Anar-se'n means “to leave, go away, depart.” It combines the irregular motion verb anar with two lexicalized weak-pronoun elements: a reflexive-form pronoun and en. Both matter. Me'n vaig means “I'm leaving,” while plain vaig means “I go/am going,” and em vaig without en is not the standard citation pattern for this meaning.
The verbal stem family is the same as for anar: vaig – anava – aní – aniré – vagi – anés – anat. Its real difficulty is the two-pronoun cluster, whose spelling changes before consonants and vowels: me'n vaig but me n'anava; ens en vam anar but ens n'hem anat. English has no comparable clitic, while Spanish irse encourages learners to keep se but omit Catalan en.
Nonfinite forms
| Form | Catalan | English guide |
|---|---|---|
| Infinitive | anar-se'n | to leave / go away |
| Perfect infinitive | haver-se'n anat | to have left |
| Gerund | anant-se'n | leaving / going away |
| Perfect gerund | havent-se'n anat | having left |
| Participle | anat; anada, anats, anades | gone |
Person-specific nonfinite forms replace se: anar-me'n, anar-te'n, anar-nos-en, anar-vos-en. The two pronouns attach to the infinitive and gerund. In finite compound tenses they precede haver: me n'he anat, not he anat-me'n. After haver, anat remains invariable: elles se n'han anat.
Els últims clients van pagar abans d'anar-se'n.
The last customers paid before leaving.
Indicative: simple and periphrastic tenses
| Tense | jo | tu | ell / ella / vostè | nosaltres | vosaltres | ells / elles / vostès |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | me'n vaig | te'n vas | se'n va | ens n'anem | us n'aneu | se'n van |
| Imperfect | me n'anava | te n'anaves | se n'anava | ens n'anàvem | us n'anàveu | se n'anaven |
| Periphrastic past | me'n vaig anar | te'n vas anar | se'n va anar | ens en vam anar | us en vau anar | se'n van anar |
| Simple past | me n'aní | te n'anares | se n'anà | ens n'anàrem | us n'anàreu | se n'anaren |
| Future | me n'aniré | te n'aniràs | se n'anirà | ens n'anirem | us n'anireu | se n'aniran |
| Conditional | me n'aniria | te n'aniries | se n'aniria | ens n'aniríem | us n'aniríeu | se n'anirien |
Before consonantal vaig, vas, va, vam, vau, van, singular clusters contract as me'n, te'n, se'n. With ens and us, both full ens en / us en and reduced ens n' / us n' patterns are standard where phonologically possible; the table uses the clear preconsonantal forms ens en vam, us en vau. Before vowel-initial anava, aní, or aniré, en elides directly against the verb: me n'anava, me n'aní, me n'aniré.
The present often has immediate force: me'n vaig is “I'm leaving / I'm off.” The periphrastic past necessarily repeats a form of anar plus the infinitive: se'n va anar. That sequence is not a mistaken present; the finite va is the past auxiliary. The simple past is (formal/literary) in much Central Catalan and remains more productive in some Valencian usage (regional).
Me'n vaig ara perquè l'últim tren surt a les onze.
I'm leaving now because the last train leaves at eleven.
Quan vivia amb nosaltres, se n'anava de casa abans que ens despertéssim.
When he lived with us, he left home before we woke up.
Ens en vam anar quan van començar a recollir les cadires.
We left when they started putting the chairs away.
Si continua plovent així, me n'aniré abans d'hora.
If it keeps raining like this, I will leave early.
Compound tenses
| Indicative tense | jo | tu | ell / ella / vostè | nosaltres | vosaltres | ells / elles / vostès |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present perfect | me n'he anat | te n'has anat | se n'ha anat | ens n'hem anat | us n'heu anat | se n'han anat |
| Pluperfect | me n'havia anat | te n'havies anat | se n'havia anat | ens n'havíem anat | us n'havíeu anat | se n'havien anat |
| Past anterior | me n'haguí anat | te n'hagueres anat | se n'hagué anat | ens n'haguérem anat | us n'haguéreu anat | se n'hagueren anat |
| Future perfect | me n'hauré anat | te n'hauràs anat | se n'haurà anat | ens n'haurem anat | us n'haureu anat | se n'hauran anat |
| Conditional perfect | me n'hauria anat | te n'hauries anat | se n'hauria anat | ens n'hauríem anat | us n'hauríeu anat | se n'haurien anat |
The cluster precedes the finite auxiliary and n' stands immediately before vowel-initial haver. The past anterior and periphrastic me'n vaig haver anat are (formal/literary) and rare. Catalan always uses haver here: soc anat is not the contemporary compound perfect of anar-se'n.
La directora se n'ha anat a una altra reunió i tornarà a les quatre.
The director has left for another meeting and will return at four.
Quan hi vam arribar, els músics ja se n'havien anat.
When we arrived, the musicians had already left.
