Conjugation of parlar | Catalan Grammar

Parlar is the regular first-conjugation model for “to speak” or “to talk.” Its forms are predictable, but its complements are not interchangeable: one normally parla amb algú “talks with someone,” parla d'un tema “talks about a topic,” and either parla català or parla en català with a language, depending on whether ability or the language chosen for a particular interaction is meant. English often hides these distinctions behind “speak” and “talk.”

The useful principal parts are parlo – parlava – parlí – parlaré – parli – parlés – parlat. They all preserve parl-; there is no irregular stem and no incoative extension. This regularity makes parlar a reliable model for the broader -ar present paradigm.

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Do not memorize six unrelated present forms. Stem stress gives parlo, parles, parla, parlen; ending stress gives parlem, parleu. The spelling remains stable even though Central pronunciation reduces some unstressed vowels.

Nonfinite forms

Form	Catalan	English guide
Infinitive	parlar	to speak / talk
Perfect infinitive	haver parlat	to have spoken
Gerund	parlant	speaking / talking
Perfect gerund	havent parlat	having spoken
Participle	parlat; parlada, parlats, parlades	spoken

Compound tenses use haver + parlat, with the participle normally invariable: elles han parlat. Agreement belongs to adjectival or passive uses, as in una llengua parlada per poca gent. The gerund parlant is regular and does not license an English-style progressive in every ongoing situation; ordinary Catalan often simply uses the present.

Indicative: simple and periphrastic tenses

Tense	jo	tu	ell / ella / vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres	ells / elles / vostès
Present	parlo	parles	parla	parlem	parleu	parlen
Imperfect	parlava	parlaves	parlava	parlàvem	parlàveu	parlaven
Periphrastic past	vaig parlar	vas parlar	va parlar	vam parlar	vau parlar	van parlar
Simple past	parlí	parlares	parlà	parlàrem	parlàreu	parlaren
Future	parlaré	parlaràs	parlarà	parlarem	parlareu	parlaran
Conditional	parlaria	parlaries	parlaria	parlaríem	parlaríeu	parlarien

The periphrastic past is the neutral conversational perfective past in the Central baseline: vam parlar “we spoke.” The synthetic forms parlí, parlares, parlà... are (formal/literary) in much Central usage, although they remain part of living speech in some Valencian and Balearic areas (regional). Notice the meaningful accents: parla is present or an imperative, parlà is simple past, and parlarà is future.

A la feina parlo català amb els companys i anglès amb alguns clients.

At work I speak Catalan with my colleagues and English with some clients.

Quan érem adolescents, parlàvem durant hores sense mirar el rellotge.

When we were teenagers, we would talk for hours without looking at the clock.

Ahir vam parlar del pressupost, però no vam prendre cap decisió.

Yesterday we discussed the budget, but we did not make any decision.

Demà parlaré amb la propietària abans de signar el contracte.

Tomorrow I will speak with the landlord before signing the contract.

Compound tenses

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

The past anterior is (formal/literary). Its periphrastic counterpart has vaig haver parlat, vas haver parlat, va haver parlat, vam haver parlat, vau haver parlat, van haver parlat and is also restricted. Everyday narration generally uses the pluperfect when one conversation precedes another past event.

Ja n'hem parlat tres vegades i encara no ens hem posat d'acord.

We have already talked about it three times and we still have not reached an agreement.

A final de setmana ja haurem parlat amb totes les famílies.

By the end of the week we will have spoken with all the families.

Subjunctive and imperative

Subjunctive tense	jo	tu	ell / ella / vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres	ells / elles / vostès
Present	parli	parlis	parli	parlem	parleu	parlin
Imperfect	parlés	parlessis	parlés	parléssim	parléssiu	parlessin
Present perfect	hagi parlat	hagis parlat	hagi parlat	hàgim parlat	hàgiu parlat	hagin parlat
Pluperfect	hagués parlat	haguessis parlat	hagués parlat	haguéssim parlat	haguéssiu parlat	haguessin parlat

Restricted periphrastic series	jo	tu	ell / ella / vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres	ells / elles / vostès
Indicative past anterior	vaig haver parlat	vas haver parlat	va haver parlat	vam haver parlat	vau haver parlat	van haver parlat
Subjunctive past	vagi parlar	vagis parlar	vagi parlar	vàgim parlar	vàgiu parlar	vagin parlar
Subjunctive past anterior	vagi haver parlat	vagis haver parlat	vagi haver parlat	vàgim haver parlat	vàgiu haver parlat	vagin haver parlat

The periphrastic subjunctive rows have (regional/formal) distribution. They are reference forms, not the default recommendation for ordinary Central conversation.

