Catalan weak pronouns normally stand before a finite verb but attach after an infinitive, gerund, or affirmative imperative: la veig, veure-la, veient-la, mira-la. This is a property of the verb form, not a translation of English word order.
In a verb phrase, the entire pronoun cluster may sometimes “climb” to the finite verb: Ho vull fer / Vull fer-ho. That alternation is licensed by particular periphrases; it does not make placement free. First identify the host, then move the whole cluster, and only afterward choose apostrophes or hyphens.
The core map
| Verb environment | Placement | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ordinary finite indicative, conditional, or subjunctive | before the verb | la veig, ho faria, que hi vagis |
| finite compound tense | before the auxiliary | l'he vista, no m'ho havia dit |
| infinitive | attached after it | veure-la, explicar-m'ho |
| gerund | attached after it | veient-la, explicant-m'ho |
| affirmative imperative | attached after it | mira-la, explica-m'ho |
| negative imperative | before the verb, after no | no la miris, no m'ho expliquis |
La factura arriba avui; la revisaré abans de dinar.
The invoice arrives today; I'll review it before lunch.
No me l'esperava tan aviat, però ja l'he revisada.
I wasn't expecting it so soon, but I've already reviewed it.
English places “it” after “review” in both translations. Catalan places la/l' before the finite lexical verb or before the finite auxiliary. A weak pronoun cannot simply occupy the English object position.
Before simple and compound finite verbs
With a simple finite verb, the pronoun or cluster comes immediately before the verb. Negation precedes the cluster: no + pronoun(s) + verb.
Aquest barri m'agrada molt, però de nit no m'hi quedaria sol.
I really like this neighborhood, but I wouldn't stay there alone at night.
Quan te'l tornin, comprova que encara funcioni.
When they return it to you, check that it still works.
In a compound tense, the conjugated auxiliary haver is the finite host. The pronoun precedes it; the past participle never hosts an attached weak pronoun.
Les claus? No les he trobades i no recordo on les vaig deixar.
The keys? I haven't found them, and I don't remember where I left them.
Participle agreement varies by pronoun, register, and variety, but it does not alter placement: les he trobades and the widespread invariable les he trobat both keep les before he. The form he trobades-les is not the neutral modern construction.
An affirmative finite verb with an attached pronoun—forms such as digué-li—occurs in older texts and in deliberately elevated narrative (literary, archaic). Contemporary neutral Catalan uses li digué. Do not transfer literary enclisis into everyday finite clauses.
After infinitives and gerunds
An infinitive or gerund takes its weak pronouns after it as part of one written unit. Hyphens and apostrophes reflect the host's ending and the cluster's form.
Abans d'enviar-me'l, comprova que l'adreça sigui correcta.
Before sending it to me, check that the address is correct.
Va sortir de la sala tancant la porta amb molta cura. → Va sortir de la sala tancant-la amb molta cura.
She left the room, carefully closing the door. → She left the room, carefully closing it.
No resoldrem el problema desentenent-nos-en.
We won't solve the problem by ignoring it.
Negating a nonfinite clause does not pull its pronoun in front of the infinitive: per no haver-ho sabut, sense dir-li res. In a compound infinitive or gerund, attach the pronoun to nonfinite haver, not to the participle:
Després d'haver-ho parlat amb l'equip, vam canviar el calendari.
After discussing it with the team, we changed the schedule.
Havent-se'n adonat a temps, va poder corregir l'error.
Having noticed it in time, she was able to correct the error.
The postverbal status of haver-ho and havent-se'n follows from the nonfinite host. It is not an exception to the ban on attaching pronouns to participles.
Affirmative and negative imperatives
Affirmative commands attach pronouns after the imperative. Negative commands use a subjunctive form and place them before it.
Porta-me'l demà, però no me'l portis abans de les nou.
Bring it to me tomorrow, but don't bring it to me before nine.
Pensi-s'hi bé i no s'hi comprometi fins que tingui tota la informació.
Think it over carefully, and don't commit to it until you have all the information.
The second example uses vostè. Although pensi has the same morphology as a subjunctive form, its affirmative imperative function requires postverbal pensi-s'hi. Negation reverses the placement: no s'hi comprometi. This polarity contrast is shared across contemporary standards.
Climbing in verb phrases
With many modal, aspectual, progressive, and closely integrated verbal constructions, the pronoun may appear before the finite verb or attached to the infinitive or gerund. Its syntactic function still belongs to the nonfinite lexical verb.
| Before the finite verb | On the nonfinite verb | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Ho vull explicar. | Vull explicar-ho. | I want to explain it. |
| La puc trucar. | Puc trucar-la. | I can call her. |
| L'estem buscant. | Estem buscant-lo. | We're looking for it. |
| Es va adormir. | Va adormir-se. | He/She fell asleep. |
Me'l pots enviar avui? / Pots enviar-me'l avui?
Can you send it to me today?
The entire cluster me'l moves together. Me pots enviar-lo splits two pronouns that depend on the same infinitive and is not the standard alternative.
The periphrastic past likewise allows both placements: El vaig veure / Vaig veure'l. Both are standard; preverbal placement is especially common in speech, while postverbal placement is also frequent in careful (formal) prose. Preferences vary by region and style.
