Elision and Linking Across Words | Catalan Grammar

Catalan words do not become separate sound islands merely because spaces separate them in writing. In a phrase, adjacent vowels may contract, a final consonant may join the following syllable, and that consonant may change voicing. These processes preserve the words and their lexical stresses while making the phrase flow as one rhythmic unit.

This page uses Central Catalan as its main pronunciation baseline. The underlying logic is shared much more widely, although the precise vowels and the frequency of elision vary by region. Review syllable structure and vowel reduction if the terms onset, stressed, and unstressed are unfamiliar.

Written elision and the apostrophe

An apostrophe records a vowel that the standard spelling requires you to omit before another vowel or silent h. It occurs especially in short function words: articles and weak pronouns such as el → l', la → l', de → d', em → m', et → t', and es → s'. The apostrophe belongs to the word on its left, with no spaces around it.

This is not an exceptionless “before any vowel” rule. The feminine article la remains unelided before unstressed i/u, as in la història and la universitat, and an initial consonantal glide does not trigger elision, as in el iogurt. Those are spelling rules, not optional pronunciation choices; consult the dedicated apostrophe page for the full inventory.

Full form in another context	Before a vowel	What happens
el carrer	l'avi	The vowel of el is omitted.
de pressa	d'hora	The vowel of de is omitted; silent h does not block elision.
em sembla	m'agrada	The weak pronoun loses its vowel and attaches phonologically to the verb.

L'avi m'espera davant de l'estació.

Grandpa is waiting for me in front of the station.

Hem d'arribar d'hora si volem seure junts.

We have to arrive early if we want to sit together.

T'espero a l'entrada quan s'acabi la reunió.

I'll wait for you at the entrance when the meeting ends.

The apostrophe is an orthographic fact, not a loose transcription of every vowel that disappears in rapid speech. Natural una altra may sound close to [uˈnaltrə] in Central speech, but it is still written as two words with no apostrophe. Conversely, every written apostrophe should produce genuine attachment: pausing after l' in l'avi breaks the syllable flow.

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The space tells you where the words are; it does not necessarily tell you where the spoken syllables divide. The apostrophe tells you that an actual written vowel has been omitted.

What happens when two full vowels meet

When one word ends in a vowel and the next begins with one, Catalan has three possible outcomes: both vowels can remain in separate syllables, they can form a glide-plus-vowel sequence, or one unstressed vowel can be elided. Stress and vowel prominence guide the choice. A stressed vowel is normally protected; two carefully emphasized words are more likely to keep both vowels; frequent combinations of unstressed vowels contract most readily.

La Maria ha obert la finestra perquè fa calor.

Maria has opened the window because it is hot.

In careful speech, Maria ha can keep a clear boundary. At natural speed the final unstressed a and the following ha are coordinated much more tightly. This does not move the stress of Maria, which remains on ri. English speakers often insert a glottal break before every vowel-initial word; Catalan generally favors continuity instead.

Ho provarem una altra vegada.

We'll try it one more time.

A useful slow-to-natural progression is una | altra vegada → una_altra vegada. First preserve the stresses on u-, al-, and -ga-. Then remove the pause and allow the final unstressed vowel of una to contract before the stressed /a/ of altra. Do not turn that stressed vowel into an English-style moving vowel: Catalan vowels remain comparatively steady even when words link.

Vull que arribi abans de les vuit.

I want him to arrive before eight.

Here que arribi often flows without a boundary pause, but arribi keeps its own stress. Elision is not permission to swallow the first syllable of an important lexical word.

The balance is regional. (regional: Valencian and Northwestern) Western varieties generally preserve more distinct unstressed vowel qualities than Central Catalan and may maintain vowel sequences that a Central speaker contracts. (regional: Balearic, Northern, and Alguerese) Eastern varieties also use reduction and elision, but their exact vowel inventories and habitual contractions are not identical. None is a less careful version of another.

Resyllabification: a final consonant finds the next vowel

A word-final consonant before a consonant or pause normally closes its word's last syllable. Before a vowel-initial word, however, it is commonly heard as the onset of the next spoken syllable. This is resyllabification. The spelling and meaning remain unchanged.

