Unreal Present and Future Conditionals | Catalan Grammar

An unreal present or future conditional asks the listener to enter an imagined world: Si tingués més temps, faria teatre “If I had more time, I would do theater.” The speaker presents the condition as false, unlikely, remote, or simply hypothetical. Standard Central Catalan pairs the imperfect subjunctive in the si-clause with the conditional in the result.

The name imperfect can mislead English speakers: tingués does not necessarily refer to past time. Here it marks distance from the speaker’s current reality. A future date can appear in the same pattern if the possibility is presented as remote: Si demà nevés a la costa, suspendrien els trens.

The core pairing

The productive pattern is:

[si + imperfect subjunctive], [simple conditional]

Si disposés d'un despatx més tranquil, em concentraria millor.

If I had a quieter office available, I would concentrate better.

Si demà cancel·lessin el vol del matí, agafaríem el tren nocturn.

If they canceled tomorrow morning's flight, we would take the night train.

The bracketed analysis of the first sentence is [condició irreal si disposés d'un despatx més tranquil] [resultat em concentraria millor]. The two verb forms jointly signal one hypothetical world. The condition is an adverbial clause, not the grammatical subject of em concentraria.

❌ Si tindria un despatx més tranquil, em concentraria millor.

Incorrect in standard Catalan — the conditional cannot replace the imperfect subjunctive in the 'si'-clause.

✅ Si tingués un despatx més tranquil, em concentraria millor.

If I had a quieter office, I would concentrate better.

English gives a useful partial parallel: standard English also avoids would in an ordinary hypothetical if-clause. But English uses forms that resemble the simple past (“if I had”), whereas Catalan has unmistakable subjunctive morphology (si tingués).

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Learn the two clauses as a matched frame: si tingués..., faria...; si pogués..., aniria...; si fos..., canviaria.... Practising pairs prevents conditional tense from spreading into the si-clause.

Present counterfactuals and future remoteness

With a present state, the form often implies that reality is the opposite of the condition.

Si treballéssim al mateix barri, podríem dinar junts més sovint.

If we worked in the same neighborhood, we could have lunch together more often. (we do not work in the same neighborhood)

Si la sala fos més gran, hi cabrien totes les famílies.

If the room were bigger, all the families would fit in it. (it is not big enough)

With a future event, the condition need not be impossible. The imperfect subjunctive lets the speaker present it as unlikely, speculative, or deliberately distant.

Si l'empresa ens oferís teletreball l'any vinent, ens plantejaríem quedar-nos.

If the company offered us remote work next year, we would consider staying.

Compare the open version:

Si l'empresa ens ofereix teletreball l'any vinent, ens plantejarem quedar-nos.

If the company offers us remote work next year, we'll consider staying. (treated as a real possibility)

The choice is a stance, not a probability calculation. Two speakers can describe the same proposal differently: indicative + future keeps it open; imperfect subjunctive + conditional places it farther from the current common ground.

Forms that matter most

Regular Central forms use -és for -ar verbs and -és/-ís patterns derived from the verb stem in the other conjugations; many high-frequency verbs have stems that must be learned.

Infinitive	Imperfect subjunctive (3rd singular)	Conditional (3rd singular)
parlar	parlés	parlaria
tenir	tingués	tindria
poder	pogués	podria
ser	fos	seria
venir	vingués	vindria

There is no honest shortcut around irregular stems such as tingu-, pogu-, fos- and vingu-. They recur throughout the subjunctive system, so learning them as families is more efficient than treating every tense separately. See imperfect-subjunctive formation.

Valencian has standard -ra forms in this use: si tinguera, si poguera, si fora. These are not the conditional forms tindria, podria, seria.

Si poguera quedar-me una setmana més, visitaria també Alcoi. (Valencian)

If I could stay one more week, I would also visit Alcoi.

Central si pogués and Valencian si poguera are regional standard alternatives. Do not “correct” one into the other without considering the writer’s variety.

The result is often more than a plain prediction. Conditional forms of modal verbs express ability, advisability, willingness, or a tentative consequence.

Si poguéssiu avançar la cita, ens podríem quedar tot el cap de setmana.

If you could move the appointment earlier, we could stay for the whole weekend.

Si jo fos tu, no acceptaria cap acord sense llegir-ne els annexos.

If I were you, I would not accept any agreement without reading its appendices.

Si ens garantissin una sala accessible, hi participaríem de bon grat.

If they guaranteed us an accessible room, we would gladly participate.

In advice, jo, de tu can replace the full condition (informal/neutral): Jo, de tu, no ho faria. It still evokes an unreal comparison and therefore pairs naturally with a conditional result.

Jo, de tu, no els en diria res fins que ho confirmessin.

If I were you, I wouldn't tell them anything about it until they confirmed it.

The clitic cluster els en is essential: els marks the people told, and en stands for the matter being discussed. English expresses these relations with separate words and therefore gives no model for omitting Catalan clitics.

Negation and scope

Where no appears changes what is imagined.

Si no treballessis els dissabtes, vindries més sovint al poble.

If you did not work on Saturdays, you would come to the village more often.

Si treballessis els dissabtes, no podries venir a tots els assajos.

If you worked on Saturdays, you would not be able to come to every rehearsal.

