Anar begins with physical motion, but its most frequent expressions extend that image to machines that “go,” clothes that “go well” on someone, situations that “go” better or worse, and changes that unfold gradually. It also appears in two structures that learners must keep separate: pronominal anar-se'n “go away, leave” and the auxiliary of the periphrastic past, as in vaig parlar “I spoke.”
The verb changes for person and tense, but each construction stores other grammatical material. In anar-se'n, both se and en belong to the verb; in anar bé, the adverb is invariable; in anar vestit, the participial adjective agrees with the person. This is why knowing the dictionary meaning “go” is not enough.
For the complete paradigm, see the anar reference. The periphrastic-past formation page treats the past auxiliary in greater detail.
The pattern grid
| Domain | Stored pattern | Fixed material | What can vary |
|---|---|---|---|
| motion | anar a / cap a / per + place | selected preposition and contraction | person, tense, destination or route |
| functioning | anar bé/malament; no anar | invariable adverb | subject, tense, degree |
| fit or suitability | anar bé/malament a algú | dative experiencer | item, person, tense |
| appearance | anar vestit/vestida; anar amb | construction | agreement, clothing phrase |
| gradual change | anar + gerund | gerundial frame | person, tense, changing event |
| departure | anar-se'n | reflexive clitic + en | person, tense, optional source |
| past event | vaig/vas/va/vam/vau/van + infinitive | auxiliary series; no preposition | person and lexical infinitive |
Frame 1: motion, route, and destination
Substitutable frame: [person] + anar + [a/cap a/per] + [place].
With a destination, anar a is the ordinary choice: anar a Girona, anar al mercat, anar a casa. The preposition contracts with a masculine definite article (a + el → al) but remains separate before la: al teatre, a la biblioteca. Cap a means “toward” and does not guarantee arrival. Per presents a route or area traversed.
Demà anirem al mercat abans que hi hagi tanta gent.
Tomorrow we'll go to the market before it gets so crowded. (neutral)
El gos va córrer cap al bosc, però es va aturar al camí.
The dog ran toward the woods, but stopped on the path. (neutral; cap al marks direction, not arrival)
Per tornar a l'hotel, aneu pel carrer de la dreta.
To return to the hotel, go along the street on the right. (neutral instruction)
The vehicle often takes amb or a lexical phrase: anar amb tren and anar en tren both occur, with usage varying by area and style, while anar a peu is fixed. Do not create the destination by translating English to word for word: the article and contraction remain Catalan grammar.
Frame 2: functioning, suitability, and clothes
Substitutable frame: [thing/situation] + anar + [bé/malament] (+ a [person]).
When a device va, it works. When a plan va bé, it is proceeding successfully. With a dative person, a time, garment, solution, or arrangement li va bé if it fits or suits that person. The adverb bé never agrees; the dative changes: em va bé, et va bé, li va bé, ens va bé.
La rentadora fa un soroll estrany i ara ja no va.
The washing machine is making a strange noise and now it doesn't work at all. (neutral)
Dijous a les sis em va bé; divendres ja tinc una reunió.
Thursday at six works for me; on Friday I already have a meeting. (neutral)
Aquesta jaqueta et va una mica ampla d'espatlles.
This jacket is a little loose on you at the shoulders. (neutral)
For visual appearance, Catalan also uses anar + participial adjective or anar amb + clothing/accessory. Unlike bé, the adjective agrees with the person.
A la cerimònia, la Júlia anava vestida de blau fosc.
At the ceremony, Júlia was dressed in dark blue. (neutral; vestida agrees with Júlia)
Sempre va amb una llibreta petita a la butxaca.
He/She always carries a small notebook in a pocket. (neutral; literally goes with it)
Aquesta jaqueta et queda bé is a natural, nonidiomatic alternative to et va bé when appearance or fit is meant. Et va bé? is broader: it can ask whether the size fits, whether the choice suits you, or whether an arrangement is convenient.
Frame 3: gradual development with anar + gerund
Substitutable frame: [subject] + anar + [gerund of a developing event].
The motion image becomes temporal: the subject advances through successive stages. This is not merely “be doing.” Està millorant views improvement in progress; va millorant suggests incremental movement, often “little by little” or “as time goes on.”
Després de l'operació, el genoll va millorant a poc a poc.
After the operation, the knee is gradually getting better. (neutral)
Aneu revisant els documents mentre jo preparo les còpies.
Keep reviewing the documents while I prepare the copies. (neutral instruction; progressive distribution)
Amb cada reunió, anàvem entenent millor d'on venia el desacord.
With each meeting, we gradually understood better where the disagreement came from. (neutral narrative)
The subject and tense belong to anar; the lexical event stays in the gerund. The construction normally favors processes with stages. A punctual event such as trobar la clau needs a special distributive context before anar trobant sounds natural.
Related frozen progressions include anar de mal en pitjor “go from bad to worse” and conversational anar fent “keep going, manage.” The latter often answers Com va? without claiming that everything is excellent.
—Com portes el trimestre? —Vaig fent; hi ha molta feina, però me'n surto.
