Conjugation of trobar | Catalan Grammar

Trobar means “to find,” but its high-frequency constructions reach much further. Trobar que + clause means “think/find that,” trobar a faltar means “miss,” and pronominal trobar-se expresses location, physical condition, an encounter, or “find oneself” in a situation. English often uses be, feel, meet, or think where Catalan keeps this single verb.

Morphologically, trobar is regular: trobo – trobava – trobí – trobaré – trobi – trobat. There is no stem change and no incoative extension. The real learning task is distinguishing transitive trobar alguna cosa from pronominal trobar-se and assigning clitics to the correct argument.

For the broader syntax behind em trobo and ens hem trobat, see the guide to pronominal verbs.

💡

Use the presence of se as a meaning signal. He trobat la Júlia normally means “I found Júlia”; m'he trobat amb la Júlia means “I ran into/met Júlia”; la Júlia es troba bé means “Júlia feels/is well.”

Nonfinite forms

Form	Plain	Pronominal
Infinitive	trobar	trobar-se
Perfect infinitive	haver trobat	haver-se trobat
Gerund	trobant	trobant-se
Perfect gerund	havent trobat	havent-se trobat
Participle	trobat; trobada, trobats, trobades	—

Perfect tenses use haver + trobat: he trobat les claus; ens hem trobat al vestíbul. The participle is normally invariable in that core construction. Agreeing trobada/trobats/trobades is adjectival or belongs to contexts where participial agreement is independently licensed; learners should not mechanically copy the object's gender into every perfect.

Indicative: simple and periphrastic tenses

Tense	jo	tu	ell / ella / vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres	ells / elles / vostès
Present	trobo	trobes	troba	trobem	trobeu	troben
Imperfect	trobava	trobaves	trobava	trobàvem	trobàveu	trobaven
Periphrastic past	vaig trobar	vas trobar	va trobar	vam trobar	vau trobar	van trobar
Simple past	trobí	trobares	trobà	trobàrem	trobàreu	trobaren
Future	trobaré	trobaràs	trobarà	trobarem	trobareu	trobaran
Conditional	trobaria	trobaries	trobaria	trobaríem	trobaríeu	trobarien

The periphrastic past is the unmarked conversational completed past. The simple series trobí, trobares, trobà... is (formal/literary) in much Central Catalan and retains regional spoken use. Accent marks distinguish troba “finds/find!” from trobà “found” and trobarà “will find.”

No trobo les ulleres; has mirat damunt la tauleta?

I can't find my glasses; have you looked on the bedside table?

De joves ens trobàvem cada diumenge al cafè de la plaça.

When we were young, we used to meet every Sunday at the café in the square.

Al final vam trobar una solució que convenia a tothom.

In the end we found a solution that suited everyone.

El jurat trobà insuficients les proves aportades.

The jury found the evidence submitted insufficient. (formal/literary)

Indicative compound tenses

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

The past anterior is (formal/literary). The periphrastic anterior is vaig haver trobat, vas haver trobat, va haver trobat, vam haver trobat, vau haver trobat, van haver trobat. When the verb is pronominal, the weak pronoun precedes the finite auxiliary: m'havia trobat, not havia trobat-me.

Hem trobat el carregador que buscaves; era dins la motxilla.

We've found the charger you were looking for; it was inside the backpack.

D'aquí a demà ja hauran trobat algú que cobreixi el torn.

By tomorrow they will have found someone to cover the shift.

Subjunctive and imperative

Tense	jo	tu	ell / ella / vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres	ells / elles / vostès
Present subjunctive	trobi	trobis	trobi	trobem	trobeu	trobin
Imperfect subjunctive	trobés	trobessis	trobés	trobéssim	trobéssiu	trobessin
Perfect subjunctive	hagi trobat	hagis trobat	hagi trobat	hàgim trobat	hàgiu trobat	hagin trobat
Pluperfect subjunctive	hagués trobat	haguessis trobat	hagués trobat	haguéssim trobat	haguéssiu trobat	haguessin trobat

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

Addressee	Affirmative	Negative
tu	troba	no trobis
vostè	trobi	no trobi
nosaltres	trobem	no trobem
vosaltres	trobeu	no trobeu
vostès	trobin	no trobin

These periphrastic subjunctive forms are (regional/formal). Present trobem is formally identical in the indicative, subjunctive, and first-person plural imperative; the surrounding clause or intonation identifies its function.

