Conjugation of dur | Catalan Grammar

Dur means “to carry, bring/take, wear,” and it appears in extensions meaning “lead,” “bear an inscription,” or “have been doing something for a length of time.” It is not simply a shorter spelling of durar: La reunió dura una hora means “The meeting lasts an hour,” whereas Duc una hora esperant means “I have been waiting for an hour.” Its principal-part family is duc – duia – duguí – duré – dugui – dut.

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Three stems divide the work: present du-/duc-, velar dugu- in the simple past and subjunctive, and dur- in the infinitive, future, and conditional. The irregular participle is the very short dut.

Nonfinite forms

Form	Catalan	English guide
Infinitive	dur	to carry; take; wear
Perfect infinitive	haver dut	to have carried
Gerund	duent	carrying; wearing
Perfect gerund	havent dut	having carried
Participle	dut; duta, duts, dutes	carried; worn

Neither durint nor duguent is the general-standard gerund. In a perfect tense, dut does not agree with the direct object or subject: les caixes que hem dut. It agrees as a genuine adjective: una jaqueta molt duta “a much-worn jacket.” (Regional: Balearic) duit, duita, duits, duites is standard.

Indicative: simple and periphrastic tenses

Tense	jo	tu	ell / ella / vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres	ells / elles / vostès
Present	duc	duus / dus	duu / du	duem	dueu	duen
Imperfect	duia	duies	duia	dúiem	dúieu	duien
Periphrastic past	vaig dur	vas dur	va dur	vam dur	vau dur	van dur
Simple past	duguí	dugueres	dugué	duguérem	duguéreu	dugueren
Future	duré	duràs	durà	durem	dureu	duran
Conditional	duria	duries	duria	duríem	duríeu	durien

Both duus/duu and dus/du are accepted standard forms. The long forms transparently show the vowel sequence; the shorter forms are especially prominent in Valencian usage (regional). Do not extend the first-person -c to other present cells: ducs and ducen are wrong. The simple past is mainly (formal/literary) in much Central Catalan; speech normally uses the periphrastic past.

Duc una ampolla d'aigua reutilitzable a la motxilla cada dia.

I carry a reusable bottle of water in my backpack every day.

La directora duu unes ulleres vermelles que es veuen de lluny.

The head teacher wears red glasses that you can see from far away.

Demà durem les cadires plegables al local de l'associació.

Tomorrow we'll take the folding chairs to the association's premises.

Indicative: compound tenses

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

All perfects use haver. The past anterior is chiefly (formal/literary). Unlike English “have worn,” haver dut is structurally the same whether dur means carry, wear, or lead.

He dut l'ordinador al servei tècnic perquè s'apagava tot sol.

I've taken the computer to technical support because it kept switching itself off.

Si ho haguéssim sabut, hauríem dut més mantes per als convidats.

If we'd known, we would have brought more blankets for the guests.

Subjunctive and restricted periphrastic forms

Tense	jo	tu	ell / ella / vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres	ells / elles / vostès
Present	dugui	duguis	dugui	duguem	dugueu	duguin
Imperfect	dugués	duguessis	dugués	duguéssim	duguéssiu	duguessin
Present perfect	hagi dut	hagis dut	hagi dut	hàgim dut	hàgiu dut	hagin dut
Pluperfect	hagués dut	haguessis dut	hagués dut	haguéssim dut	haguéssiu dut	haguessin dut

The velar consonant runs throughout both simple subjunctives. A form such as dui wrongly regularizes the present from duia; the standard Central form is dugui. (Regional: Valencian) also has duga, dugues, duga... and an imperfect in -ra, duguera.... See velar stems for the larger pattern.

Cal que dugueu el document original i una còpia signada.

You need to bring the original document and a signed copy.

Dubtava que haguessin dut prou menjar per a tota l'excursió.

I doubted they had brought enough food for the whole outing.

