Conjugation of perdre | Catalan Grammar

Perdre means “to lose,” but it also covers several ideas for which English chooses other verbs: perdre el tren “miss the train,” perdre el temps “waste time,” perdre una oportunitat “miss an opportunity,” and perdre pes “lose weight.” Pronominal perdre's means “get lost,” “lose oneself,” or, with an event or opportunity, “miss out on.”

Morphologically, perdre is less irregular than its English translation suggests. Its useful principal parts are perdo – perdia – perdí – perdré – perdi – perdés – perdut. The main surprises are the compressed future stem perdr- and the participle perdut; there is no incoative extension and no stem diphthong like Spanish perder → pierdo. The wider second-conjugation pattern appears on the regular -er/-re page.

💡

Keep the family perdo – perdré – perdi – perdut together. It predicts the present, future, subjunctive, imperative, and every compound tense without importing Spanish forms such as pierdo.

Nonfinite forms

Form	Plain verb	Pronominal verb
Infinitive	perdre	perdre's
Perfect infinitive	haver perdut	haver-se perdut
Gerund	perdent	perdent-se
Perfect gerund	havent perdut	havent-se perdut
Participle	perdut; perduda, perduts, perdudes	—

Compound tenses use haver + perdut. After haver, the participle is normally invariable: les claus que he perdut, not perdudes. It agrees as an adjective or in a passive construction: una maleta perduda; les dades perdudes. With perdre's, the clitic comes before a finite auxiliary (m'he perdut) but attaches to an infinitive or gerund (no vull perdre'm; estic perdent-me).

Indicative: simple and periphrastic tenses

Tense	jo	tu	ell / ella / vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres	ells / elles / vostès
Present	perdo	perds	perd	perdem	perdeu	perden
Imperfect	perdia	perdies	perdia	perdíem	perdíeu	perdien
Periphrastic past	vaig perdre	vas perdre	va perdre	vam perdre	vau perdre	van perdre
Simple past	perdí	perderes	perdé	perdérem	perdéreu	perderen
Future	perdré	perdràs	perdrà	perdrem	perdreu	perdran
Conditional	perdria	perdries	perdria	perdríem	perdríeu	perdrien

The infinitive-final e disappears before the future and conditional endings: perdre + é → perdré. Present perd is both third-person singular indicative and the familiar affirmative command; position and intonation identify the function. Present perdeu and future perdreu differ only by the internal r and stress pattern, so careful spelling matters.

The periphrastic past is the neutral conversational completed past. The simple past is (formal/literary) in much Central Catalan, although it remains productive in some Valencian and Balearic speech (regional).

Sempre perdo els auriculars just quan he de sortir de casa.

I always lose my earphones just when I need to leave home.

De petits, perdíem la noció del temps jugant al carrer.

As children, we used to lose track of time playing in the street.

Ahir vam perdre l'últim autobús i vam tornar a peu.

Yesterday we missed the last bus and walked home.

Si no deseu el document ara, perdreu tots els canvis.

If you don't save the document now, you'll lose all the changes.

Indicative compound tenses

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

The past anterior is mainly (formal/literary). Its periphrastic equivalent is vaig haver perdut, vas haver perdut, va haver perdut, vam haver perdut, vau haver perdut, van haver perdut. A weak pronoun precedes the finite auxiliary: He perdut el rebut → L'he perdut.

No trobo la targeta; em sembla que l'he perdut al mercat.

I can't find the card; I think I lost it at the market.

Sense el mapa, ens hauríem perdut entre els camins del bosc.

Without the map, we would have got lost among the forest paths.

Subjunctive: simple and compound

Tense	jo	tu	ell / ella / vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres	ells / elles / vostès
Present	perdi	perdis	perdi	perdem	perdeu	perdin
Imperfect	perdés	perdessis	perdés	perdéssim	perdéssiu	perdessin
Present perfect	hagi perdut	hagis perdut	hagi perdut	hàgim perdut	hàgiu perdut	hagin perdut
Pluperfect	hagués perdut	haguessis perdut	hagués perdut	haguéssim perdut	haguéssiu perdut	haguessin perdut

There is no -eix- in this paradigm: perdeixi is not a form of perdre. English often uses an infinitive after an object in “I don't want you to miss it,” whereas Catalan uses que plus a finite subjunctive: No vull que t'ho perdis.

