Conjugation of rebre | Catalan Grammar

Rebre means “to receive, welcome, undergo, or be hit.” Its most useful principal parts are rebo – reps – rebem – rebia – rebí – rebré – rebi – rebut. Unlike the neighboring velar verbs, it does not insert -g- in the standard Central simple past or subjunctive. The striking alternations are the present singular rebo, reps, rep and the contracted future stem rebr-. It is not defective; all persons are current.

The normal pattern is transitive: rebre un missatge, rebre una visita, rebre algú. A source is introduced by de (rebre una carta de l'ajuntament). English “receive” is often more formal than Catalan rebre, which is completely ordinary in speech and also covers welcoming guests and being subjected to treatment or impact.

💡

Do not force rebre into the velar pattern of entendre and respondre. The Central standard has rebi, rebés, rebí, without g; Valencian has reba, rebera.

Nonfinite forms

Form	Catalan	English guide
Infinitive	rebre	to receive
Perfect infinitive	haver rebut	to have received
Gerund	rebent	receiving
Perfect gerund	havent rebut	having received
Participle	rebut; rebuda, rebuts, rebudes	received

The participle is regular relative to the shortened stem but must still be learned: rebut, not Spanish-influenced recibit. In compound tenses it is normally invariable: les cartes que hem rebut. With a preceding third-person accusative clitic, agreement is also standard and is especially maintained in formal and agreement-preserving regional usage: les cartes, ja les hem rebudes. It also agrees adjectivally and in passives: una proposta ben rebuda; uns convidats rebuts amb entusiasme. The noun rebut also means “receipt,” so he perdut el rebut is a noun phrase, while he rebut el paquet is a perfect verb.

Indicative: simple and periphrastic tenses

Tense	jo	tu	ell / ella / vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres	ells / elles / vostès
Present	rebo	reps	rep	rebem	rebeu	reben
Imperfect	rebia	rebies	rebia	rebíem	rebíeu	rebien
Periphrastic past	vaig rebre	vas rebre	va rebre	vam rebre	vau rebre	van rebre
Simple past	rebí	reberes	rebé	rebérem	rebéreu	reberen
Future	rebré	rebràs	rebrà	rebrem	rebreu	rebran
Conditional	rebria	rebries	rebria	rebríem	rebríeu	rebrien

The loss of a vowel produces reps and rep in the singular, whereas the plural restores reb- + vowel. (Regional: Valencian and Balearic) use first-person present rep alongside general rebo, so rep can represent either “I receive” or “he/she receives” there. Future and conditional contract to rebr-; reberé is not the general standard future. The periphrastic past is neutral in speech, while the simple past is standard but largely (formal/literary) in Central Catalan and more present in some regional usage.

Cada dilluns rebo un informe amb les incidències de la setmana.

Every Monday I receive a report with the week's incidents.

Quan treballàvem a recepció, rebíem visitants de molts països.

When we worked at reception, we welcomed visitors from many countries.

Ahir vam rebre la confirmació i ja podem reservar els vols.

Yesterday we received confirmation, so we can book the flights now.

Si tot va bé, rebràs el paquet abans de les sis.

If all goes well, you'll receive the parcel before six.

Compound indicative

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

The past anterior is (literary). The corresponding periphrastic row is vaig haver rebut, vas haver rebut, va haver rebut, vam haver rebut, vau haver rebut, van haver rebut. It is grammatically complete but restricted; normal conversation favors ja havia rebut or vaig rebre.

Aquest matí hem rebut tres pressupostos i encara n'esperem dos.

This morning we've received three quotations and we're still waiting for two.

Quan va arribar el missatger, jo encara no havia rebut cap avís.

When the courier arrived, I still hadn't received any notification.

Subjunctive: simple and compound tenses

Tense	jo	tu	ell / ella / vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres	ells / elles / vostès
Present	rebi	rebis	rebi	rebem	rebeu	rebin
Imperfect	rebés	rebessis	rebés	rebéssim	rebéssiu	rebessin
Present perfect	hagi rebut	hagis rebut	hagi rebut	hàgim rebut	hàgiu rebut	hagin rebut
Pluperfect	hagués rebut	haguessis rebut	hagués rebut	haguéssim rebut	haguéssiu rebut	haguessin rebut

The nosaltres and vosaltres present forms—rebem, rebeu—are identical in indicative and subjunctive; the governing clause and context identify the mood. (Regional: Valencian) standard present forms are reba, rebes, reba, rebem, rebeu, reben, and the imperfect commonly has rebera, reberes, rebera, rebérem, rebéreu, reberen. Some Balearic and Northwestern systems also use members of the reba family. These are regional standards; Central rebi is simply the course baseline.

