Conjugation of obtenir | Catalan Grammar

Obtenir means “to obtain, get, secure.” It is especially natural with results, permission, access, qualifications, information, and substances produced by a process. In relaxed conversation, aconseguir often emphasizes the effort or success involved, while obtenir is neutral-to-formal and frequent in professional, administrative, scientific, and academic language.

The verb inherits the irregularities of tenir. Learn the principal parts obtinc – obtingué – obtingui – obtindré – obtingut: obtinc anchors the present, obtingu- the synthetic past and subjunctive, obtindr- the future and conditional, and obtingut every compound tense. It is neither incoative nor defective.

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The prefix does not regularize the base verb. If tenir has tinc, tingui, tindré, tingut, then obtenir has obtinc, obtingui, obtindré, obtingut.

Nonfinite forms

Form	Catalan	English guide
Infinitive	obtenir	to obtain
Perfect infinitive	haver obtingut	to have obtained
Gerund	obtenint	obtaining
Perfect gerund	havent obtingut	having obtained
Participle	obtingut; obtinguda, obtinguts, obtingudes	obtained

The gerund is obtenint, not obtinguent. The velar stem does appear in the irregular participle obtingut. After haver, that participle is normally invariable: les dades que hem obtingut. Agreeing forms are adjectival or passive: una mostra obtinguda al laboratori.

Indicative: simple and periphrastic tenses

Tense	jo	tu	ell / ella / vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres	ells / elles / vostès
Present	obtinc	obtens	obté	obtenim	obteniu	obtenen
Imperfect	obtenia	obtenies	obtenia	obteníem	obteníeu	obtenien
Periphrastic past	vaig obtenir	vas obtenir	va obtenir	vam obtenir	vau obtenir	van obtenir
Simple past	obtinguí	obtingueres	obtingué	obtinguérem	obtinguéreu	obtingueren
Future	obtindré	obtindràs	obtindrà	obtindrem	obtindreu	obtindran
Conditional	obtindria	obtindries	obtindria	obtindríem	obtindríeu	obtindrien

Present obté requires the acute accent: without it, the written stress would be wrong. There is no incoative extension, so obteneixo is impossible. Future and conditional shorten the inherited stem to obtindr- rather than keeping obtenir-. Everyday completed narration normally uses the periphrastic past; obtinguí... is commonest in (formal/literary) prose, though the simple past remains conversational in parts of the Valencian and Balearic areas (regional).

Amb aquesta tècnica obtenim resultats fiables en menys de dues hores.

With this technique, we obtain reliable results in under two hours.

Finalment vaig obtenir el permís d'obres que faltava.

I finally obtained the missing building permit.

Si presentes tota la documentació, obtindràs una resposta abans de divendres.

If you submit all the documentation, you will receive an answer before Friday.

Indicative compound tenses

All compound tenses use haver + obtingut. Obtenir itself is never the perfect auxiliary.

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

The past anterior is chiefly (formal/literary). Its periphrastic counterpart is vaig/vas/va/vam/vau/van haver obtingut and is also restricted in ordinary conversation.

L'equip ha obtingut finançament europeu per restaurar el molí.

The team has secured European funding to restore the mill.

Sense aquella recomanació, no hauria obtingut la plaça.

Without that recommendation, she would not have obtained the position.

Subjunctive and restricted periphrastic forms

Tense	jo	tu	ell / ella / vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres	ells / elles / vostès
Present	obtingui	obtinguis	obtingui	obtinguem	obtingueu	obtinguin
Imperfect	obtingués	obtinguessis	obtingués	obtinguéssim	obtinguéssiu	obtinguessin
Present perfect	hagi obtingut	hagis obtingut	hagi obtingut	hàgim obtingut	hàgiu obtingut	hagin obtingut
Pluperfect	hagués obtingut	haguessis obtingut	hagués obtingut	haguéssim obtingut	haguéssiu obtingut	haguessin obtingut

Present and imperfect subjunctive consistently expose obtingu-. Three restricted periphrastic rows complete the reference:

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

The two subjunctive series are (very rare/formal), not the everyday replacement for obtingués or hagués obtingut.

