The Three Conjugations: -ar, -er or -re, and -ir

Catalan infinitives fall into three conjugations: first (-ar), second (-er or -re), and third (-ir). The ending is not merely a dictionary label. It predicts much of the pattern used when the verb agrees with a subject, although it cannot by itself guarantee that every form will be regular.

English gives learners little preparation for this system: I speak, we speak, and they speak all use the same form. Catalan distributes different endings across six person–number cells. Learning an infinitive together with its conjugation therefore turns one vocabulary item into a reusable morphological pattern.

Reading the infinitive

The infinitive is the uninflected citation form found in a dictionary. For most verbs, its final letters identify the conjugation directly:

The second conjugation genuinely has two visible infinitive shapes. In témer, the ending is -er and the written accent shows that the stem is stressed; in perdre, the ending is -re. They share many endings once conjugated, which is why Catalan grammar treats them as one conjugation rather than two. The frequent irregular verbs dir “say” and dur “carry, wear” also belong historically and morphologically to the second conjugation, despite their shorter infinitives.

For a closer look at how a conjugation vowel fits between lexical material and inflection, continue with Stems, Theme Vowels, and Endings.

Four useful present models

There are three conjugations, but beginners need four practical present-tense models because third-conjugation verbs split into two types. The table uses the Central Catalan standard as its baseline.

Every row marks person and number. A subject pronoun is therefore normally omitted: parlem already identifies “we,” and serveixen identifies a third-person plural subject. State the pronoun when it contrasts one person with another or removes genuine ambiguity.

The four columns are patterns, not interchangeable translations. Parlo can mean “I speak,” “I do speak,” or, in the right situation, “I am speaking.” Tense and aspect depend on the form and on discourse context; English auxiliary words do not map one for one onto Catalan conjugations.

Why the first conjugation is the easiest starting point

The first conjugation is the largest class and the one most open to new verbs: xatejar “chat online,” escanejar “scan,” and teletreballar “work remotely” all follow it. Its regular patterns are consequently highly valuable. Some first-conjugation verbs make spelling adjustments to preserve their sound—buscar → busques, pagar → pagues, començar → comences—but that does not move them into another conjugation.

Stress alternates systematically in a regular present paradigm. In parlo, parles, parla, and parlen, the stem is stressed. In parlem and parleu, the ending is stressed. Written accents appear only when the general spelling rules require them; “being stressed” does not automatically mean “taking a written accent.”

The second conjugation: one class, several shapes

Second-conjugation verbs are less uniform. Regular -re verbs such as perdre provide a useful entry point, but common verbs including fer, veure, beure, saber, and poder have stem changes or other irregular forms. The shared category still matters: plural endings such as -em and -eu recur in perdem/perdeu and many neighboring paradigms.

The two infinitive spellings also differ in stress. Témer is pronounced with stress on té-; many -er infinitives such as saber have final stress instead. In perdre, the stem is stressed. There is no dependable English-based shortcut for these lexical stress patterns: listen to and learn each unfamiliar infinitive with its pronunciation.

The attached -ho in pregunta-ho also illustrates pronoun placement. Weak pronouns normally precede a finite statement (no ho saps), but follow and attach to an infinitive, gerund, or affirmative imperative (saber-ho, sabent-ho, pregunta-ho). The conjugation class does not alter that placement rule.

Pure and incoative third-conjugation verbs

All third-conjugation infinitives end in -ir, but the present tense has two major patterns. Pure verbs attach endings directly to the stem: dormo, dorms, dorm, dormim, dormiu, dormen. Incoative verbs insert an extension in the stem-stressed cells: Central serveixo, serveixes, serveix, servim, serviu, serveixen.

The label incoative is historical; modern serveixo does not mean “I begin to serve.” The extension is now simply part of the conjugation pattern. Nor can meaning reliably tell you which -ir verb uses which pattern. Dormir is pure, while servir is incoative; that classification must be learned with the verb.

(regional: Valencian) standard forms use servisc, servixes, servix, servim, serviu, servixen alongside patterns regulated by the Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua. These are regional standard forms, not mistakes. The Central forms in -eix- remain the teaching baseline here. (regional: Balearic) and other varieties also have coherent local realizations; consult a regional paradigm rather than mixing isolated endings.

Conjugation is not tense, aspect, or mood

Conjugation determines how forms are built; it does not decide what those forms mean in a clause. Compare parlo (present indicative), parlava (imperfect indicative), vaig parlar (periphrastic past), and parli (present subjunctive). They all belong to the first conjugation, yet they place or frame the event differently.

The first clause asserts the conversation as known, so it uses the indicative parla. The second puts the event inside doubt, so it uses subjunctive parli. The word que alone did not choose the mood; assertion status did.

Likewise, Catalan often uses a simple present where English uses a progressive:

Estem dinant is also possible when the ongoing phase is especially relevant, but it is not mechanically required by English “are having.” For a completed event, the periphrastic past has no a: ahir vam dinar junts. By contrast, anem a dinar contains the motion verb anar plus a and means that we are going to lunch.

Do not import Spanish periphrases either. Standard Catalan says he de marxar for obligation, not tinc que marxar. The infinitive marxar is first conjugation in either string; grammaticality depends on the construction around it.

Mini-dialogue

The dialogue combines first-conjugation parlar, incoative third-conjugation preferir, and second-conjugation entendre. It also shows an infinitive after prefereixen and the preverbal weak pronoun l' before finite entenen.

Common Mistakes

1. Treating every verb ending in -ir as pure.

2. Inventing an -er infinitive from an English or Spanish cognate.

3. Overusing the progressive because English has be + -ing.

4. Confusing the completed past with anar a + infinitive.

5. Copying a Spanish obligation construction.

Key Takeaways

The infinitive identifies a verb's morphological family: -ar for the first conjugation, -er/-re (plus a few exceptional shapes) for the second, and -ir for the third. The third conjugation must be split again into pure and incoative patterns. These families predict endings, but they do not by themselves choose tense, viewpoint, or mood. Learn the infinitive, the conjugation, and—especially for -ir and irregular verbs—one revealing present form.