Quan rebis el contracte, comprova que hi consti la data correcta.

When you receive the contract, check that it shows the correct date.

Em sorprèn que no hagin rebut encara la nostra transferència.

I'm surprised that they still haven't received our bank transfer.

Si haguéssim rebut ajuda abans, el trasllat hauria estat molt més fàcil.

If we had received help earlier, the move would have been much easier.

For completeness, restricted (regional/formal) periphrastic subjunctive forms are vagi rebre, vagis rebre, vagi rebre, vàgim rebre, vàgiu rebre, vagin rebre. Their anterior is vagi haver rebut, vagis haver rebut, vagi haver rebut, vàgim haver rebut, vàgiu haver rebut, vagin haver rebut. Everyday Catalan normally uses rebés and hagués rebut.

Imperative and clitics

Addressee	Affirmative	Negative
tu	rep	no rebis
vostè	rebi	no rebi
nosaltres	rebem	no rebem
vosaltres	rebeu	no rebeu
vostès	rebin	no rebin

Commands are less frequent than indicative forms, but natural in ceremonial or procedural language. Affirmative pronouns follow the verb (rep-lo, rebeu-los); negative pronouns precede it (no el rebis, no els rebeu). The affirmative singular rep is identical to third-person indicative, so context provides the distinction.

Rep aquesta distinció com un agraïment de tot l'equip.

Accept this award as an expression of thanks from the whole team.

No rebeu els proveïdors fins que la sala estigui preparada.

Don't receive the suppliers until the room is ready.

Things, people, treatment, and impacts

The direct object can be something transferred (rebre diners), a communication (rebre una trucada), a person welcomed (rebre els convidats), or something experienced (rebre una notícia, un tractament, un cop). The sender or source normally follows de. With an indefinite quantity, partitive en is natural: N'he rebut tres, de missatges.

La directora ens va rebre al despatx i ens va oferir cafè.

The director received us in her office and offered us coffee.

Del banc no n'he rebut cap resposta per escrit.

I haven't received any written reply from the bank.

Després de l'operació rep fisioteràpia dos cops per setmana.

After the operation, she receives physiotherapy twice a week.

Rebre normally remains nonpronominal. In es reben sol·licituds, es builds an impersonal or passive-like clause rather than lexical rebre's. Standard contemporary Catalan does not need a reflexive clitic simply because the subject benefits from what is received. The informal expression rebre de valent means taking a severe beating or harsh criticism.

En aquesta oficina es reben reclamacions només amb cita prèvia.

At this office, complaints are received by appointment only.

L'àrbitre va rebre de valent a les xarxes després del partit.

The referee took a lot of abuse on social media after the match. (informal)

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Use rebre algú without a preposition when you welcome that person. Use de for the source: rebre una invitació d'una amiga.

Common Mistakes

❌ Jo recibo moltes notificacions inútils.

Incorrect Spanish interference—the Catalan first-person form is rebo.

✅ Jo rebo moltes notificacions inútils.

I receive lots of useless notifications.

❌ T'avisaré quan rebré la confirmació.

Incorrect in this future time clause; Catalan uses present subjunctive rebi.

✅ T'avisaré quan rebi la confirmació.

I'll let you know when I receive confirmation.

❌ Encara no hem recibit la factura definitiva.

Incorrect Spanish-influenced participle—the Catalan form is rebut.

✅ Encara no hem rebut la factura definitiva.

We still haven't received the final invoice.

❌ Demà reberem els resultats de l'analítica.

Incorrect general-standard future; the infinitive contracts to rebr-.

✅ Demà rebrem els resultats de l'analítica.

Tomorrow we'll receive the test results.

❌ He rebut un paquet per la Marta.

Incorrect if Marta is the sender—the source of what is received takes de, not per.

✅ He rebut un paquet de la Marta.

I've received a parcel from Marta.

Key Takeaways

Keep rebre separate from velar verbs: Central standard has rebi, rebés, and rebí. Learn the present singular rebo, reps, rep, the contracted future rebr-, and participle rebut. Receive a person directly, mark the source with de, and recognize es reben as a clause-level construction rather than lexical rebre's.

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