Cal que obtingueu l'autorització abans d'entrar a la zona protegida.

You must obtain authorization before entering the protected area.

Dubtava que haguessin obtingut les dades amb el consentiment dels participants.

She doubted that they had obtained the data with the participants' consent.

Imperative, objects, and pronominal uses

Addressee	Affirmative	Negative
tu	obtén / obtingues	no obtinguis
vostè	obtingui	no obtingui
nosaltres	obtinguem	no obtinguem
vosaltres	obteniu / obtingueu	no obtingueu
vostès	obtinguin	no obtinguin

Commands are less frequent than declarative uses, but the forms are productive. Weak pronouns attach to an affirmative command and precede a negative one: obtén-lo / no l'obtinguis. As a transitive verb, obtenir takes the thing obtained directly. A source can be introduced by de; a means can be introduced by amb, per or mitjançant, depending on meaning. The noun phrase accés a retains the preposition required by accés: obtenir accés a l'arxiu.

—Quantes mostres útils n'heu obtingut? —N'hem obtingut cinc de les vuit inicials.

—How many usable samples did you obtain? —We obtained five of the original eight.

Obtén-ne una còpia segellada i guarda-la amb l'expedient.

Obtain a stamped copy of it and keep it with the case file.

Nonpronominal obtenir is the citation form. Obtenir-se is legitimate in reflexive or passive-like constructions: Aquest pigment s'obté de la magrana means that the pigment is obtained from pomegranate. That se changes the syntactic perspective; it cannot be added freely to mean “get something for oneself.”

The contrast with nearby verbs is semantic. Aconseguir foregrounds success after effort (va aconseguir convèncer-los); rebre presents something as coming to the recipient (va rebre una carta); obtenir focuses on acquisition or a result (va obtenir una beca). Characteristic collocations include obtenir resultats, obtenir permís, obtenir accés, obtenir informació, obtenir una titulació, and obtenir beneficis.

Aquest oli essencial s'obté de la pell de la taronja per destil·lació.

This essential oil is obtained from orange peel by distillation.

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Use obtenir when the result or acquired item is central; use aconseguir when overcoming difficulty is central. English “get” covers both, so context—not one fixed translation—decides.

(Regional: Valencian / Northwestern) obtindre is a standard infinitive and strongly established. (Regional: Valencian) present subjunctive obtinga, obtingues, obtinga, obtinguem, obtingueu, obtinguen and imperfect obtinguera... are standard; compound auxiliaries also have Valencian variants such as haja. Central obtenir / obtingui / obtingués is the primary baseline here.

Common Mistakes

❌ L'empresa obteneix beneficis des del primer trimestre.

Incorrect—obtenir is not incoative and never takes -eix-.

✅ L'empresa obté beneficis des del primer trimestre.

The company has been making a profit since the first quarter.

❌ Hem obtenit una resposta definitiva del comitè.

Incorrect—the participle is obtingut, not obtenit.

✅ Hem obtingut una resposta definitiva del comitè.

We have obtained a definitive answer from the committee.

❌ La becària vol que obtenim accés de la base de dades.

Incorrect—after vol que, use the subjunctive obtinguem, and the noun accés governs a for its destination.

✅ La becària vol que obtinguem accés a la base de dades.

The intern wants us to gain access to the database.

❌ M'he obtingut una beca per estudiar a l'estranger.

Incorrect—ordinary obtenir is not freely pronominal.

✅ He obtingut una beca per estudiar a l'estranger.

I have obtained a scholarship to study abroad.

❌ Demà obteniré els resultats de l'analítica.

Incorrect—the future uses the shortened irregular stem obtindr-.

✅ Demà obtindré els resultats de l'analítica.

Tomorrow I'll receive the lab-test results.

Key Takeaways

Organize the paradigm around obtinc, obtingu-, obtindr- and obtingut. Use haver in compound tenses and keep the participle invariable there. Obtenir is normally transitive and nonpronominal; obtenir-se belongs to genuinely reflexive or passive-like constructions. Remember obtenir X de Y for a source and obtenir accés a X for access.

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