A verb chain can contain perfectly Catalan-looking words and still copy the grammar of another language. The most persistent examples are tenir que + infinitive for obligation, unrestricted anar a + infinitive for the future, aspectual venir + gerund, and an English-like progressive where a simple tense is needed.
The repair depends on meaning. Obligation may call for haver de or impersonal cal; future reference may call for a present, future, or imminent construction; duration may call for fa... que, des de, or continuar + gerund. One global search-and-replace cannot make all those decisions.
The diagnostic workflow
- Circle the finite verb and name its contribution: obligation, motion, future, duration, repetition, or event in progress.
- Remove the chain mentally. Does the remaining context already locate the event in time? If so, a simple tense may be enough.
- For obligation, ask who is obliged. A named subject favors haver de; a general requirement favors cal + infinitive or cal que + subjunctive.
- For anar a, test literal movement: can you answer “where is the subject going?” If not, decide between future, present plan, and estar a punt de.
- For venir + gerund, test literal motion plus simultaneous action. If it instead means “have been doing for a while,” state the duration directly.
- Check register and variety before condemning a frequent contact form. Frequency in bilingual informal speech does not automatically make it the neutral edited standard.
Obligation: not tenir que
Possessive tenir is ordinary Catalan: tinc dues entrades. It is the obligation chain tenir que + infinitive, modeled on Spanish tener que, that careful Catalan replaces.
Repair 1 — personal obligation.
❌ Tinc que recollir el carnet nou abans de divendres.
Nonstandard in careful Catalan — tenir que is a contact-driven obligation pattern.
✅ He de recollir el carnet nou abans de divendres.
I have to collect the new ID card before Friday.
Repair 2 — a general requirement.
❌ Per entrar al laboratori, tens que portar bata.
The second-person form wrongly presents a general rule through a copied periphrasis.
✅ Per entrar al laboratori, cal portar bata.
To enter the laboratory, one must wear a lab coat.
Repair 3 — an expressed subject after cal.
❌ Cal els proveïdors enviar les factures abans de divendres.
Incorrect — an explicit subject after cal requires que plus subjunctive.
✅ Cal que els proveïdors enviïn les factures abans de divendres.
The suppliers need to send the invoices before Friday.
Deure + infinitive often gives advice or moral duty—Hauries de descansar—while deure + infinitive can also express probability in context. Do not replace every necessity with deure without checking the intended force.
Anar a: movement is not a neutral future auxiliary
Standard Catalan uses anar a + infinitive when anar retains motion, in restricted immediate announcements such as Ara us vaig a explicar..., and especially in past imminence: anava a caure “was about to fall.” It is not the ordinary all-purpose future found in Spanish or English “be going to.” See Anar a + Infinitive.
Repair 4 — a neutral plan.
❌ Aquest vespre vaig a preparar la presentació a casa.
Spanish-shaped as a neutral future when no movement is foregrounded.
✅ Aquest vespre prepararé la presentació a casa.
This evening I'll prepare the presentation at home.
Repair 5 — a prediction.
❌ Amb aquests núvols, va a ploure abans de dinar.
Contact-driven future use; the subject is not literally going anywhere.
✅ Amb aquests núvols, plourà abans de dinar.
With these clouds, it'll rain before lunch.
Repair 6 — genuine imminence.
❌ Aparta't, que la capsa va a caure de la prestatgeria!
Non-neutral warning patterned on Spanish ir a; use explicit imminence.
✅ Aparta't, que la capsa està a punt de caure de la prestatgeria!
Move away—the box is about to fall off the shelf!
Do not “correct” literal motion. Vaig a comprar fruita al mercat is grammatical when vaig means “I am going” and the infinitive states the purpose of the trip. Compare Demà compraré fruita en línia, where no journey is involved. That is the first meaning-changing contrast.
Venir + gerund: motion or copied duration?
Literal venir + gerund is also genuine: La Joana ve corrent pel camí describes Joana approaching while running. Aspectual venir + gerund meaning “have been doing up to now,” modeled on Spanish venir + gerundio, is avoided in the contemporary formal standard. Express duration or persistence directly.
Repair 7 — duration up to the present.
❌ Venim reclamant una resposta des del mes de març.
Spanish-contact aspectual venir + gerund; there is no literal approach.
✅ Des del mes de març reclamem una resposta.
We have been requesting an answer since March.
Repair 8 — a recent repeated pattern.
❌ Darrerament, el servidor ve fallant cada matinada.
The server does not approach while failing; venir merely copies an aspectual auxiliary.
✅ Darrerament, el servidor falla cada matinada.
Lately, the server has been failing every night.
Repair 9 — persistence.
❌ Malgrat els avisos, venen aparcant davant del portal.
Nonstandard aspectual chain for continued behavior.
✅ Malgrat els avisos, continuen aparcant davant del portal.
Despite the notices, they keep parking in front of the entrance.
The crossed La Joana ve corrent pel camí would be wrong only for a duration reading. With a visible path and approaching subject, it is grammatical and means simultaneous motion plus manner. That is the second meaning-changing case.
Do not turn every English -ing form into estar + gerund
Catalan estar + gerund zooms in on an event in progress around a relevant moment. It is not simply the equivalent of every English progressive. Plans, habits, stable occupations, and neutral present activities normally use a simple tense.