Addressee	Affirmative	Negative
tu	parla	no parlis
vostè	parli	no parli
nosaltres	parlem	no parlem
vosaltres	parleu	no parleu
vostès	parlin	no parlin

—Vols que en parli jo amb la directora? —Sí, parla-hi avui mateix, si pots.

—Do you want me to talk to the director about it? —Yes, talk to her today, if you can.

Affirmative imperatives take attached clitics (parla-hi, parleu-ne), while negative imperatives put them before the verb (no hi parlis, no en parleu). The shared forms parlem and parleu can be indicative, subjunctive, or imperative; clause type and intonation identify the value.

Complements, clitics, and regional standards

Use parlar amb for an interlocutor, parlar de for a topic, parlar sobre for an explicitly framed subject, and parlar per for speaking on someone's behalf. A language as an ability is normally a bare direct object: parla amazic. Parlar en català emphasizes the language chosen for a particular speech event. Because amb already introduces the interlocutor, there is no additional Spanish-style personal a.

The clitic en replaces a de-topic: En parlarem demà. Hi can replace another prepositional complement: Amb la Joana, hi parlo sovint. These pronouns are arguments of the sentence, not part of a pronominal headword parlar-se. Reciprocal es parlen means “they speak to each other,” and negative fa anys que no es parlen means that people are no longer on speaking terms. Removing es therefore changes the construction rather than merely making it less emphatic.

Characteristic collocations include parlar clar “speak plainly,” parlar pels descosits (informal) “talk nineteen to the dozen,” parlar per parlar “talk for the sake of talking,” and donar molt a parlar “cause much discussion.”

(Regional: Valencian) first-person present parle and present subjunctive parle, parles... are standard; the imperfect subjunctive may use parlara.... (Regional: Balearic) has parl, parles, parla, parlam, parlau, parlen and imperfect subjunctive parlàs.... (Regional: Northern) first-person parli occurs. These are coherent systems; do not mix a single regional ending into an otherwise Central paradigm.

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For a language, ask whether you mean ability or the chosen medium: parla català describes what someone can speak; avui parlarem en català selects the language for today's interaction.

Common Mistakes

❌ Jo parleixo amb els proveïdors cada dilluns.

Incorrect in the Central standard—parlar is a regular -ar verb, not an incoative verb.

✅ Jo parlo amb els proveïdors cada dilluns.

I talk with the suppliers every Monday.

❌ Vull parlar a la Marta del canvi d'horari.

Incorrect for a two-way conversation—the usual complement is amb la Marta.

✅ Vull parlar amb la Marta del canvi d'horari.

I want to talk with Marta about the schedule change.

❌ Encara no hem parlat el canvi d'horari.

Incorrect—the topic of parlar normally requires de.

✅ Encara no hem parlat del canvi d'horari.

We have not discussed the schedule change yet.

❌ Hem parlades amb les tècniques aquest matí.

Incorrect—the participle after haver is normally invariable.

✅ Hem parlat amb les tècniques aquest matí.

We spoke with the technicians this morning.

❌ No parla-hi ara, que està reunida.

Incorrect—negative imperatives place the weak pronoun before the verb.

✅ No hi parlis ara, que està reunida.

Do not talk to her now; she is in a meeting.

Key Takeaways

Parlar is fully regular: keep parl- and never add -eix-. Use amb for an interlocutor and de for a topic; replace those complements with hi and en respectively. Treat regional parle and parl as complete regional paradigms, not as isolated alternatives to Central parlo.

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