English eventually, manage to, and end up hide several different viewpoints. Catalan normally distinguishes an achievement that is finally reached (arribar a + infinitive), the outcome produced by a process (acabar per + infinitive), and the often accidental destination of a person or thing (anar a parar a). The finite verb supplies person, tense, and mood; the rest of the construction tells the listener how the speaker views the path toward the result.
The three constructions at a glance
| Construction | Core perspective | Natural English equivalents |
|---|---|---|
| arribar a + infinitive | a threshold is reached, often after difficulty | manage to, come to, actually |
| acabar per + infinitive | a preceding process culminates in an outcome | end up, eventually |
| anar a parar a + place/result | something reaches an unplanned or noteworthy destination | end up in/at, wind up |
All three finite verbs agree with their own subject. Their complements do not carry separate person marking: vam arribar a entendre, la Júlia va acabar per acceptar-ho, els arxius van anar a parar a la paperera.
Arribar a: crossing an eventual threshold
Arribar a + infinitive says that the subject reaches the point of performing or understanding the infinitive. It often implies effort, delay, an unexpected degree, or a limit on a scale. In neutral everyday Catalan, it can correspond to English “manage to,” “come to,” or emphatic “actually.”
Després de tres intents, vam arribar a obrir la porta sense trencar el pany.
After three attempts, we managed to open the door without breaking the lock.
Amb els anys, arribaràs a entendre per què va prendre aquella decisió.
With time, you will come to understand why she made that decision.
No arribo a sentir què diu l'altaveu amb tant de soroll.
I can't quite hear what the loudspeaker is saying with all this noise.
Negated no arribar a + infinitive commonly means “not quite manage to” or “not fully succeed in.” The failure is measured against a threshold: no arribo a veure-ho clar does not simply deny seeing; it says that complete understanding remains out of reach.
The construction can also mark an extreme that was in fact reached. This use is common in neutral reporting and more formal prose.
La temperatura va arribar a superar els quaranta graus a l'interior.
The temperature actually exceeded forty degrees indoors.
Acabar per: the final outcome of a process
Acabar per + infinitive presents the infinitive as the result that finally emerges from earlier events, hesitation, repetition, or pressure. The outcome may be intentional or reluctant, but the construction makes the path leading to it salient.
Al principi no volia venir, però va acabar per apuntar-se a l'excursió.
At first she didn't want to come, but she ended up signing up for the outing.
Si ajornes sempre la conversa, acabaràs per perdre la seva confiança.
If you keep postponing the conversation, you will eventually lose their trust.
Després de comparar totes les opcions, hem acabat per llogar el pis més petit.
After comparing all the options, we ended up renting the smaller flat.
The finite tense locates the culmination. Va acabar per cedir reports a completed past result; acabarà per cedir predicts a future outcome; acabaria per cedir presents the outcome from a hypothetical or past viewpoint. The English translation changes, but the Catalan logic remains “the process culminates in X.”
Do not confuse this construction with acabar de + infinitive, covered under ending and recent completion. Acabo de trucar means “I have just called”; acabo per trucar means “I end up calling.” The preposition changes the aspectual relationship completely.
Cada cop que intentem arreglar-ho per missatges, acabem per trucar-nos.
Every time we try to sort it out by text, we end up calling each other.
Anar a parar a: an eventual destination
Anar a parar a is not always a strict verb-plus-infinitive periphrasis. Its normal complement is a place, a person’s hands, a category, or an abstract result. It means that someone or something reaches a noteworthy—often unintended—destination. That destination is the endpoint of a trajectory, not merely the last action in a sequence.
El rebut va anar a parar a la carpeta de correu brossa.
The receipt ended up in the spam folder.
Després de la mudança, les fotos antigues van anar a parar a casa de la meva germana.
After the move, the old photos ended up at my sister's house.
Tota aquella discussió va anar a parar a no res.
That whole argument came to nothing.
With people, the construction can describe an unexpected posting, institution, or situation: va anar a parar a urgències “he ended up in the emergency department.” With objects, it often traces where something was placed, sent, or discarded. The locative pronoun hi can replace the destination: No sé com hi va anar a parar “I don't know how it ended up there.”
Agreement, tense, mood, and assertion
The first verb carries normal person-number agreement:
| Subject | Present threshold | Present culmination | Completed destination |
|---|---|---|---|
| jo | arribo a entendre | acabo per cedir | vaig anar a parar |
| tu | arribes a entendre | acabes per cedir | vas anar a parar |
| ell / ella / vostè | arriba a entendre | acaba per cedir | va anar a parar |
| nosaltres | arribem a entendre | acabem per cedir | vam anar a parar |
| vosaltres | arribeu a entendre | acabeu per cedir | vau anar a parar |
| ells / elles / vostès | arriben a entendre | acaben per cedir | van anar a parar |
The subjunctive is not selected merely because one of these expressions appears. It comes from the surrounding clause and its assertion status. Compare the asserted arribaran a entendre-ho with dubto que arribin a entendre-ho. The doubt trigger makes the finite verb subjunctive; the infinitive stays unchanged.
