Expressing the Subject of an Infinitive

Catalan infinitives do not have person endings: sortir is the same whether the understood subject is “I,” “you,” or “they.” Nevertheless, an infinitive normally has a semantic subject—the person or thing that leaves, speaks, or waits. Catalan identifies that participant through control by another phrase, through context, or, in a few constructions, through an explicit noun phrase.

This differs from English for me to leave and from Portuguese's inflected infinitive. Catalan has neither a general for + subject + infinitive pattern nor infinitive endings meaning “for us” or “for them.” When the intended subject cannot be recovered cleanly, a finite clause with que is usually the natural solution.

The infinitive is invariant

The following table is deliberately repetitive: it shows the complete person-number “paradigm” of the infinitive arribar. The subject changes, but the verb does not.

The finite verb supplies tense, mood, person, and viewpoint. In esperàvem arribar, imperfect esperàvem places the hoping in the past; the infinitive itself does not become past. To make the infinitive explicitly anterior, Catalan uses the perfect infinitive haver arribat, treated on the perfect infinitive page.

Subject control: one participant has two roles

With verbs of intention, decision, attempt, and promise, the subject of the finite verb normally controls the missing subject of the infinitive. In La Núria promet trucar, Núria both promises and will call.

Other predicates make an object or indirect object the understood subject. In Li recomano descansar, the person represented by li is the one who should rest, not the speaker. This is called object control, even when Catalan marks the controller with a dative weak pronoun.

There is no universal shortcut for which participant controls an infinitive; the governing verb determines it. Compare subject-controlled prometre with object-controlled demanar. This lexical fact must be learned with the verb's construction.

Same subject: infinitive; different subject: usually que

When voler, esperar, preferir, or a similar verb has the same subject as the desired action, Catalan normally uses an infinitive. When the subjects differ, Catalan normally uses que plus a finite verb, often in the subjunctive because the event is wanted, expected, or evaluated rather than asserted as fact.

English can use an object before an infinitive—“I want you to leave”—but Catalan does not copy that structure as vull tu marxar or et vull marxar. The finite que marxis makes the distinct subject and the non-asserted status of the leaving explicit.

Where an explicit subject can appear

Catalan can focus or disambiguate the understood subject with a postverbal strong pronoun. In Vol fer-ho ella sola, ella sola emphatically identifies who will do it. The infinitive still has no agreement ending.

Temporal infinitive clauses can also have their own explicit, normally postverbal subject: En arribar la directora, vam començar. This compact pattern is standard and common in narrative; a more explicit finite alternative is Quan va arribar la directora, vam començar. Both en + infinitive and al + infinitive occur in contemporary standard Catalan with temporal value, though their frequency varies by region and register.

An explicit postverbal subject is also possible in per + infinitive causal clauses, chiefly in formal or archaizing prose: Per haver-se avariat el tren, vam perdre l'enllaç. Neutral contemporary prose normally makes both subject and cause more transparent with a finite clause: Com que el tren es va avariar, vam perdre l'enllaç.

After perception and causative verbs, a noun phrase may be interpreted as the performer of the infinitive: Vaig sentir els veïns discutir and La notícia va fer riure la Clara. Syntactically, that phrase is integrated into the larger perception or causative construction; it is not a freely inserted subject like English for the neighbors to argue. See infinitives after perception verbs and causative fer.

English possessives and for-subjects

English can nominalize an event in phrases such as “his arriving late” and can introduce an infinitival subject with for: “It is important for Marta to come.” Catalan generally expresses the same meanings with finite clauses:

A construction such as el seu arribar tard treats the infinitive more like a noun. It is possible in deliberately nominal, often (literary) style, but it sounds heavy in ordinary contemporary prose. The possessive does not make the infinitive agree; el seu arribar can only invite a possessive interpretation of the nominalized event. In neutral speech and writing, que arribi tard is clearer.

Negation and weak pronouns

Negation immediately precedes an independent infinitive phrase: prefereixo no dir-ho. Weak pronouns attach after a standalone infinitive—dir-ho, explicar-m'ho, anar-se'n. In a verbal periphrasis they may instead climb before the finite verb: ho he de dir beside he de dir-ho.

The position of a weak pronoun does not identify the infinitive's subject. In La Berta vol explicar-los-ho, la Berta is the subject because voler controls the infinitive; -los and -ho are objects of explicar.

Mini-dialogue

The dialogue contrasts a finite clause for a different subject (que truqui jo) with a controlled infinitive whose subject is emphatically restated (trucar-hi jo mateixa).

Common Mistakes

1. Copying English object + infinitive after voler.

2. Using an infinitive even though the intended subject changes.

3. Making the infinitive agree with its understood subject.

4. Copying an English possessive gerund mechanically.

5. Choosing mood from the word que alone.

Key Takeaways

Catalan does not inflect its infinitive for person or number. Most infinitival subjects are controlled by a participant licensed by the higher verb; overt subjects are restricted to focus, temporal and formal causal adjuncts, and constructions such as perception and causation. For a clearly different subject after verbs of desire or evaluation, use que plus the mood demanded by the meaning. This clause-level choice depends on who performs each event and whether it is asserted—not on a word-for-word English template.