Conjugation of cabre | Catalan Grammar

Cabre means “to fit, have room”: the item that fits is the grammatical subject, and the container or available space is commonly introduced by a or en/dins de according to the construction. The standard infinitive caber also exists, but cabre is the general formal citation form most learners will encounter.

Its principal parts are cabo – cabia – cabí – cabré – càpiga – cabut in the Central baseline. The unexpected -p- in the present subjunctive and the participle cabut must be learned; an English speaker cannot infer them from “fit.” The -eix- extension belongs to certain third-conjugation verbs, not to cabre: cabeixo is not a Catalan form. Spatial hi is exceptionally frequent because speakers often leave the container unspoken: A l'ascensor no hi cabem tots.

The full distribution of that locative clitic is explained on spatial hi.

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Associate three compact pieces: present cabo/cap, subjunctive càpiga, and participle cabut. The rest is largely transparent, including the future cabr-.

Nonfinite forms

Form	Catalan	English guide
Infinitive	cabre / caber	to fit
Perfect infinitive	haver cabut	to have fit
Gerund	cabent	fitting
Perfect gerund	havent cabut	having fit
Participle	cabut; cabuda, cabuts, cabudes	fit

In a compound tense, cabut is invariable: les caixes han cabut al maleter. Agreement belongs to adjectival uses, which are uncommon with this verb. Cabigut and caput are not standard participles.

Indicative: simple and periphrastic tenses

Tense	jo	tu	ell / ella / vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres	ells / elles / vostès
Present	cabo	caps	cap	cabem	cabeu	caben
Imperfect	cabia	cabies	cabia	cabíem	cabíeu	cabien
Periphrastic past	vaig cabre	vas cabre	va cabre	vam cabre	vau cabre	van cabre
Simple past	cabí	caberes	cabé	cabérem	cabéreu	caberen
Future	cabré	cabràs	cabrà	cabrem	cabreu	cabran
Conditional	cabria	cabries	cabria	cabríem	cabríeu	cabrien

Central standard cabo contrasts with first-person cap in Valencian, Balearic, Northwestern, and Northern Catalan (regional). The second and third persons are caps and cap everywhere in the displayed general systems, so context and the stated subject prevent confusion. The verb form cap is also written like the noun cap “head” and the preposition cap a “toward”; syntax, not spelling, identifies it. Future and conditional use cabr-; do not rebuild them as caberé.

Cabo just darrere del seient, però hauré d'arronsar les cames.

I fit just behind the seat, but I'll have to pull my legs in.

En aquest prestatge hi caben dotze carpetes grosses.

Twelve large folders fit on this shelf.

Abans cabíem tots a la cuina; ara els nens ja són massa grans.

We all used to fit in the kitchen; now the children are too big.

Al final vam cabre en un sol taxi perquè vam plegar el cotxet.

In the end we fit into one taxi because we folded the pushchair.

Indicative compounds and subjunctive

Indicative tense	jo	tu	ell / ella / vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres	ells / elles / vostès
Present perfect	he cabut	has cabut	ha cabut	hem cabut	heu cabut	han cabut
Pluperfect	havia cabut	havies cabut	havia cabut	havíem cabut	havíeu cabut	havien cabut
Past anterior	haguí cabut	hagueres cabut	hagué cabut	haguérem cabut	haguéreu cabut	hagueren cabut
Future perfect	hauré cabut	hauràs cabut	haurà cabut	haurem cabut	haureu cabut	hauran cabut
Conditional perfect	hauria cabut	hauries cabut	hauria cabut	hauríem cabut	hauríeu cabut	haurien cabut

Subjunctive tense	jo	tu	ell / ella / vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres	ells / elles / vostès
Present	càpiga	càpigues	càpiga	capiguem	capigueu	càpiguen
Imperfect	cabés	cabessis	cabés	cabéssim	cabéssiu	cabessin
Present perfect	hagi cabut	hagis cabut	hagi cabut	hàgim cabut	hàgiu cabut	hagin cabut
Pluperfect	hagués cabut	haguessis cabut	hagués cabut	haguéssim cabut	haguéssiu cabut	haguessin cabut

The accents in càpiga, càpigues, and càpiguen mark antepenultimate stress; capiguem and capigueu are naturally final-stressed and need none. (Regional: Valencian) also admits càpia, càpies, càpia, capiem, capieu, càpien, with an imperfect in cabera.... General Central uses the forms in the main table.

