In La proposta, crec, arribarà massa tard, the short clause crec does not supply an argument required by arribarà. It is a parenthetical comment: it tells us how strongly the speaker endorses the host proposition. In La proposta arribarà massa tard, diu la interventora, a reporting clause attributes the proposition to somebody else. Both are syntactically peripheral, mobile, and normally separated by punctuation and intonation.
Parentheticals matter because they encode stance: certainty, inference, hearsay, attribution, concession or interaction with the listener. English has similar expressions, but translating punctuation and position mechanically can obscure which material belongs to the main clause.
The removability test
A genuine parenthetical can be removed without destroying the host clause:
El pressupost, segons sembla, s'aprovarà abans de final de mes.
The budget, apparently, will be approved before the end of the month.
Remove segons sembla and El pressupost s'aprovarà abans de final de mes remains complete. Compare a complement selected by the verb:
La portaveu diu que el pressupost s'aprovarà abans de final de mes.
The spokesperson says that the budget will be approved before the end of the month.
Here que el pressupost... is the object of diu and cannot simply be punctuated as an aside. Structurally, the contrast is [host El pressupost s'aprovarà] + [parenthetical segons sembla] versus [main verb diu [complement que...]].
Epistemic comments: crec, diria and és clar
Epistemic parentheticals calibrate commitment to a proposition. Crec marks personal belief; diria is more tentative; és clar presents the content as evident or shared.
Aquest soroll ve del pati, crec, i no pas del carrer.
That noise is coming from the courtyard, I think, not from the street.
La reunió durarà una hora, diria, si ningú no allarga el debat.
The meeting will last an hour, I'd say, if nobody draws out the discussion.
És clar, no podem canviar les condicions després que hagin signat.
Of course, we can't change the conditions after they've signed.
Initial Crec que la reunió durarà una hora makes crec the matrix predicate and the claim its complement. Medial or final crec is prosodically detached and behaves like a comment. Neither construction is inherently more correct, but the parenthetical version keeps the host proposition structurally central.
És clar may also be a full predicate followed by que: És clar que no podem canviar les condicions. Without que, it is a detached stance marker. Do not mix the two frames as ❌ És clar, que no podem... unless the comma reflects a special spoken repair.
Evidential source: segons sembla, pel que sembla and diuen
Evidential parentheticals tell the listener where the information comes from. They do not all make the same commitment.
| Expression | Typical evidence | Register and stance |
|---|---|---|
| segons sembla | available indications | neutral; cautious |
| pel que sembla | inference from what is known | neutral, common in speech and writing |
| diuen | unspecified people | neutral or informal hearsay |
| que jo sàpiga | speaker's knowledge boundary | neutral; limits responsibility |
| segons fonts municipals | named institutional source | journalistic or formal |
| a parer meu | explicit personal evaluation | formal |
El servei tornarà a funcionar aquesta nit, segons sembla.
The service will be running again tonight, apparently.
Pel que sembla, la fuita va començar al pis de dalt.
It seems that the leak started in the upstairs flat.
No hi ha cap ferit, que jo sàpiga.
There are no injuries, as far as I know.
In (journalistic) Catalan, segons fonts pròximes a la negociació attributes rather than guarantees the claim. In (academic) prose, name an identifiable source where possible; repeated anonymous diuen is too vague for evidence-based argument.
Reporting clauses with diu and va dir
A reporting clause can interrupt or follow quoted or represented speech. Its subject often follows the verb because the reported message is foregrounded and the source is supplied afterward.
«No acceptarem cap retallada», diu la portaveu del comitè.
'We will not accept any cuts,' says the committee spokesperson.
La decisió, va advertir l'alcaldessa, no es prendria fins l'endemà.
The decision, the mayor warned, would not be made until the following day.
—No m'hi quedaré gaire —va dir l'Èlia—; demà matino.
'I won't stay long,' Èlia said; 'I have an early start tomorrow.'
The order diu la portaveu is common in (journalistic) and (literary) reporting. La portaveu diu... is the neutral subject–verb order when the source itself is the topic. Parenthetical reporting clauses can contain an indirect object: La data no canviarà, em va assegurar el responsable. Catalan preserves the clitic em because the addressee is an argument of assegurar.
Do not overuse passive attribution modeled on English. Segons va ser dit per la portaveu is heavy and unnatural where segons va dir la portaveu or va dir la portaveu gives the source directly.
Position changes discourse effect
The same comment can occupy three positions:
Segons sembla, el tren sortirà amb vint minuts de retard.
Apparently, the train will depart twenty minutes late. (the whole assertion is framed as reported)
El tren, segons sembla, sortirà amb vint minuts de retard.