—How is the term going? —I'm getting by; there's a lot of work, but I'm managing. (informal mini-dialogue)
Leaving with anar-se'n
Anar-se'n is not ordinary anar plus an optional pronoun. It is a lexical pronominal verb meaning “leave, go away.” Its two clitic positions are filled by the reflexive series and by en: me'n vaig, te'n vas, se'n va, ens n'anem, us n'aneu, se'n van. Before a vowel, en appears as n'. With an affirmative imperative, the clitics follow the verb: ves-te'n, aneu-vos-en.
Me'n vaig d'hora perquè demà entro a treballar a les set.
I'm leaving early because tomorrow I start work at seven. (neutral)
Quan es va acabar el concert, ens en vam anar caminant.
When the concert ended, we left on foot. (neutral)
Si ja has acabat, ves-te'n a casa i descansa.
If you've finished, go home and rest. (informal; ves has no accent)
The source may follow de: se'n va de l'oficina. The destination can also be stated: me'n vaig a casa. The en remains even when no source phrase is pronounced because it is part of the modern verb.
The same forms as a past auxiliary
Catalan's widely used periphrastic past uses present-looking forms of anar plus an infinitive: vaig arribar, vas veure, va decidir, vam sortir, vau dir, van tornar. The expanded auxiliaries vares, vàrem, vàreu, and varen are also standard. Here anar no longer contributes motion, and there is no a between auxiliary and infinitive. The periphrastic past is dominant in conversation across most of the territory; some Valencian, Mallorcan, and Ibizan varieties also maintain the synthetic simple past in everyday use, and that tense occurs as a stylistic option in written narrative across varieties.
Ahir vam veure la Laia a la sortida del cinema.
Yesterday we saw Laia outside the cinema. (neutral; periphrastic past)
El mes passat van tancar la botiga del xamfrà.
Last month they closed the shop on the corner. (neutral; periphrastic past)
Compare Vaig parlar amb l'Anna “I spoke with Anna” with Vaig anar a parlar amb l'Anna “I went to speak with Anna.” The second has two layers: auxiliary vaig marks the past of lexical anar, and a parlar gives the purpose of that motion.
The sequence vaig anar a Girona likewise means “I went to Girona”: vaig is the past auxiliary, anar is the lexical infinitive, and a Girona is its destination. Form alone is not enough; the following preposition and meaning reveal the structure.
Literal image versus idiomatic function
| Expression | Literal motion image | Actual function |
|---|---|---|
| la impressora no va | the printer does not go | the printer does not work |
| dimarts em va bé | Tuesday goes well to me | Tuesday suits me |
| anar millorant | go while improving | improve gradually |
| anar-se'n | go oneself from it | leave |
| vaig llegir | I-go read | I read (past) |
Common Mistakes
❌ Aquesta faldilla et va bona per al casament.
Incorrect agreement choice: in the suitability construction, use the invariable adverb bé, not adjective bona.
✅ Aquesta faldilla et va bé per al casament.
This skirt works well for you for the wedding.
❌ A quina hora te vas de l'oficina?
Incorrect: anar-se'n requires both the reflexive clitic and en.
✅ A quina hora te'n vas de l'oficina?
What time are you leaving the office?
❌ Ahir vaig a comprar el pa abans de sopar.
Incorrect past formation: the Catalan periphrastic past has no a between the auxiliary and infinitive.
✅ Ahir vaig comprar el pa abans de sopar.
Yesterday I bought the bread before dinner.
❌ La situació està anant de mal a pitjor.
Wrong stored preposition inside the fixed progression: the expression is de mal en pitjor.
✅ La situació va de mal en pitjor des de dilluns.
The situation has been going from bad to worse since Monday.
❌ Vés-te'n ara mateix.
Incorrect modern spelling: the imperative is ves, without an accent.
✅ Ves-te'n ara mateix.
Leave right now.
Key Takeaways
- Literal motion selects a path: anar a, cap a, or per.
- Anar bé/malament evaluates functioning or suitability; the adverbs do not agree.
- Clothing descriptions can use agreeing anar vestit/vestida or anar amb.
- Anar + gerund presents gradual or distributed development, not a generic progressive.
- Anar-se'n obligatorily stores two clitic elements: me'n vaig, se'n va, ens n'anem.
- Auxiliary va + infinitive forms the past and never takes a: vam parlar. Literal past motion can contain both layers: vam anar a parlar.
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Start learning Catalan →Related Topics
- Conjugation of anarA1 — Complete contemporary conjugation of anar for movement, destinations, the periphrastic past, weak pronouns, and pronominal anar-se'n.
- Present of AnarA1 — Conjugate present-tense anar for movement and plans, and distinguish the same-looking forms used to build the periphrastic past.
- Forming the Periphrastic PastA2 — Build Catalan’s ordinary past with the auxiliary forms vaig, vas, va, vam, vau, van and an unchanged infinitive.
- Vaig Parlar versus Vaig a ParlarA2 — Distinguish completed-past vaig parlar from present motion or restricted imminence in vaig a parlar.
- Combining En with Other PronounsB1 — Form and place me'n, te'n, se'n, ens en, us en, li'n, and els en while preserving the function encoded by en.
- Anar, Venir, and Quedar plus Nonfinite FormsB1 — Use anar and quedar with nonfinite forms, and avoid the nonstandard temporal calque venir plus gerund while preserving literal motion uses.