Repair 10 — a scheduled arrangement.
❌ Divendres estem sopant amb els veïns del tercer.
Unnecessary progressive for a calendar arrangement.
✅ Divendres sopem amb els veïns del tercer.
We're having dinner with the neighbors from the third floor on Friday.
Repair 11 — a stable situation.
❌ La meva cosina està treballant d'arquitecta a Manresa.
Misleading if this is her stable job rather than a bounded temporary phase.
✅ La meva cosina treballa d'arquitecta a Manresa.
My cousin works as an architect in Manresa.
Repair 12 — an actual ongoing interruption.
❌ No puc obrir-te ara: preparo el sopar i tinc les mans brutes.
Not impossible, but it loses the intended close-up on the event currently blocking the door.
✅ No puc obrir-te ara: estic preparant el sopar i tinc les mans brutes.
I can't let you in now: I'm making dinner and my hands are dirty.
The last repair shows why deleting every progressive is as crude as inserting one everywhere. Use the viewpoint test developed on Present or Progressive?.
English transfer, Spanish contact, and register
English strongly encourages progressive forms for arrangements and temporary states; Spanish encourages tener que, general ir a, and aspectual venir + gerundio. A learner may combine both sources into a chain such as estem anant a tenir que.... Unpack one meaning at a time: future, necessity, and progress are independent choices.
Tenir que and aspectual venir + gerund are frequent in some (informal, Spanish-contact) speech but remain poor models for neutral edited Catalan. IEC and AVL standards share haver de, cal, simple future/present alternatives, and explicit duration. Regional phonology or conjugation—such as hauré de beside local spoken realizations—must not be confused with a grammatical calque. Balearic, Northwestern, Northern, and Alguerese speakers have authentic aspectual preferences of their own; correct only the demonstrated contact construction, not a speaker's identity.
Correction task
Repair the periphrasis without changing the intended meaning.
- Els visitants tenen que deixar les motxilles aquí. (personal rule addressed to them)
- La setmana que ve anem a publicar els resultats. (neutral future)
- L'empresa ve reduint despeses des de gener. (duration)
- Ara la nena ve cantant pel corredor. (literal approach and simultaneous song)
Answers: Els visitants han de deixar les motxilles aquí; La setmana que ve publicarem els resultats; Des de gener, l'empresa redueix despeses / Fa mesos que l'empresa redueix despeses; the fourth sentence is already correct in its literal-motion reading.
Common Mistakes
❌ Hi ha que comprovar la pressió abans d'encendre la màquina.
Spanish hay que has been copied; Catalan uses cal plus infinitive.
✅ Cal comprovar la pressió abans d'encendre la màquina.
The pressure must be checked before starting the machine.
❌ Demà ens anem a reunir amb l'associació de veïns.
Non-neutral future calque, additionally burdened with an unnecessary reflexive pronoun.
✅ Demà ens reunirem amb l'associació de veïns.
Tomorrow we'll meet with the neighborhood association.
❌ Fa tres setmanes estic esperant el certificat.
The duration frame needs fa... que, not a bare elapsed-time phrase before the progressive.
✅ Fa tres setmanes que espero el certificat.
I've been waiting for the certificate for three weeks.
Key Takeaways
- Use haver de for personal obligation and cal for an impersonal requirement.
- Reserve anar a + infinitive for literal motion and licensed immediate or imminent readings, not a neutral all-purpose future.
- Literal venir + gerund is valid; aspectual duration normally needs fa... que, des de, or continuar + gerund.
- Use estar + gerund only when the unfolding phase matters.
Final proofreading checklist
- Does tenir express possession, or has Spanish tener que been copied for obligation?
- Is the obligation personal (haver de) or impersonal/general (cal)?
- Does anar retain literal movement or a licensed immediate/imminent value?
- Would a simple present, simple future, or estar a punt de express the intended future more precisely?
- Does venir + gerund describe approach plus simultaneous action, or copied accumulated duration?
- Is estar + gerund genuinely focusing an event in progress rather than a habit, plan, or stable state?
- Have you distinguished a frequent contact form from an accepted regional Catalan construction?
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Start learning Catalan →Related Topics
- Haver de plus InfinitiveA2 — Express personal obligation, expectation, and planned action with the central Catalan periphrasis haver de plus infinitive.
- Cal, Caldre, and Cal QueA2 — Express impersonal necessity with caldre before a noun, an infinitive, or a subjunctive clause, including its common weak-pronoun patterns.
- Anar a plus InfinitiveA2 — Use anar a plus infinitive for narrowly defined imminence and announcements without copying the all-purpose English or Spanish near future.
- Dur, Portar, and Fer for DurationB1 — Express how long an ongoing or absent situation has lasted with fa... que, des de fa, and the newer dur or portar duration constructions.
- Progressive Periphrases with the GerundA2 — Choose among estar, anar, continuar, and seguir plus a gerund, and avoid nonstandard aspectual venir plus gerund.
- Simple Present or Estar plus GerundA2 — Choose the Catalan simple present for an unmarked current event and estar plus gerund when the unfolding process itself matters.