Some Catalan weak pronouns lose their vowel before a vowel-initial verb: em ajuda → m'ajuda; el escolto → l'escolto. The apostrophe records this elision and joins the pronoun to the following verb.
The basic forms are m', t', l', s', and n'. The spelling is driven by the sound and spelling at the beginning of the following verb, but the pronoun's grammatical job does not change: el and l' can both be direct objects, while en and n' can both represent a partitive or de-complement.
The five elided forms
| Full or reinforced form | Elided form | Before consonant | Before vowel or silent h |
|---|---|---|---|
| em | m' | em busca | m'espera, m'ha vist |
| et | t' | et truca | t'escolta, t'ha escrit |
| el / la | l' | el mira / la mira | l'escolta, l'ha oberta |
| es | s' | es lleva | s'aixeca, s'ha dutxat |
| en | n' | en parla | n'agafa, n'ha comprat |
La Mariona m'espera davant de l'estació i després m'acompanya a casa.
Mariona is waiting for me in front of the station and then walks me home.
No t'he contestat abans perquè era en una reunió.
I didn't answer you earlier because I was in a meeting.
Necessitem claus noves i el director ja n'ha encarregat sis.
We need new keys, and the director has already ordered six.
The silent h does not block elision: m'ha, t'has, l'hem, s'havia, n'ha. The apostrophe stands immediately between the pronoun and verb, with no spaces.
What l' can mean
The form l' is ambiguous in gender. It can be masculine el or feminine la; context and, sometimes, participle agreement reveal the antecedent.
—On és el rebut? —L'he deixat damunt la taula.
Where is the receipt? —I've left it on the table.
—On és la factura? —L'he deixada damunt la taula.
Where is the invoice? —I've left it on the table.
In varieties that preserve participle agreement here, deixat points to masculine rebut and deixada to feminine factura. In much contemporary speech the participle is also invariable—l'he deixat for either antecedent—so discourse context remains essential. The elided pronoun itself never tells you the gender.
The pronoun must still match the syntactic function. A definite singular direct object can become l', but a whole proposition normally becomes ho, which never elides: Ja ho entenc. An indefinite quantity becomes n': Vols pomes? N'he comprat sis.
No l'entenc, aquest missatge; però ara ja ho entenc tot.
I don't understand this message, but now I understand everything.
The first pronoun replaces masculine aquest missatge. The second is neutral and summarizes the whole situation. Similar English translations do not make the Catalan forms interchangeable.
The feminine la exception
Feminine direct-object la normally becomes l' before a vowel or silent h: l'escolto, l'adoren, l'hem vista. However, it stays la before a verb beginning with unstressed i or u, whether or not a silent h precedes that vowel: la ignoren, la invitarem, la utilitza, la humilia.
La Júlia presenta la proposta avui; tothom l'escoltarà, però ningú no la interromprà.
Júlia is presenting the proposal today; everyone will listen to her, but nobody will interrupt her.
Aquesta eina és nova: la utilitzarem durant la prova i després l'avaluarem.
This tool is new: we'll use it during the test and evaluate it afterward.
In la utilitzarem, initial u is unstressed, so the full form remains. In l'avaluarem, initial a triggers ordinary elision. This exception is lexical and phonological; there is no useful English shortcut for it.
Forms that do not elide
The pronouns ens, us, els, les, li, ho, and hi do not take an elided form before a verb. Keep them separate even when the verb begins with a vowel:
Ens han avisat tard, però us esperarem a l'entrada.
They notified us late, but we'll wait for you at the entrance.
Les entrades? Els organitzadors les enviaran avui i nosaltres les imprimirem demà.
The tickets? The organizers will send them today, and we'll print them tomorrow.
A la Carla li agrada el local nou, però jo encara no hi he anat.
Carla likes the new venue, but I haven't been there yet.
Do not create forms such as n's, l's, or l'i for these one-pronoun sequences. Els remains els; li remains li; hi remains hi. When two pronouns meet, the rules are more complex and an apostrophe is placed according to the cluster as a whole.
Before finite verbs, not after infinitives
The forms on this page are preverbal elided forms: m'escolta, t'ajuda, l'obre, s'aixeca, n'agafa. After an infinitive or gerund, Catalan uses postverbal forms joined with a hyphen or an apostrophe on the other side: escoltar-me, ajudar-te, obrir-lo, aixecant-se, agafar-ne. Do not move the same apostrophe mechanically.
