Conjugation of vendre | Catalan Grammar

Vendre means “to sell.” It is not fully regular: the most useful principal parts are venc – venem – venia – venguí – vendré – vengui – venut. They reveal four families: venc in the first-person present, ven- in most present and imperfect forms, velar veng- in the simple past and subjunctive, and vendr- in the future and conditional. The irregular participle is venut. The verb is not defective: every person in the tables below is available.

The ordinary frame is vendre una cosa a algú per una quantitat: the item is direct, a introduces the buyer, and per gives the price. English uses the same broad meanings, but its pronouns do not show the direct/indirect distinction as visibly as Catalan clitics do.

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Learn the seven forms venc, venem, venia, venguí, vendré, vengui, venut. They are a compact map of the whole conjugation; there is no incoative -eix- anywhere.

Nonfinite forms

Form	Catalan	English guide
Infinitive	vendre	to sell
Perfect infinitive	haver venut	to have sold
Gerund	venent	selling
Perfect gerund	havent venut	having sold
Participle	venut; venuda, venuts, venudes	sold

Compound tenses normally use haver plus invariable venut: les entrades que hem venut. With a preceding third-person accusative clitic, agreement is also standard and is especially maintained in formal and agreement-preserving regional usage: les entrades, ja les hem venudes. The participle also agrees when it works adjectivally or in a passive: una casa venuda fa poc. Do not manufacture vendut from the infinitive. Catalan preserves venut, just as tenir has tingut rather than a transparently regular form.

Indicative: all simple and periphrastic tenses

Tense	jo	tu	ell / ella / vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres	ells / elles / vostès
Present	venc	vens	ven	venem	veneu	venen
Imperfect	venia	venies	venia	veníem	veníeu	venien
Periphrastic past	vaig vendre	vas vendre	va vendre	vam vendre	vau vendre	van vendre
Simple past	venguí	vengueres	vengué	venguérem	venguéreu	vengueren
Future	vendré	vendràs	vendrà	vendrem	vendreu	vendran
Conditional	vendria	vendries	vendria	vendríem	vendríeu	vendrien

The periphrastic past is the neutral conversational past throughout most of the Catalan-speaking area. The simple past is fully standard but chiefly (formal/literary) in Central Catalan; it remains more alive in some regional usage. The future contracts vendre to vendr- and must not be confused with vindré, “I will come,” from venir.

La cooperativa ven oli directament als restaurants del poble.

The cooperative sells oil directly to the village restaurants.

Quan estudiava, venia llibres de segona mà per pagar el lloguer.

When I was a student, I used to sell second-hand books to pay the rent.

Ahir vam vendre l'última bicicleta abans de tancar la botiga.

Yesterday we sold the last bicycle before closing the shop.

No vendré l'hort familiar encara que m'ofereixin més diners.

I won't sell the family vegetable garden even if they offer me more money.

Compound indicative and the auxiliary haver

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

The compound past anterior is mostly (literary) and normally appears after temporal linkers. Everyday speech uses the periphrastic past or pluperfect instead. A periphrastic anterior is also possible—vaig haver venut, vas haver venut, va haver venut, vam haver venut, vau haver venut, van haver venut—but it is restricted and far less useful than the ordinary perfects.

Aquest trimestre hem venut més abonaments que durant tot l'estiu.

This quarter we've sold more season tickets than during the whole summer.

Quan els vaig trucar, ja havien venut el piano a una altra família.

When I called them, they had already sold the piano to another family.

Subjunctive: simple and compound tenses

Tense	jo	tu	ell / ella / vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres	ells / elles / vostès
Present	vengui	venguis	vengui	venguem	vengueu	venguin
Imperfect	vengués	venguessis	vengués	venguéssim	venguéssiu	venguessin
Present perfect	hagi venut	hagis venut	hagi venut	hàgim venut	hàgiu venut	hagin venut
Pluperfect	hagués venut	haguessis venut	hagués venut	haguéssim venut	haguéssiu venut	haguessin venut

The velar g is structural in the Central baseline, not merely spelling: compare venc with vengui and vengués. (Regional: Valencian) standard forms include present venga, vengues, venga, venguem, vengueu, venguen and imperfect venguera, vengueres, venguera, venguérem, venguéreu, vengueren. (Regional: Balearic) also has the nonvelar simple-past series vení, veneres, vené, venérem, venéreu, veneren and imperfect subjunctive venés, venessis, venés, venéssim, venéssiu, venessin. The Central forms above are the teaching baseline.