Restricted periphrastic series	jo	tu	ell / ella / vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres	ells / elles / vostès
Subjunctive past	vagi perdre	vagis perdre	vagi perdre	vàgim perdre	vàgiu perdre	vagin perdre
Subjunctive past anterior	vagi haver perdut	vagis haver perdut	vagi haver perdut	vàgim haver perdut	vàgiu haver perdut	vagin haver perdut

These periphrastic subjunctive forms have restricted (regional/formal) use. They complete the paradigm but are not necessary for ordinary Central conversation.

Em sap greu que hàgiu perdut tanta estona fent cua.

I'm sorry you have wasted so much time queuing.

Si perdéssim aquest client, hauríem de revisar tot el pressupost.

If we lost this client, we would have to revise the entire budget.

Imperative

Addressee	Affirmative	Negative
tu	perd	no perdis
vostè	perdi	no perdi
nosaltres	perdem	no perdem
vosaltres	perdeu	no perdeu
vostès	perdin	no perdin

Affirmative commands attach weak pronouns (perd-lo, perd-te, perdeu-vos); negative commands place them before the verb (no el perdis, no et perdis, no us perdeu). With perdre's in the recommendation “don't miss it,” the pronoun is essential.

No et perdis l'exposició: només estarà oberta fins diumenge.

Don't miss the exhibition: it will only be open until Sunday.

Meaning, objects, and pronominal uses

Plain perdre is normally transitive: one loses les claus, la paciència, un partit, una ocasió. The direct object takes no governed preposition and can be replaced by el, la, els, les or neuter ho. Perdre el temps is the characteristic collocation for wasting time; perdre de vista includes fixed de and means losing sight of someone or something. Do not extend that de to ordinary objects.

No perdem més el temps discutint detalls que ja estan resolts.

Let's not waste any more time discussing details that have already been settled.

Vaig perdre de vista la Júlia entre la gentada de l'estació.

I lost sight of Júlia in the station crowd.

Pronominal perdre's is not a stylistic variant of the transitive verb. It changes the event structure: he perdut el nen means “I have lost the child,” but el nen s'ha perdut means “the child has got lost.” It also describes losing one's orientation in an explanation (m'he perdut a la segona part) and missing out on an experience (t'has perdut un concert magnífic). Reflexive perdre's en els records “lose oneself in memories” is more figurative.

English “miss” needs care. Perdre works for transport, chances, classes, and events that one fails to attend; emotional “miss a person” is normally trobar a faltar, not perdre. Likewise, “miss a target” is often fallar.

💡

Ask whether something is lost by an agent or whether the subject becomes lost. The first takes plain perdre; the second takes perdre's. The pronoun is meaning-bearing, not optional decoration.

(Regional: Valencian) first-person present perd, present subjunctive perda, perdes, perda, perdem, perdeu, perden, and imperfect perdera... are standard. (Regional: Balearic) first-person perd also occurs. Central perdo / perdi / perdés is the teaching baseline. The verb is not defective in any major standard variety.

Common Mistakes

❌ Jo perdeixo la paciència quan el sistema no respon.

Incorrect—perdre is second conjugation and never takes the incoative extension -eix-.

✅ Jo perdo la paciència quan el sistema no respon.

I lose patience when the system doesn't respond.

❌ Hem perdut de les claus del magatzem.

Incorrect—the thing lost is a direct object; de belongs only to specific constructions such as perdre de vista.

✅ Hem perdut les claus del magatzem.

We have lost the warehouse keys.

❌ Les factures que he perdudes eren dins d'una carpeta blava.

Incorrect here—the participle after haver is normally invariable.

✅ Les factures que he perdut eren dins d'una carpeta blava.

The invoices I lost were in a blue folder.

❌ No perd l'últim capítol, que és el millor de la sèrie.

Incorrect—the negative familiar command uses the present subjunctive and retains the pronominal construction.

✅ No et perdis l'últim capítol, que és el millor de la sèrie.

Don't miss the last episode; it's the best one in the series.

❌ Et perdo molt des que vius a Brussel·les.

Incorrect for emotional missing—perdre means lose, not miss someone emotionally.

✅ Et trobo molt a faltar des que vius a Brussel·les.

I miss you a lot since you moved to Brussels.

Key Takeaways

Use the principal parts perdo, perdré, perdi, perdés, and perdut. Plain perdre takes the lost thing as a direct object; perdre's marks getting lost or missing out. Compound forms use haver + perdut, with any clitic before the auxiliary. Learn perdre el temps and perdre de vista as distinct collocations, and use trobar a faltar for emotionally missing someone.

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