Administrative and Institutional Catalan | Catalan Grammar

Administrative Catalan organizes actions between institutions and the public: applying, notifying, requesting evidence, resolving, authorizing, and explaining a procedure. Its best style is precise and predictable, not ceremonially obscure. A reader should quickly discover who acts, what must happen, by when, and with what consequence.

Administrative documents also follow institutional templates. Headings such as Fets, Fonaments de dret and Resolució, or formulas such as EXPOSO / SOL·LICITO, are genre conventions rather than general grammar rules. Follow the competent authority's current template when it is mandatory; within that template, use clear Catalan.

Start from the administrative act

Different documents perform different acts. A request asks an authority to do something; a notice communicates a fact or requirement; a resolution records an authorized decision and its basis. Naming the act determines person, mood, structure, and terminology.

Document function	Useful core verb	Typical structure
Citizen request	sol·licito / demano	identification → facts → specific request
Institutional notice	us comuniquem / li notifiquem	decision or requirement → reason → action and deadline
Resolution	resolc	facts → legal grounds → numbered decisions → remedies
Public information	l'Ajuntament informa	news → affected people → practical next step

Sol·licito una còpia del certificat d'empadronament presentat el 14 de març.

I request a copy of the registration certificate submitted on March 14. (formal administrative request with a specific object)

Us comuniquem que la vostra sol·licitud ha estat admesa a tràmit.

We inform you that your application has been accepted for processing. (institutional vós)

Admetre a tràmit has a technical procedural meaning; it does not necessarily mean granting the requested outcome. Plain language must clarify technical terms, not replace them with a false simplification.

Requests: facts and petition

Traditional applications often use labeled sections:

EXPOSO: Que el 3 d'abril vaig presentar la documentació requerida.\n\nSOL·LICITO: Que s'incorpori aquesta documentació a l'expedient 24/118.

I STATE: That on April 3 I submitted the required documentation.\n\nI REQUEST: That this documentation be added to case file 24/118. (conventional application format)

The initial que is licensed by the heading's implicit verb and is conventional in this genre. In a free-form email, the same person would normally write a complete sentence: El 3 d'abril vaig presentar… Per això, sol·licito que… Do not import the fragmentary template into every institutional paragraph.

A request should distinguish fact from desired outcome. Vaig pagar la taxa is a fact; sol·licito que em retorneu l'import is the petition. If legal grounds are relevant, cite them accurately, but do not bury the action under a page of copied legislation.

Atès que el curs es va cancel·lar, sol·licito que em retorneu l'import de la matrícula al compte indicat.

Since the course was canceled, I request that you refund the enrollment fee to the account indicated. (formal vós, reason plus action)

Resolutions: authority, grounds, and operative language

A resolution may use first-person singular because the officeholder formally performs the act: Resolc. Numbered infinitives then state each decision.

RESOLC:\n\n1. Aprovar la subvenció sol·licitada.\n2. Notificar aquesta resolució a la persona interessada.

I RESOLVE:\n\n1. To approve the requested grant.\n2. To notify the interested party of this resolution. (conventional operative section)

The infinitives depend rhetorically on Resolc; they are not random sentence fragments. If the decision is negative, give the concrete ground and the available review or appeal information required by the procedure. Formulaic precision matters here because legal effect matters.

Facts and legal grounds should not blur:

Consta a l'expedient que la documentació es va presentar fora de termini.

The file records that the documents were submitted after the deadline. (statement of record, not yet the legal conclusion)

D'acord amb l'article 8 de les bases, les sol·licituds presentades fora de termini no es poden admetre.

Under article 8 of the rules, applications submitted after the deadline cannot be admitted. (legal ground linked to the relevant fact)

The exact source must be verified. D'acord amb la normativa vigent is too vague when the reader needs to understand or challenge a decision.

Prefer visible agency over copied passive style

English administrative prose often uses passives; Spanish bureaucratic models often use proceder a and chains of nouns. Catalan permits passives but usually communicates more clearly with an active institutional subject, first-person plural, or a natural pronominal construction.

L'Oficina d'Habitatge revisarà la documentació i us comunicarà el resultat abans del 30 de juny.

The Housing Office will review the documents and inform you of the result before June 30. (visible agency and deadline)

Compare the heavier La documentació serà objecte de revisió i el resultat serà comunicat…. That passive version is grammatical, but it hides the responsible unit and turns two actions into abstractions.

An impersonal construction remains useful when rules apply generally: Les al·legacions es poden presentar per via electrònica. Here the actor is any eligible person, so naming an institutional agent would be misleading.

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Ask “Who can answer for this action?” If the document knows the answer, name that unit or use institutional nosaltres. If the rule truly concerns any actor, an impersonal construction may be clearer.

Address systems in institutional communication

Many Catalan institutions use vós: us informem, la vostra sol·licitud, presenteu. Others use vostè: li comuniquem, la seva sol·licitud, presenti. Both are standard (formal) systems. A template must not mix them.

Per completar el tràmit, presenteu el justificant abans de divendres. Si ja l'heu presentat, no cal que feu cap altra gestió.

To complete the procedure, submit the receipt before Friday. If you have already submitted it, you do not need to do anything else. (formal institutional vós)

Per completar el tràmit, presenti el justificant abans de divendres. Si ja l'ha presentat, no cal que faci cap altra gestió.

To complete the procedure, submit the receipt before Friday. If you have already submitted it, you do not need to do anything else. (formal vostè)

These are alternatives, not sentences to combine. See formal address.