The train, apparently, will depart twenty minutes late. (the comment interrupts the topic–comment structure)
El tren sortirà amb vint minuts de retard, segons sembla.
The train will depart twenty minutes late, apparently. (the source is added as an afterthought)
Initial position has widest and clearest scope. Medial position can attach the stance to the following predicate while preserving a topical subject. Final position often sounds retrospective or corrective. These are tendencies, not three different truth conditions; intonation can refine the interpretation in speech.
A parenthetical placed next to one coordinated phrase can create scope ambiguity. La comissió aprovarà, segons sembla, el projecte i l'esmena most naturally puts both objects under the evidential qualification, but a reader may wonder whether only the project is uncertain. Rewrite: Segons sembla, la comissió aprovarà tant el projecte com l'esmena, or name the uncertain conjunct explicitly.
Commas, dashes and parentheses
Commas are the neutral boundary. A medial parenthetical normally needs one on each side. Dashes give the interruption more weight; parentheses make it visually secondary.
La proposta, segons la secretaria, compleix tots els requisits.
According to the secretariat, the proposal meets all the requirements. (neutral commas)
La proposta —segons la secretaria— compleix tots els requisits.
The proposal—according to the secretariat—meets all the requirements. (emphatic interruption)
La proposta (segons la secretaria) compleix tots els requisits.
The proposal (according to the secretariat) meets all the requirements. (visually secondary aside)
In Catalan typography, the dash used for an insertion is the guó llarg (—), not the hyphen (-), and there are no internal spaces next to the inserted words. In informal digital writing, dashes and commas vary, but formal prose should mark both boundaries consistently. See punctuation with discourse markers.
Parenthetical, topic or argument?
Not every initial expression is a subject. Segons la directora is a source adjunct; la directora inside it cannot trigger agreement in the host clause. Likewise, A mi, em sembla que... contains a left-dislocated experiencer resumed by em.
❌ A mi, sembla que hauríem d'esperar fins dilluns.
Incorrect in the intended personal reading — the detached experiencer requires the resumptive clitic em.
✅ A mi, em sembla que hauríem d'esperar fins dilluns.
It seems to me that we should wait until Monday.
English “to me” can be an optional framing phrase, but Catalan a mi linked to semblar is represented inside the clause by em. Do not use the looseness of parentheticals as a reason to omit required clitics.
A natural dialogue
—La sala estarà disponible a les sis, oi? —A les sis no, em sembla; segons diu la conserge, l'assaig s'allargarà fins a dos quarts de set. —Doncs avisaré la resta, és clar.
—The room will be available at six, right? —Not at six, I don't think; according to the caretaker, the rehearsal will run until half past six. —Then I'll let everyone else know, of course.
Em sembla softens a correction, segons diu la conserge attributes the schedule, and final és clar presents the response as the expected consequence. Removing them leaves the central propositions intact but strips away interpersonal and evidential meaning.
Short correction task
Punctuate and repair El concert segons sembla començarà tard and A la coordinadora sembla que falta una signatura. Write El concert, segons sembla, començarà tard. For a personal judgment, write A la coordinadora, li sembla que falta una signatura; if the intended meaning is simply “It appears that the coordinator is missing a signature,” write Sembla que a la coordinadora li falta una signatura.
Common Mistakes
❌ La resposta segons sembla arribarà demà.
Incorrect punctuation in careful writing — a medial parenthetical needs two boundaries.
✅ La resposta, segons sembla, arribarà demà.
The answer will apparently arrive tomorrow.
❌ És clar, que no podem obrir sense la clau.
Mixed frames — parenthetical és clar takes no que; the full matrix predicate does.
✅ És clar que no podem obrir sense la clau.
It's clear that we can't open without the key.
❌ La reunió va ser dita que començaria a les nou per la directora.
Incorrect passive modeled on English and malformed complementation.
✅ La directora va dir que la reunió començaria a les nou.
The director said that the meeting would start at nine.
❌ A nosaltres, sembla que cal ajornar-ho.
Incorrect for the intended experiencer reading — the detached phrase must be resumed by ens with semblar.
✅ A nosaltres, ens sembla que cal ajornar-ho.
It seems to us that it is necessary to postpone it.
Key Takeaways
- Parentheticals are removable comments on a complete host clause; complements are selected by a verb and are not removable in the same way.
- Crec, diria, és clar express commitment; segons sembla, pel que sembla, diuen mark evidence or attribution.
- Initial, medial and final positions differ in scope and discourse effect.
- Medial comments require two punctuation boundaries in careful writing.
- A detached argument still needs any clitic licensed by its construction: A mi, em sembla....
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