M'ha d'escoltar avui. / Ha d'escoltar-me avui.
He has to listen to me today.
Both placements are possible with this verb phrase. The preverbal option uses m' because ha begins with a vowel; the infinitive option uses full -me because escoltar ends in a consonant.
Negative finite forms still elide when the verb begins with a vowel: no m'escolta, no t'entén, no l'obre, no s'aixeca, no n'agafa. Negation stands before the pronoun.
No n'he comprat més perquè encara en queden tres a la nevera.
I haven't bought any more because there are still three left in the fridge.
A note on two-pronoun clusters
With two weak pronouns, you cannot decide each spelling in isolation. For example, em + el + ha deixat becomes me l'ha deixat: the first pronoun takes the full form me, while el elides before ha. The language concentrates the available apostrophe at the appropriate vowel contact.
—Qui et deixa el cotxe? —La meva germana me'l deixa quan no el necessita.
Who lends you the car? —My sister lends it to me when she doesn't need it.
This page teaches the single-pronoun pattern. Use Apostrophes and Hyphens in Pronoun Clusters rather than inventing sequences such as m'el or changing the established order.
Regional perspective
Elided m', t', s', l', and n' belong to the shared standard. The greatest regional variation appears before consonants, where (regional: Valencian, Balearic, Northern, and some other areas) full forms such as me, te, se, and ne remain alive, while (regional: Northwestern and northern Valencian) lo/los also occur. Those variants do not abolish standard elision before a following vowel. In (formal) cross-regional writing, the reinforced forms before consonants and the elided forms described here are the safest common baseline.
Common Mistakes
1. Keeping a full form before an ordinary vowel.
❌ Em espera a la porta des de les vuit.
Incorrect spelling—the preverbal em elides before espera.
✅ M'espera a la porta des de les vuit.
She's been waiting for me at the door since eight.
2. Eliding feminine la before unstressed i or u.
❌ Aquesta aplicació és útil: l'utilitzo cada dia.
Incorrect—the feminine pronoun la remains full before unstressed u.
✅ Aquesta aplicació és útil: la utilitzo cada dia.
This app is useful: I use it every day.
3. Eliding a pronoun that has no elided form.
❌ N's han explicat el canvi aquest matí.
Incorrect—ens does not elide before a vowel-initial verb.
✅ Ens han explicat el canvi aquest matí.
They explained the change to us this morning.
4. Using the preverbal apostrophe after an infinitive.
❌ Vol escoltar-m' abans de decidir.
Incorrect—after consonant-final escoltar, use the full postverbal form -me.
✅ Vol escoltar-me abans de decidir.
He wants to listen to me before deciding.
5. Mixing full and elided forms in a cluster.
❌ La Jana m'el deixa sempre que el necessito.
Incorrect—the standard two-pronoun form is me'l, not m'el.
✅ La Jana me'l deixa sempre que el necessito.
Jana lends it to me whenever I need it.
Key Takeaways
Use m', t', l', s', and n' before vowel-initial verbs and silent h, with no intervening space. Keep feminine la before unstressed initial i/u. As single preverbal pronouns, keep ens, us, els, les, li, ho, and hi unchanged before a vowel-initial verb. Finally, distinguish preverbal elision from postverbal attachment: m'escolta but escoltar-me.
Related Topics
- Direct-Object Weak PronounsA2 — Replace definite direct objects with em, et, el, la, ens, us, els, and les, and place them correctly before a finite verb.
- Indirect-Object Weak PronounsA2 — Use em, et, li, ens, us, and els for recipients, addressees, experiencers, and other indirect objects.
- Postverbal Pronouns with Infinitives, Gerunds, and ImperativesA2 — Attach weak pronouns after infinitives, gerunds, and affirmative imperatives with the correct full or reduced form.
- Reflexive Weak PronounsA2 — Use em, et, es, ens, and us when an action returns to its subject, including body-care patterns and strong self-forms.
- En as a Partitive PronounB1 — Use partitive en to resume indefinite nouns, mass nouns, and counted sets while keeping quantities and agreement visible.
- Apostrophes and Hyphens in Pronoun ClustersB2 — Spell preverbal and postverbal pronoun clusters by choosing full, reinforced, elided, and reduced forms in the right order.