In the first, negation is inside the hypothetical condition: [si [no treballessis els dissabtes]]. In the second, the condition is positive and negation has scope over the modal result: [no [podries venir a tots els assajos]]. Moving no is a change of proposition, not stylistic reordering.

Quantifiers create another scope contrast. No assistiria a totes les sessions means “I would not attend all the sessions,” which allows attendance at some. For “none,” say No assistiria a cap sessió.

Clause order, topics, and clitics

The condition can follow the result with no change in truth conditions:

Acceptaríem la proposta si inclogués una revisió salarial anual.

We would accept the proposal if it included an annual salary review. (result first)

Si inclogués una revisió salarial anual, acceptaríem la proposta.

If it included an annual salary review, we would accept the proposal. (condition as frame)

A fronted object is different from a fronted condition and requires clitic resumption.

Aquesta proposta, si inclogués una revisió salarial, l'acceptaríem avui mateix.

This proposal, if it included a salary review, we would accept today.

Aquesta proposta is a detached discourse topic rather than an argument inside either clause. Its referent supplies the understood subject of inclogués, while l' resumes that same referent as the direct object of the result verb. The change of grammatical role is recoverable from the two predicates, but the object relation in the result still needs the clitic.

English often uses a passive to keep the proposal first (“the proposal would be accepted”). Catalan’s topic–clitic construction is frequently more natural and keeps the responsible party implicit or recoverable without a heavy passive.

Si complís totes les condicions, acceptaríem la proposta sense més tràmits.

If it met all the conditions, we would accept the proposal without further formalities.

Nonstandard tense leveling

In some informal speech, speakers use the conditional in both clauses: si tindria..., faria.... This pattern is geographically and socially variable and may be strengthened by contact with neighboring languages, but it is not the form to use in monitored standard Catalan.

❌ Si sabries el que costa, no ho proposaries. (informal nonstandard)

If you knew how much it costs, you would not suggest it.

✅ Si sabessis el que costa, no ho proposaries. (standard)

If you knew how much it costs, you would not suggest it.

The imperfect indicative can also appear in colloquial hypotheses, but it risks a real-past reading. Si vivies aquí can mean “if/whenever you used to live here,” whereas standard unreal “if you lived here now” is si visquessis aquí. Use the subjunctive when the intended world is counterfactual or remote.

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Do not treat every form heard in conversation as interchangeable in every register. Recognize si tindria and indicative leveling, but produce si tingués (Central) or si tinguera (Valencian) in standard writing and careful speech.

An attachment ambiguity

Si la Marta parlés amb la directora nerviosa, potser canviaria d'opinió leaves nerviosa ambiguously attached: it may describe the director, or the state in which Marta speaks. An unreal conditional does not resolve the modifier's host.

Si la Marta, que està nerviosa, parlés amb la directora, potser canviaria d'opinió.

If Marta, who is nervous, spoke with the director, she might change her mind.

Si la Marta parlés amb la directora, que està nerviosa, potser la directora canviaria d'opinió.

If Marta spoke with the director, who is nervous, perhaps the director would change her mind.

The pronouns and separate relative clause make both the attribution and the likely experiencer of canviaria explicit.

A natural dialogue

—Què faries si et proposessin dirigir l'equip? —Si em deixessin triar dues persones més, m'ho pensaria; si no, diria que no.

—What would you do if they offered you leadership of the team? —If they let me choose two more people, I'd consider it; otherwise, I'd say no.

Both speakers maintain the hypothetical frame: faries / proposessin and deixessin / pensaria. Final si no is two words and means “if not/otherwise”; it is not adversative sinó.

Common Mistakes

❌ Si podria treballar des de casa, acceptaria la plaça.

Incorrect — the 'si'-clause needs imperfect subjunctive, not conditional.

✅ Si pogués treballar des de casa, acceptaria la plaça.

If I could work from home, I would accept the position.

❌ Si fos més barat, el compro.

Incorrect for the intended unreal reading — the result must remain in the hypothetical frame.

✅ Si fos més barat, el compraria.

If it were cheaper, I would buy it.

❌ Si tenia més espai ara, hi posaria una taula gran.

Incorrect or ambiguous for a present counterfactual — the imperfect indicative suggests a real past situation.

✅ Si tingués més espai ara, hi posaria una taula gran.

If I had more room now, I would put a large table there.

❌ Aquestes dades, si fossin completes, publicaríem immediatament.

Incorrect as an object topic — the result clause is missing the resumptive clitic 'les'.

✅ Aquestes dades, si fossin completes, les publicaríem immediatament.

These data, if they were complete, we would publish immediately.

❌ Si el pressupost seria aprovat, el projecte començaria al juny.

Incorrect and unnecessarily passive — use imperfect subjunctive in the condition and prefer a natural active subject where known.

✅ Si el consell aprovés el pressupost, el projecte començaria al juny.

If the council approved the budget, the project would begin in June.

Key Takeaways

Match si + imperfect subjunctive with a conditional result for unreal or remote present and future situations.
The imperfect subjunctive marks modal distance here, not past time.
Central tingués/pogués/fos and Valencian tinguera/poguera/fora are standard regional alternatives; tindria/podria/seria in the si-clause are not.
Clause order changes the discourse frame, while object topics require their clitics.
Use explicit wording to control negation, quantifier scope, and modifier attachment.

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