Terminology: precision before synonym variety

Administrative terms often have distinct referents: sol·licitud is the request or submitted application; tràmit is a procedural step; expedient is the organized case file; resolució is a formal decision; notificació is the legally relevant communication. Do not rotate among them as stylistic synonyms.

Once a term is defined, maintain it. Avoid el mateix / la mateixa as a mechanical anaphor: La comissió estudiarà la sol·licitud. Després en comunicarà el resultat is more natural than procedirà a l'estudi de la mateixa.

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Make a one-line terminology key before drafting: person, application, case file, decision, notification. If two labels in the document refer to one item, choose one; if they refer to different items, define the distinction.

Regional standard variation also deserves respect. A Generalitat Valenciana form written consistently according to AVL usage should not be converted mechanically into Central Catalan. Institutional identity may determine whether a document uses este/aquest, seua/seva, or other valid alternatives. Legal terms, however, must match the applicable legislation exactly.

Spoken explanation versus written notice

At a service counter:

Miri, ens falta el rebut del banc. Si ens el porta demà, ja ho podrem tancar.

Look, we're missing the bank receipt. If you bring it to us tomorrow, we'll be able to finish it. (formal spoken vostè, locally recoverable reference)

Written notice:

Per completar l'expedient, presenti el justificant de pagament abans del 6 de maig. Pot adjuntar-lo a la seu electrònica o lliurar-lo a qualsevol oficina d'atenció ciutadana.

To complete the case file, submit proof of payment before May 6. You may attach it through the online portal or deliver it to any citizen service office. (formal written vostè)

The notice replaces el rebut with the institution's precise term, supplies the date, identifies two channels, and replaces vague ho with l'expedient. It does not need a longer salutation to become formal.

Before and after: plain-language revision

Before:

Es posa en el seu coneixement que, en cas de no procedir a l'aportació de la documentació preceptiva en el termini establert, es procedirà a l'arxivament de les actuacions.

You are hereby informed that, should you fail to proceed with providing the mandatory documentation within the established period, the proceedings will be archived. (traditional dense administrative style)

After:

Presenteu els documents indicats abans del 18 de setembre. Si no els presenteu dins d'aquest termini, arxivarem la sol·licitud sense continuar-ne la tramitació.

Submit the specified documents before September 18. If you do not submit them within this period, we will close the application without continuing to process it. (plain institutional vós)

The revision turns nominalizations into actions, gives an exact deadline, states the consequence, and makes the institution's agency visible. If arxivar has a defined legal effect, retain it and explain that effect rather than substituting an approximate everyday verb.

Formal and plain alternatives

Conventional formal: Us requerim perquè esmeneu la manca de signatura en el termini de deu dies hàbils.

Plain explanation: Heu de signar el formulari i tornar-lo a presentar en un màxim de deu dies hàbils.

The formal version may be necessary in a procedural act because requerir and esmenar have established meanings. A public summary can accompany it with the plain version. Plain language supplements legal precision; it does not silently alter obligations.

An annotated institutional paragraph

Hem rebut la vostra sol·licitud d'ajut, però hi falta el certificat d'ingressos. Presenteu-lo abans del 12 d'octubre a través de la seu electrònica. Si necessiteu assistència, podeu demanar cita trucant al 012.

We have received your grant application, but the income certificate is missing. Submit it before October 12 through the online portal. If you need assistance, you can make an appointment by calling 012. (plain institutional vós)

Hem rebut names institutional action and confirms status.
però marks the single obstacle without connector overload.
-lo has the adjacent antecedent el certificat.
The imperative, exact date, and channel make the required action executable.
The final conditional offers support without weakening the obligation.

Correction Practice

Rewrite Es procedirà a efectuar la notificació: L'oficina us notificarà la resolució.
Repair Li comuniquem que heu de presentar la vostra declaració: choose Us comuniquem que heu de presentar la vostra declaració (vós) or Li comuniquem que ha de presentar la seva declaració (vostè).
Clarify Aporteu-ho aviat: Presenteu el certificat mèdic abans del 9 de novembre.

Common Mistakes

⚠️ Es procedirà a la realització de la revisió de l'expedient.

A nominal chain hides a simple action and its responsible agent.

✅ La unitat responsable revisarà l'expedient.

The responsible unit will review the case file.

❌ Us informem que la seva petició ha estat acceptada.

Mixed address: us is vós, while seva is vostè.

✅ Us informem que la vostra petició ha estat acceptada.

We inform you that your request has been accepted. (consistent vós)

⚠️ D'acord amb la normativa, disposeu del termini corresponent.

The legal source, duration, and endpoint are all too vague for the person to act.

✅ D'acord amb l'article 6 de les bases, disposeu de deu dies hàbils des de l'endemà de la notificació.

Under article 6 of the rules, you have ten working days from the day after notification.

⚠️ La sol·licitud serà revisada per l'oficina i una resposta serà enviada per aquesta.

Repeated passives and an unnatural anaphoric demonstrative obscure the sequence.

✅ L'oficina revisarà la sol·licitud i us enviarà una resposta.

The office will review the application and send you a response.

⚠️ Tanmateix, però, heu d'adjuntar el rebut.

Grammatical, but two adversative markers compete, and no preceding contrast is supplied.

✅ També heu d'adjuntar el rebut.

You must also attach the receipt. (additive relation stated accurately)

Key Takeaways

Identify the administrative act and organize the document around what the reader or institution must do.
Keep facts, legal grounds, and operative decisions distinct.
Prefer visible agents and verbs to repeated passives, procedir a, and nominal chains.
Use either vós or vostè consistently throughout one communication.
Follow mandatory templates and legal terminology, while adding plain explanations, exact deadlines, channels, and consequences.

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