The Catalan apostrophe marks the loss of an unstressed vowel at a word boundary: el amic → l'amic, de hora → d'hora, em agrada → m'agrada. It is not a possessive marker like English 's, and it never has spaces around it.
Three groups use it productively: singular articles, the preposition de, and certain weak pronouns. The general logic is elision before or after a vowel, but pronunciation and morphology create a small set of important exceptions.
Definite articles: el and la
Singular el and la normally become l' before a vowel or silent h: l'avi, l'arbre, l'home; l'àvia, l'eina, l'hora. Plural els and les do not apostrophize.
| Context | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| masculine + vowel/silent h | l' | l'amic, l'hivern |
| feminine + most vowels/silent h | l' | l'àvia, l'ombra, l'habitació |
| feminine + unstressed i/u | la | la infermera, la història, la universitat |
| plural | els/les | els amics, les hores |
L'avi espera l'autobús davant de l'hospital.
Grandfather is waiting for the bus in front of the hospital.
La infermera ha telefonat a la universitat.
The nurse has called the university.
The feminine exception depends on stress, not just the first letter. Write l'Índia, l'única, and l'última because initial í/ú is stressed, but la idea, la Immaculada, la història, and la humanitat because initial i/u is unstressed. The masculine article has no equivalent exception: l'Ignasi, l'univers.
L'única visita d'avui és a la una.
Today's only visit is at one o'clock.
Lexical and phonological exceptions
The fixed forms la una “one o'clock,” la ira, la host, and la Haia keep the full article. By contrast, the current IEC spelling apostrophizes negative a- formations: l'asimetria, l'anormalitat, l'asèpsia. Older texts may show them without apostrophe.
Do not apostrophize before initial glide [j] or iogurt, el iode, la hiena, de iogurt. The initial written vowel is functioning like a consonant. An aspirated *h in an unadapted loan likewise blocks elision: el hàmster, de Hollywood. Silent Catalan h does not: l'hivern, d'hora.
El iogurt casolà porta mel i fruita.
The homemade yogurt contains honey and fruit.
El documental parla de Hollywood i de la Haia.
The documentary is about Hollywood and The Hague.
These are genuine lexical or phonological limits; there is no value in pretending that “vowel letter means apostrophe” is sufficient.
The preposition de
De becomes d' before a vowel or silent h: d'aigua, d'oli, d'hora, d'història, d'universitat. Unlike feminine la, it apostrophizes before unstressed i/u: compare la història with d'història, and la universitat with d'universitat.
És una professora d'història d'una universitat pública.
She's a history professor at a public university.
The same blockers remain: de iogurt begins with [j], de Hollywood has aspirated h, and letter names take full de: de a, de hac. This makes the family comparison more useful than memorizing isolated phrases.
| Noun | With article | With de |
|---|---|---|
| amic | l'amic | d'un amic |
| història | la història | d'història |
| universitat | la universitat | d'universitat |
| iogurt | el iogurt | de iogurt |
Preposed weak pronouns
Before a vowel-initial verb, em, et, es, el/la, and en have elided forms m', t', s', l', n': m'agrada, t'escolta, s'aixeca, l'hem vist, n'agafa. The pronouns ens, us, els, les, li, hi, and ho do not take these simple elided forms.
M'agrada perquè t'escolta quan li parles.
I like him because he listens to you when you speak to him.
L'hem convidada, però la seva germana la ignora completament.
We've invited her, but her sister completely ignores her.
The second example shows the feminine-pronoun exception: la remains before unstressed i/u in la ignora, la utilitza, la humilia. Context tells you whether l' represents masculine or feminine elsewhere: l'he vist versus l'he vista.
With two pronouns, place a single apostrophe as far to the right as possible without changing the required forms: me'n vaig, te l'envio, se n'oblida, se'ls emporta. If the following verb begins with a vowel, the break may shift: me'l dona but me l'obre; te'l compraré but te l'enviaré.
Me'l dona avui, però me l'enviarà demà.
He gives it to me today, but he'll send it to me tomorrow.
Postposed weak pronouns
After an infinitive, gerund, or affirmative imperative, pronouns attach to the verb. A hyphen joins a full form after a consonant or semivocal u: mirar-me, digues-li, porteu-lo. After another vowel, reduced forms take a leading apostrophe: mira'm, renta't, posi's, porta'l, compra'n, explica'ns.
Explica'm què ha passat i ensenya'm el missatge.
Tell me what happened and show me the message.
Recorda-te'n i porta'ls demà.
Remember it and bring them tomorrow.
In combinations, the apostrophe again goes as far right as possible: dona-me'l, emporta-te'n, feu-m'ho. The position therefore changes the visible form: me'l dona before the verb, but dona-me'l after it. See Postverbal Pronouns for the complete paradigm.
Editing exercise
Correct the message La amiga de l Irene ma dit que porti el informe i que l enviï avui. Decide which spaces disappear, where the apostrophe belongs, and where feminine la must remain full.
❌ La amiga de l Irene m' a dit que porti l' informe i que l' enviï avui.
Incorrect — the apostrophes are missing or separated by spaces.
✅ L'amiga de la Irene m'ha dit que porti l'informe i que l'enviï avui.
Irene's friend told me to bring the report and send it today.
English possession is expressed here by de la Irene, not an English-style la Irene's amiga. The correct sentence also preserves ï in enviï; an apostrophe cannot replace an accent or diaeresis, just as a period cannot replace the middle dot in col·legi.
Common Mistakes
1. Apostrophizing feminine la before unstressed i.
❌ L'història de l'Immaculada és interessant.
Incorrect — història and Immaculada begin with unstressed i.
✅ La història de la Immaculada és interessant.
Immaculada's story is interesting.
2. Extending that exception to de.
❌ És professora de història a la universitat.
Incorrect — de apostrophizes before silent h.
✅ És professora d'història a la universitat.
She's a history professor at the university.
3. Adding spaces around an apostrophe.
❌ L 'Anna m' ha telefonat d' hora.
Incorrect — the apostrophe directly joins the remaining forms.
✅ L'Anna m'ha telefonat d'hora.
Anna called me early.
4. Using the preverbal shape after the verb.
❌ Dona me'l quan acabis.
Incorrect — postverbal pronouns attach with a hyphen and internal apostrophe.
✅ Dona-me'l quan acabis.
Give it to me when you're finished.
Key Takeaways
Apostrophes mark elided vowels in articles, de, and weak pronouns. Feminine la stays full before unstressed i/u, while de still apostrophizes. Initial glides, aspirated h, and a few lexical items block elision. With pronoun clusters, put the apostrophe as far right as the forms allow, and distinguish separate preverbal pronouns from attached postverbal ones. Never add spaces around the sign.
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Start learning Catalan →Related Topics
- Article Elision: l’A1 — Form l' from el or la before vowels and silent h, while preserving la in the contexts that block elision.
- 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.
- Hyphens in Pronouns, Compounds, and NumbersB1 — Apply current Catalan hyphen rules to postverbal pronouns, lexical compounds, coordinated prefixes, and written numbers.
- Apostrophe and Elision ErrorsA2 — Fix misplaced Catalan apostrophes in articles, de, and weak pronouns, including glide exceptions and spacing errors.