Subjunctive and imperative
| Subjunctive tense | jo | tu | ell / ella / vostè | nosaltres | vosaltres | ells / elles / vostès |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | me'n vagi | te'n vagis | se'n vagi | ens n'anem | us n'aneu | se'n vagin |
| Imperfect | me n'anés | te n'anessis | se n'anés | ens n'anéssim | us n'anéssiu | se n'anessin |
| Present perfect | me n'hagi anat | te n'hagis anat | se n'hagi anat | ens n'hàgim anat | us n'hàgiu anat | se n'hagin anat |
| Pluperfect | me n'hagués anat | te n'haguessis anat | se n'hagués anat | ens n'haguéssim anat | us n'haguéssiu anat | se n'haguessin anat |
| Addressee | Affirmative | Negative |
|---|---|---|
| tu | ves-te'n | no te'n vagis |
| vostè | vagi-se'n | no se'n vagi |
| nosaltres | anem-nos-en | no ens n'anem |
| vosaltres | aneu-vos-en | no us n'aneu |
| vostès | vagin-se'n | no se'n vagin |
Affirmative imperatives put the entire cluster after the verb, in line with the general irregular-imperative pattern. The current standard spelling is ves-te'n, without an accent; adding the pronouns does not change the stress of ves. Negative imperatives move the cluster before the subjunctive. The restricted periphrastic subjunctives are me'n vagi anar and me'n vagi haver anat, with corresponding person forms; they are (regional/formal) and not a conversational target.
La mare prefereix que no ens n'anem fins que s'acabi la funció.
Mum would prefer us not to leave until the performance ends.
Ves-te'n a casa i descansa; demà ja en parlarem.
Go home and rest; we will talk about it tomorrow.
Departure, destination, and lexicalized en
Plain anar foregrounds movement toward a destination: anem al mercat. Anar-se'n foregrounds departure from the current scene: ens n'anem. A destination may still follow—me'n vaig a Reus—and an origin can be explicit—se'n va anar de l'oficina. That coexistence shows why the lexicalized en cannot always be interpreted as merely replacing one omitted place phrase.
Se'n va de l'empresa després de dotze anys per començar un projecte propi.
She is leaving the company after twelve years to start her own project.
Nonhuman subjects extend the idea of departure to disappearance or loss: se n'ha anat la llum “the power has gone out,” se n'ha anat l'olor “the smell has gone.” In the idiom anar-se'n la mà, an extra affected-person clitic identifies whose action exceeded the intended degree: se me'n va anar la mà amb el pebre.
Se me'n va anar la mà amb el bitxo i ara la salsa pica massa.
I overdid the chili and now the sauce is too hot.
Other marked extensions include anar-se'n en orris “go to ruin” (informal/idiomatic) and euphemistic se n'ha anat for death, whose interpretation depends heavily on context. For a neutral physical departure, marxar overlaps closely with anar-se'n and avoids the two-clitic paradigm; nevertheless, anar-se'n is extremely frequent and cannot be omitted from educated usage.
(Regional: Balearic) plural present and imperative bases include anam, anau: ens n'anam, us n'anau, anau-vos-en. (Regional: Valencian) present subjunctive has me'n vaja, te'n vages, se'n vaja... and imperfect may use me n'anara.... Central vagi / anés is the baseline. The lexicalized two-pronoun structure is pan-Catalan.
Common Mistakes
❌ Em vaig ara perquè demà matino.
Incorrect for ‘I'm leaving’—standard anar-se'n requires both the reflexive pronoun and en.
✅ Me'n vaig ara perquè demà matino.
I'm leaving now because I have to get up early tomorrow.
❌ En vaig sense acomiadar-me de ningú.
Incorrect—the subject-matching reflexive element is also required.
✅ Me'n vaig sense acomiadar-me de ningú.
I'm leaving without saying goodbye to anyone.
❌ Me'n anava quan em vas trucar.
Incorrect spelling before vowel-initial anava—en must elide directly before the verb.
✅ Me n'anava quan em vas trucar.
I was leaving when you called me.
❌ Ves-te de la cuina, que necessito espai.
Incorrect—the affirmative command of anar-se'n must retain en and preserve stress.
✅ Ves-te'n de la cuina, que necessito espai.
Get out of the kitchen; I need space.
❌ Les convidades se n'han anades després de sopar.
Incorrect—the participle after haver is invariable.
✅ Les convidades se n'han anat després de sopar.
The guests left after dinner.
Key Takeaways
Treat anar-se'n as one lexical unit containing both a reflexive-form pronoun and en. Keep their order fixed, let spelling respond to the following sound, and move the whole cluster before finite verbs but after infinitives, gerunds, and affirmative imperatives. Distinguish destination-focused anar from departure-focused anar-se'n, and never drop en under Spanish or English influence.
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Start learning Catalan →Related Topics
- Conjugation of anarA1 — Complete contemporary conjugation of anar for movement, destinations, the periphrastic past, weak pronouns, and pronominal anar-se'n.
- Locative EnB1 — Use locative en for places of origin introduced by de, and distinguish this productive source use from lexicalized pronominal verbs.
- Combining En with Other PronounsB1 — Form and place me'n, te'n, se'n, ens en, us en, li'n, and els en while preserving the function encoded by en.
- Ordering Two Weak PronounsB1 — Build two-pronoun clusters by grammatical role, with the standard Central order, spelling, and placement before and after the verb.
- Irregular Tu and Vosaltres CommandsA2 — Master the high-frequency Catalan commands digues, fes, ves, vine, tingues, sigues, estigues, duu, and their plural or regional counterparts.
- Weak Pronouns with the Periphrastic PastB1 — Place Catalan weak pronouns before the past auxiliary or, where licensed, attach them to the infinitive.