relation holds repeatedly, present indicative appears in both clauses. This is sometimes called a zero conditional, but the useful idea is simply whenever the condition occurs, the result occurs.
Si la caldera perd pressió, la reiniciem des del quadre del passadís.
If the boiler loses pressure, we restart it from the panel in the hallway.
Si els divendres surto tard, agafo l'últim tren i sopo a casa.
If I leave late on Fridays, I take the last train and have dinner at home.
Past habits use the imperfect indicative in both clauses when neither event is viewed as a bounded, one-off occurrence.
Si l'àvia arribava abans que nosaltres, deixava el pa dins del forn apagat.
If Grandma arrived before us, she would leave the bread inside the switched-off oven.
English often uses “would” for the repeated result. Catalan uses the imperfect deixava, not the conditional deixaria, because this is a real past routine, not an imagined present.
Clause order and information structure
Both orders are grammatical:
Si la biblioteca obre a la tarda, hi anirem després de classe.
If the library opens in the afternoon, we'll go there after class. (condition first)
Hi anirem després de classe si la biblioteca obre a la tarda.
We'll go there after class if the library opens in the afternoon. (result first)
Putting the condition first establishes the frame before the result and normally takes a comma. Putting it last presents the result first and normally has no comma before a short integrated si-clause. The change is about information structure, not truth conditions.
A detached participant needs the normal clitic:
A la Mariona, si li confirmen la plaça, li trucarem de seguida.
As for Mariona, if they confirm her place, we'll call her right away.
A la Mariona is a left-dislocated indirect-object topic, not a subject. The two instances of li show her relation to each verb. An English subject-first analysis would miss those relations.
Open does not mean certain
An open conditional does not assert its condition. It leaves both outcomes available. Compare it with quan, which often presents the event as expected.
Si arriba el paquet avui, te l'acostaré al vespre.
If the package arrives today, I'll bring it over this evening. (arrival remains uncertain)
Quan arribi el paquet, te l'acostaré al vespre.
When the package arrives, I'll bring it over this evening. (arrival is expected; future 'quan' takes the subjunctive)
This mood contrast is important: conditional si selects present indicative in an open condition, while future quan selects present subjunctive. See future time clauses.
Sempre que: “whenever” or “provided that”
Sempre que has two related uses. With an indicative in a habitual statement, it means “whenever.” With a subjunctive in a future proviso, it means “provided that / as long as.”
Sempre que ve al poble, passa a saludar els antics veïns.
Whenever she comes to the village, she stops by to greet her old neighbors. (habitual fact)
Us cedirem la sala sempre que la deixeu neta al final.
We'll let you use the room provided that you leave it clean afterward. (future condition)
The second is not a free substitute for si in form: si la deixeu would take indicative, but conditional sempre que la deixeu has a subjunctive form that happens to be spelled the same for this verb/person. With a clearer contrast: si manteniu el silenci versus sempre que mantingueu el silenci.
Podeu treballar aquí si manteniu el silenci.
You can work here if you keep quiet.
Podeu treballar aquí sempre que mantingueu el silenci.
You can work here provided that you keep quiet.
The proviso reading is slightly more explicit and fits neutral through formal registers. In legal or administrative prose (formal), longer alternatives such as amb la condició que may be chosen for maximum precision.
Scope and ambiguity
Negation can belong inside the condition or outside the entire conditional promise.
Si no presentes el rebut, no et podrem tornar l'import.
If you do not submit the receipt, we will not be able to refund the amount.
Its structure is [si [no presentes el rebut]] [no et podrem tornar l'import]: each no has its own clause as scope. Do not attach the first no to the result just because English intonation might blur the boundary.
Modifier attachment can also create ambiguity. Si la Marta truca a la directora enfadada, ajornarem la reunió does not clearly say who is angry. Rewrite the attribution:
Si la Marta, que està enfadada, truca a la directora, ajornarem la reunió.
If Marta, who is angry, calls the director, we'll postpone the meeting.
Si la Marta truca a la directora, que està enfadada, ajornarem la reunió.
If Marta calls the director, who is angry, we'll postpone the meeting.
A natural dialogue
—Si demà tens cotxe, em pots acostar a l'estació? —Sí, sempre que sortim abans de dos quarts de vuit; si no, trobarem cua.
—If you have the car tomorrow, can you take me to the station? —Yes, provided we leave before seven thirty; otherwise, we'll hit traffic.
The first condition is an open possibility; sempre que adds a proviso; final si no means “if not/otherwise.” It is written as two words. Sinó is the adversative “but rather” and would be wrong here.
Common Mistakes
❌ Si arribarà l'autorització demà, començarem dilluns.
Incorrect — use the present indicative, not the future, in an open conditional 'si'-clause.
✅ Si arriba l'autorització demà, començarem dilluns.
If authorization arrives tomorrow, we'll begin on Monday.
❌ Si la impressora fallaria, avisa informàtica.
Incorrect — the conditional does not belong in a real 'si'-clause.
✅ Si la impressora falla, avisa informàtica.
If the printer fails, notify IT.
❌ Sempre que vindran clients, encenem els llums de l'aparador.
Incorrect for a habit — use present indicative after habitual 'sempre que'.
✅ Sempre que venen clients, encenem els llums de l'aparador.
Whenever customers come, we turn on the display-window lights.
❌ Et deixarem les claus sempre que tornes abans de mitjanit.
Incorrect for the intended future proviso — use the present subjunctive after 'sempre que'.
✅ Et deixarem les claus sempre que tornis abans de mitjanit.
We'll lend you the keys provided that you come back before midnight.
❌ Si no hi ha prou cadires, no traurem cadires noves, si no tamborets.
Incorrect — the final expression is adversative 'sinó' ('but rather'), not conditional 'si no'.
✅ Si no hi ha prou cadires, no traurem cadires noves, sinó tamborets.
If there are not enough chairs, we won't bring out new chairs, but rather stools.
Key Takeaways
- Use present indicative after conditional si for a real future possibility; reserve future after si for meanings such as indirect “whether.”
- The result can be future, present, imperative, or a polite conditional without making the condition unreal.
- Present–present and imperfect–imperfect patterns describe real habits in present and past time.
- Fronted conditions frame the result and normally take a comma; final integrated conditions usually do not.
- Sempre que takes indicative for habitual “whenever” and subjunctive for future “provided that.”
Now practice Catalan
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Catalan →Related Topics
- Conditional ConjunctionsA2 — Build open and restrictive conditions with si, sempre que, a condició que, tret que, and llevat que while matching mood to the speaker's stance.
- Uses of the FutureA2 — How Catalan uses the simple future for predictions, promises, plans, and formal instructions—and when the present is more natural.
- Future Time Clauses and the SubjunctiveB1 — Present pending future events after quan, fins que, tan bon punt, and abans que with the appropriate Catalan mood and tense.
- Unreal Present and Future ConditionalsB1 — Express imagined, remote, or contrary-to-fact present and future situations with si plus the imperfect subjunctive and a conditional result.
- Conditional Connectors beyond SiB2 — Choose Catalan conditional linkers for prerequisites, formal suppositions, contingency plans, and exceptions, with the appropriate mood.
- Negation Scope and AmbiguityB2 — Identify what Catalan no negates around constituents, quantifiers, modals, subordinate clauses, and spoken focus, then disambiguate by paraphrasing.