Els amics ja han arribat.

The friends have already arrived.

In connected Central speech, els amics flows approximately as el.za.mics: final s links forward and is voiced to [z]. The lexical stress still falls on mics. Compare the near-minimal environments below:

He comprat dos pans per sopar.

I've bought two loaves for dinner.

He convidat dos amics a sopar.

I've invited two friends to dinner.

In dos pans, the final sound of dos remains [s] before voiceless [p]. In dos amics, it becomes [z] before the vowel and links forward. This is not an extra letter and should not be exaggerated into a long buzzing sound. For the full pattern, see voiced and voiceless s.

Other sibilants and affricates can likewise acquire voicing at a vowel boundary in standard connected speech. The exact phonetic result depends on the consonant, but the practical cue is the same: do not reset your voice at the space.

El despatx obre a dos quarts de nou.

The office opens at half past eight.

Fa mig any que treballa aquí.

He has been working here for half a year.

In despatx obre and mig any, the final consonant connects directly with the following vowel and is normally voiced in fluid speech. A deliberately word-by-word pronunciation obscures this regular boundary adjustment.

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Link first, then apply the consonant rule. If a written final consonant is pronounced and the next word begins with a vowel, treat the two words as one phonological phrase before deciding whether the consonant voices.

Slow speech and natural speech

Careful pronunciation does not require a pause after every word. It means that the words remain recoverable, stress is stable, and optional reductions are limited. Practise the same phrase in two stages:

Les alumnes han entrat a l'aula en silenci.

The students entered the classroom quietly.

Slow, careful: les | alumnes | han | entrat | a | l'aula, with all lexical stresses clear but no English-style diphthongs.
Natural, connected: les_alumnes_han_entrat_a_l'aula, with final s voiced before alumnes, consonants linked to following vowels, and adjacent unstressed vowels coordinated smoothly.

The result should not sound rushed. Connected speech is about coordination, not speed.

A short dialogue in connected speech

—Els altres ja hi són? —Sí, ens esperen a fora.

—Are the others already there? —Yes, they're waiting for us outside.

In the first turn, els altres links final s to the vowel and voices it. In the reply, esperen a has vowel contact but keeps the lexical stress of esperen. Read the dialogue slowly once, then repeat it without pauses inside either intonation unit.

Common Mistakes

Inventing apostrophes for every spoken contraction

❌ Una'miga meva viu aquí.

Incorrect — spontaneous vowel contact does not create an apostrophe.

✅ Una amiga meva viu aquí.

A friend of mine lives here.

Leaving spaces around a real apostrophe

❌ L' escola és al costat de l' hotel.

Incorrect — an apostrophe never takes a following space.

✅ L'escola és al costat de l'hotel.

The school is next to the hotel.

Keeping final s voiceless before a vowel

❌ Els avis arriben demà, amb una s sorda a «els».

Incorrect pronunciation — final s normally voices and links before the vowel in Central Catalan.

✅ Els avis arriben demà, amb l'essa enllaçada i sonora.

The grandparents arrive tomorrow, with the s linked and voiced.

Moving stress when words link

❌ Una altra reunió, amb l'accent de «altra» desplaçat.

Incorrect pronunciation — linking does not move the word's lexical stress.

✅ Una altra reunió, mantenint tònica la primera a d'«altra».

Another meeting, keeping the first a of «altra» stressed.

Treating Catalan linking as Spanish pronunciation

❌ Ho dic com en castellà i mantinc totes les vocals igual de plenes.

Incorrect strategy — Central Catalan reduces unstressed vowels and has its own linking patterns.

✅ Redueixo les vocals àtones i enllaço els mots sense perdre l'accent.

I reduce unstressed vowels and link the words without losing stress.

Key Takeaways

Apostrophes mark prescribed written elision; ordinary speech contractions do not create new apostrophes.
Adjacent vowels may remain separate, glide, or overlap, but lexical stress remains stable.
A pronounced final consonant commonly resyllabifies before a following vowel; final sibilants may also voice.
Natural flow means continuous coordination, not careless speed or Spanish-style vowels.
Central Catalan supplies the baseline here, while other regions differ systematically in vowel quality and the frequency of contraction.

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