Dubto que aquesta capsa càpiga al compartiment superior.

I doubt this box will fit in the overhead compartment.

Si hi cabessin quatre persones més, llogaríem només una furgoneta.

If four more people fit in there, we'd rent only one van.

No m'esperava que tots els llibres haguessin cabut en dues caixes.

I didn't expect all the books to have fit into two boxes.

These rows complete the reference; the subjunctive periphrases are (regional/formal).

Periphrastic tense	jo	tu	ell / ella / vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres	ells / elles / vostès
Indicative past anterior	vaig haver cabut	vas haver cabut	va haver cabut	vam haver cabut	vau haver cabut	van haver cabut
Subjunctive past	vagi cabre	vagis cabre	vagi cabre	vàgim cabre	vàgiu cabre	vagin cabre
Subjunctive past anterior	vagi haver cabut	vagis haver cabut	vagi haver cabut	vàgim haver cabut	vàgiu haver cabut	vagin haver cabut

Imperative, valency, and spatial hi

Addressee	Affirmative	Negative
tu	cap	no càpigues
vostè	càpiga	no càpiga
nosaltres	capiguem	no capiguem
vosaltres	cabeu	no capigueu
vostès	càpiguen	no càpiguen

Commands are grammatically possible but pragmatically unusual: people rarely order another person “to fit.” More useful are third-person assertions and subjunctives. Cabre is intransitive: el moble is the subject in El moble no cap per la porta. To express causing an object to fit, use fer cabre or the transitive verb encabir, not a direct object after cabre.

Fes-hi cabre també les mantes; aquesta nit refrescarà.

Make room for the blankets in there too; it will get chilly tonight.

The clitic hi resumes a location or capacity frame: A la sala, hi caben vuitanta persones. When the location is stated first, colloquial and standard Catalan naturally retains hi. English has no corresponding pronoun and may simply say “eighty people fit,” so omitting hi is a predictable transfer error.

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When the container has already been mentioned, Catalan normally keeps it alive with hi: A la capsa no hi cap. English simply omits “there,” so this clitic needs deliberate practice.

—Al maleter hi cabrà la cadira de rodes? —Sí, si traiem la safata.

—Will the wheelchair fit in the boot? —Yes, if we remove the parcel shelf.

Frequent expressions include no cabre-hi ni una agulla for an extremely crowded place and no cabre al cap for something inconceivable. Plain cabre is not freely pronominal: cabre's does not mean “squeeze oneself in.” Use encabir-se, ficar-se or an ordinary hi cabre construction according to the intended meaning.

A la plaça no hi cabia ni una agulla quan va començar el concert.

The square was packed when the concert began.

No em cap al cap que hagin aprovat el projecte sense consultar el veïnat.

I can't get my head around their approving the project without consulting local residents.

Common Mistakes

❌ Demà caberem tots al menjador nou.

Incorrect—the future uses the contracted stem cabr-.

✅ Demà cabrem tots al menjador nou.

Tomorrow we'll all fit in the new dining room.

❌ No crec que la bicicleta cap a l'ascensor.

Incorrect—a nonasserted possibility requires the present subjunctive càpiga.

✅ No crec que la bicicleta càpiga a l'ascensor.

I don't think the bicycle fits in the lift.

❌ Les maletes no han cabigut al cotxe.

Incorrect—the participle is cabut.

✅ Les maletes no han cabut al cotxe.

The suitcases haven't fit in the car.

❌ Aquesta caixa no la cabo al prestatge.

Incorrect—cabre is intransitive; use fer cabre or encabir for a caused placement.

✅ No puc fer cabre aquesta caixa al prestatge.

I can't fit this box onto the shelf.

❌ A la sala caben cent persones assegudes.

Unnatural transfer when the fronted location is resumed—the spatial clitic hi is normally present.

✅ A la sala hi caben cent persones assegudes.

The hall seats one hundred people.

Key Takeaways

Organize the verb around cabo/cap, cabia, cabí, cabré, càpiga, and cabut. Treat the thing that fits as the subject, use fer cabre or encabir for causation, and retain spatial hi when its location is understood or fronted.

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