Not every sequence of a finite verb plus an infinitive licenses climbing. A verb such as decidir can introduce an infinitival complement without forming a sufficiently tight periphrasis: Va decidir comprar-lo is neutral, whereas El va decidir comprar is not the normal equivalent. The dedicated clitic climbing page treats those boundaries.
Pronoun choice still comes first
Placement rules apply only after the correct weak pronoun has been chosen. En resumes many de-complements and partitives; hi resumes locations and many other prepositional complements. English often expresses neither overtly:
Parlem sovint del projecte. → En parlem sovint. → Volem parlar-ne demà.
We often talk about the project. → We often talk about it. → We want to talk about it tomorrow.
Demà anirem a Girona. → Demà hi anirem. → Tenim ganes d'anar-hi.
Tomorrow we'll go to Girona. → We'll go there tomorrow. → We're looking forward to going there.
The pair en parlem / parlar-ne and hi anirem / anar-hi shows that changing position also changes form. Do not preserve a preverbal shape after an infinitive.
Strong pronouns follow different rules because they are stressed phrases: Ho faré per tu; parlaran d'ella. They can follow a preposition and carry contrastive stress. Weak et and en cannot stand in those positions independently.
A dialogue with an unambiguous antecedent
—Has trobat les claus del magatzem? —No; les estic buscant ara mateix. / No; estic buscant-les ara mateix.
Have you found the storeroom keys? —No; I'm looking for them right now.
Both answers refer clearly to feminine plural les claus. The first climbs les to finite estic; the second attaches -les to the gerund. The two positions do not change the antecedent or the meaning.
Regional and register perspective
The finite-before versus nonfinite-after contrast belongs to the shared modern standard. Varieties and registers differ more in how often they choose climbing when both positions are possible. (informal) Central speech strongly favors many preverbal climbed patterns, while edited prose may choose the postverbal option to keep the pronoun beside its lexical verb. These are preferences, not a universal “spoken versus written” ban.
Regional full forms also affect the surface result after the position has been chosen. (regional: Valencian, Balearic, Northwestern, Northern, and Alguerese) forms should be used as coherent systems rather than mixed with Central spellings. The core placement contrast remains recognizable throughout the language.
Common Mistakes
1. Copying English postverbal order with a finite verb.
❌ Veig-la cada matí a l'estació.
Incorrect in neutral modern Catalan—the weak pronoun precedes an ordinary finite verb.
✅ La veig cada matí a l'estació.
I see her every morning at the station.
2. Omitting en or hi because English has no equivalent.
❌ Vols parlar del canvi? Sí, vull parlar demà.
Incorrect for ‘talk about it’—the de-complement requires en.
✅ Vols parlar del canvi? Sí, en vull parlar demà. / Sí, vull parlar-ne demà.
Do you want to talk about the change? Yes, I want to talk about it tomorrow.
3. Importing Spanish personal a before an ordinary human direct object.
❌ He vist a la directora i he saludat-la.
Incorrect—the ordinary direct object does not automatically take a, and the compound tense requires preverbal la.
✅ He vist la directora i l'he saludada.
I saw the director and greeted her.
4. Splitting or misordering a cluster during climbing.
❌ Me pots enviar-lo aquesta tarda?
Incorrect—the two-pronoun cluster must move as a unit.
✅ Me'l pots enviar aquesta tarda? / Pots enviar-me'l aquesta tarda?
Can you send it to me this afternoon?
5. Reusing a preverbal form after a nonfinite host.
❌ No me'l pot enviar avui, però promet enviar-me el demà.
Incorrect—after the infinitive, the cluster attaches as enviar-me'l.
✅ No me'l pot enviar avui, però promet enviar-me'l demà.
She can't send it to me today, but she promises to send it to me tomorrow.
Key Takeaways
Place weak pronouns before ordinary finite verbs and finite auxiliaries, but attach them after infinitives, gerunds, and affirmative imperatives. Negative imperatives return them to preverbal position. In licensed periphrases, the entire cluster may climb or remain attached to the nonfinite verb. Pronoun choice, internal order, placement, and spelling are four separate decisions; solving them in that order prevents most errors.
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Start learning Catalan →Related Topics
- Elided Weak-Pronoun FormsA2 — Choose m', t', l', s', and n' before vowel-initial verbs, including the feminine la exception before unstressed i and u.
- Postverbal Pronouns with Infinitives, Gerunds, and ImperativesA2 — Attach weak pronouns after infinitives, gerunds, and affirmative imperatives with the correct full or reduced form.
- Ordering Two Weak PronounsB1 — Build two-pronoun clusters by grammatical role, with the standard Central order, spelling, and placement before and after the verb.
- Apostrophes and Hyphens in Pronoun ClustersB2 — Spell preverbal and postverbal pronoun clusters by choosing full, reinforced, elided, and reduced forms in the right order.
- Clitic Climbing with Verb PeriphrasesB2 — Choose where a Catalan weak pronoun can stand in modal, obligative, progressive, and closely integrated verb phrases.
- Pronouns with Negative ImperativesB1 — Place Catalan weak pronouns before a negative subjunctive command and contrast that pattern with attachment after affirmative imperatives.