La propietària vol que venguem el local amb tot el mobiliari inclòs.

The owner wants us to sell the premises with all the furniture included.

Si haguessis venut les accions al gener, hauries evitat la baixada.

If you had sold the shares in January, you would have avoided the drop.

For completeness, the periphrastic subjunctive has vagi vendre, vagis vendre, vagi vendre, vàgim vendre, vàgiu vendre, vagin vendre; its anterior has vagi haver venut, vagis haver venut, vagi haver venut, vàgim haver venut, vàgiu haver venut, vagin haver venut. These are restricted (regional/formal) forms, not everyday substitutes for vengués and hagués venut.

Imperative and clitics

Addressee	Affirmative	Negative
tu	ven	no venguis
vostè	vengui	no vengui
nosaltres	venguem	no venguem
vosaltres	veneu	no vengueu
vostès	venguin	no venguin

Affirmative commands attach weak pronouns: ven-lo, veneu-les. Negative commands place them before the verb: no el venguis, no les vengueu. In finite declaratives, a direct object can likewise be resumed by a clitic: el cotxe, ja l'hem venut. Read more about this ordering on the imperative pronouns page.

Ven-me la càmera pel mateix preu que em vas dir ahir.

Sell me the camera for the same price you quoted yesterday.

Aquests discos són un record de família; no els vengueu.

These records are a family keepsake; don't sell them.

Buyers, prices, and vendre's

Use a for the buyer and per for the amount received: vendre el pis a una parella per dos-cents mil euros. With unit prices, a is possible: vendre les pomes a dos euros el quilo. The passive-like construction agrees with the item: es ven un estudi; es venen dos estudis. It is not the same as lexical vendre's, which can mean disposing of one's property or, figuratively, compromising one's integrity (informal, disapproving).

Venen el formatge a divuit euros el quilo i n'envien a tot Catalunya.

They sell the cheese at eighteen euros a kilo and ship some throughout Catalonia.

Es venen entrades anticipades al web del festival fins divendres.

Advance tickets are sold on the festival website until Friday.

La periodista es va negar a vendre's per aconseguir un càrrec millor.

The journalist refused to sell out to obtain a better position.

Characteristic collocations include vendre fum (“peddle empty claims,” informal), vendre la moto (“sell someone a dubious story,” informal), vendre al detall / a l'engròs, and vendre's com pa beneit (“sell like hot cakes”). These are lexical expressions, not reasons to alter the conjugation.

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Es ven agrees with a singular item and es venen with plural items. Lexical vendre's, by contrast, keeps a reflexive clitic tied to the subject.

Common Mistakes

❌ Jo vendo roba feta a mà per internet.

Incorrect—Catalan has venc, not the Spanish-shaped vendo.

✅ Jo venc roba feta a mà per internet.

I sell handmade clothes online.

❌ Espero que veneu totes les places aquesta setmana.

Incorrect if espero que introduces a desired outcome; use the present subjunctive vengueu.

✅ Espero que vengueu totes les places aquesta setmana.

I hope you sell all the places this week.

❌ Hem vendut la moto per quatre mil euros.

Incorrect participle—vendre forms venut, not vendut.

✅ Hem venut la moto per quatre mil euros.

We've sold the motorbike for four thousand euros.

❌ Demà vindré els mobles que sobren.

Incorrect—vindré means I will come; vendré means I will sell.

✅ Demà vendré els mobles que sobren.

Tomorrow I'll sell the furniture we don't need.

❌ Es ven ordinadors recondicionats amb garantia.

Incorrect—the verb in this passive-like construction must agree with the plural item.

✅ Es venen ordinadors recondicionats amb garantia.

Refurbished computers with a warranty are sold here.

Key Takeaways

Organize vendre around venc, venem, venia, venguí, vendré, vengui, and venut. Keep the buyer with a, the sale price with per, and unit prices with a. Treat vendre's and agreeing es ven / es venen as distinct constructions, and never import Spanish vendo or invented vendut.

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