Quan trobis el rebut, fes-me'n una foto.

When you find the receipt, take a photo of it for me.

Si trobéssim una taula lliure, podríem dinar aquí mateix.

If we found a free table, we could have lunch right here.

Troba una estona aquesta tarda i en parlem.

Find some time this afternoon and we'll talk about it.

Objects, complements, and pronominal meanings

In the neutral pattern, transitive trobar takes a simple postverbal human direct object without a Spanish-style personal a: he trobat la directora. Catalan does license personal a in certain marked structures, but it is not triggered merely because this ordinary object denotes a person. A direct-object weak pronoun replaces the noun directly: no trobo el comandament → no el trobo. With an adjective or noun complement, trobar means “consider/find”: trobo la proposta arriscada. With a clause, use trobar que.

Trobar-se has several coherent extensions of “find oneself”: location (el museu es troba al centre, formal/neutral), condition (avui em trobo millor), reciprocal meeting (ens trobem a les sis), and chance encounter with amb (m'he trobat amb la veïna). The fixed construction trobar a faltar means “miss”; its a cannot be removed.

💡

Plain trobar locates an object; pronominal trobar-se locates or describes the subject. That contrast predicts trobo el metge but el metge es troba bé.

—Has trobat el comandament? —No, encara no el trobo enlloc.

—Have you found the remote? —No, I still can't find it anywhere.

Em trobo molt millor des que dormo vuit hores.

I feel much better since I've been sleeping eight hours.

Aquest matí m'he trobat amb l'Arnau al metro.

This morning I ran into Arnau on the metro.

Trobo que hauríem d'avisar-los abans de publicar res.

I think we should let them know before publishing anything.

Et trobem a faltar a les reunions dels divendres.

We miss you at the Friday meetings.

Characteristic collocations include trobar feina, trobar una solució, trobar a faltar, trobar-se bé/malament, trobar-se amb algú, and trobar-se en una situació difícil. The last is more formal than everyday estar en una situació difícil.

(Regional: Valencian) present subjunctive trobe, trobes... and imperfect trobara... are standard. (Regional: Balearic) has present trob, trobes, troba, trobam, trobau, troben and imperfect subjunctive trobàs...; (regional: Northern) first-person present trobi is also recognized. Pronunciation of unstressed vowels also differs across regions, but these are coherent systems, not forms to mix randomly into the Central paradigm.

Common Mistakes

❌ He trobat a la professora al passadís.

Incorrect in standard Catalan—the human direct object normally has no Spanish-style personal a.

✅ He trobat la professora al passadís.

I found the teacher in the corridor.

❌ Avui trobo molt cansat.

Incorrect for ‘I feel tired’—physical condition requires the pronominal verb trobar-se.

✅ Avui em trobo molt cansat.

Today I feel very tired.

❌ Trobo faltar els meus amics de Girona.

Incorrect—the fixed construction is trobar a faltar.

✅ Trobo a faltar els meus amics de Girona.

I miss my friends in Girona.

❌ Jo trobeixo les claus de seguida.

Incorrect—trobar is a regular first-conjugation verb, not an incoative verb.

✅ Jo trobo les claus de seguida.

I find the keys right away.

❌ Espero que trobo aviat una feina que m'agradi.

Incorrect—the hoped-for finding requires the subjunctive, not indicative trobo.

✅ Espero trobar aviat una feina que m'agradi.

I hope to find a job I like soon.

Key Takeaways

The paradigm is fully regular, so focus on syntax. Plain trobar takes a direct object and can also mean “consider” with a complement or trobar que. Pronominal trobar-se expresses location, condition, or meeting, while trobar-se amb marks an encounter. Preserve the fixed a in trobar a faltar.

Now practice Catalan

Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.

Start learning Catalan →