For completeness, the periphrastic past anterior is vaig/vas/va/vam/vau/van haver dut. The periphrastic subjunctive past is vagi/vagis/vagi/vàgim/vàgiu/vagin dur; its anterior adds haver dut. These are (regional/formal), not default conversational forms.

Imperative and clitic combinations

Addressee	Affirmative	Negative
tu	duu / du	no duguis
vostè	dugui	no dugui
nosaltres	duguem	no duguem
vosaltres	dueu	no dugueu
vostès	duguin	no duguin

Because dur is normally transitive, object clitics are frequent. They precede finite forms (me'l duràs?) and negative commands (no me'l duguis), but follow an affirmative command (duu-me'l / du-me'l). The verb itself is not pronominal: the pronouns stand for its recipient and object.

Duu-me-la demà ben protegida, que aquesta làmina és molt fràgil.

Bring it to me tomorrow well protected; this print is very fragile.

Core meanings and constructions

With a physical object, dur covers carrying or transporting; the direction comes from context or an explicit complement. With clothing and accessories, it means “wear.” It can also mean “lead to”: Aquest corriol duu al far. A written object can “bear” information: La placa duu el nom de totes les víctimes.

Aquest passadís duu directament a la sala de lectura.

This corridor leads directly to the reading room.

La capsa duia una etiqueta amb una adreça que ja no existeix.

The box bore a label with an address that no longer exists.

The contemporary duration construction is dur + time expression + gerund, adjective, or prepositional complement: Duc tres mesos treballant aquí; Duem una hora a la cua. It measures how long an ongoing situation has held. The IEC also notes that this pattern is newer and less traditional than fer + time expression + que: Fa tres mesos que treballo aquí; Fa una hora que som a la cua. The lexical verb durar instead makes the event the subject: La reforma durarà tres mesos. English “last” therefore cannot always be translated with dur.

Duem quaranta minuts esperant l'autobús i encara no n'ha passat cap.

We've been waiting for the bus for forty minutes, and not one has come yet.

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For elapsed time, contrast the perspectives: La classe dura dues hores describes the class's length; Duem dues hores fent classe measures the participants' ongoing involvement. The more traditional equivalent is Fa dues hores que fem classe.

Regional standards and lexical competition

Dur is especially robust in Balearic and Valencian usage, while many Central speakers often choose portar in overlapping meanings. (Regional: Balearic) has duim, duis and participle duit. (Regional: Valencian) favors short dus, du and admits duga.... These are standard systems. In cross-regional writing, duc, duus/duu, duem, dueu, duen and dut provide a broadly recognizable baseline.

Common Mistakes

❌ Demà duriré els llibres que em vas deixar.

Incorrect—the future stem is dur-, not durir- or the full invented infinitive durir.

✅ Demà duré els llibres que em vas deixar a la biblioteca.

Tomorrow I'll take the books you lent me to the library.

❌ Vull que dus la camisa blava al sopar.

Incorrect after vull que—the required subjunctive uses the velar stem.

✅ Vull que duguis la camisa blava al sopar de dissabte.

I want you to wear the blue shirt to Saturday's dinner.

❌ La conferència duu noranta minuts.

Incorrect if the intended meaning is simply ‘lasts’; use durar.

✅ La conferència dura noranta minuts, amb una pausa breu al mig.

The lecture lasts ninety minutes, with a short break halfway through.

❌ No duguis-me'l demà, que no seré a casa.

Incorrect—weak pronouns precede a negative imperative.

✅ No me'l duguis demà, que no seré a casa.

Don't bring it to me tomorrow, because I won't be at home.

Key Takeaways

Anchor dur in duc, duia, duguí, duré, dugui, and dut. Treat it as a normally transitive verb whose clitics represent real arguments. Distinguish “carry/wear” and the elapsed-time construction from lexical durar “last,” and recognize duus/duu beside standard short dus/du without mixing unrelated regional cells.

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