Dubto que acabin per acceptar una proposta tan poc concreta.
I doubt they'll end up accepting such a vague proposal.
This is why translating one English form at a time fails. Catalan first locates the viewpoint in discourse time, then marks whether the proposition is asserted, desired, doubted, or hypothetical. See mood and factivity for the larger system.
Weak-pronoun placement
With arribar a, a weak pronoun belonging to the infinitive can normally stand before the finite verb or attach to the infinitive. In conversation, both patterns occur; some combinations strongly favor the prefinite position because they are frequent formulas.
No ho arribo a entendre. / No arribo a entendre-ho.
I can't quite understand it.
With the less tightly grammaticalized acabar per, attaching the pronoun to the infinitive is the clearest general model: Vam acabar per acceptar-ho. Prefinite placement varies more with context and speaker, so learners do not need to force it.
With anar a parar a, hi usually represents the destination before the finite verb: Hi van anar a parar per error. For the general system, see pronoun climbing.
Do not confuse the periphrastic past with near future
In va arribar a dir-ho, va is the past auxiliary of Catalan’s periphrastic past and arribar is the lexical infinitive: “she went so far as to say it / she eventually said it.” It is not Spanish-style va a decir “is going to say.” Catalan expresses an imminent or planned future with context, the present, the future, or appropriate aspectual wording, as explained in near-future constructions.
En l'entrevista, va arribar a negar que conegués el document.
In the interview, he went so far as to deny knowing about the document.
Mini-dialogue
—Has trobat el contracte? —Sí, havia anat a parar entre les factures antigues.
—Did you find the contract? —Yes, it had ended up among the old invoices.
—I la reunió? —Després de dues hores, vam acabar per ajornar la decisió.
—And the meeting? —After two hours, we ended up postponing the decision.
The first answer identifies an accidental destination; the second presents a deliberative process and its final outcome.
Register and regional notes
All three constructions belong to contemporary standard Catalan and are understood across the domain. Arribar a and anar a parar a are common in both (informal) conversation and neutral writing. Acabar per is also standard, though in spontaneous speech speakers may choose al final plus a finite clause: Al final vam ajornar la decisió. Valencian, Balearic, Northwestern, Northern, and Alguerese usage may favor different lexical alternatives in a given context, but no regional replacement is required for these standard patterns.
Common Mistakes
❌ Vaig a arribar a entendre-ho ahir.
Incorrect — this copies a Spanish near-future pattern and conflicts with the past-time word ahir.
✅ Ahir vaig arribar a entendre-ho.
Yesterday I finally managed to understand it.
❌ Al final va acabar d'acceptar la proposta.
Incorrect for 'ended up accepting' — acabar de means recent completion, not eventual outcome.
✅ Al final va acabar per acceptar la proposta.
In the end, she ended up accepting the proposal.
❌ El missatge va acabar per la paperera.
Incorrect — a destination calls for anar a parar a, not acabar per.
✅ El missatge va anar a parar a la paperera.
The message ended up in the trash.
❌ No arribo entendre aquesta lletra.
Incorrect — arribar requires a before its infinitive complement.
✅ No arribo a entendre aquesta lletra.
I can't quite make out this handwriting.
❌ Dubto que arriben a temps.
Incorrect in this meaning — doubt presents arrival as unasserted, so the finite verb is subjunctive.
✅ Dubto que arribin a temps.
I doubt they'll arrive on time.
Key Takeaways
- Arribar a + infinitive crosses a threshold: manage to, come to, or go so far as to do something.
- Acabar per + infinitive profiles the final outcome of a process; acabar de expresses a different meaning.
- Anar a parar a profiles an unintended or noteworthy destination, usually followed by a place or result rather than an infinitive.
- Tense and mood belong to the finite verb and reflect discourse time and assertion, not a fixed English translation.
- Weak pronouns may climb with the infinitival constructions; destination hi normally precedes anar a parar.
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Start learning Catalan →Related Topics
- Acabar de and Deixar deA2 — Use acabar de for a just-completed event or incomplete attainment, and deixar de for stopping an activity, with precise control of tense and negation.
- Tornar a plus InfinitiveA2 — Express repeated events and restored states with tornar a plus an infinitive, and distinguish its scope from de nou and negation.
- Anar a plus InfinitiveA2 — Use anar a plus infinitive for narrowly defined imminence and announcements without copying the all-purpose English or Spanish near future.
- Vaig Parlar versus Vaig a ParlarA2 — Distinguish completed-past vaig parlar from present motion or restricted imminence in vaig a parlar.
- Clitic Climbing with Verb PeriphrasesB2 — Choose where a Catalan weak pronoun can stand in modal, obligative, progressive, and closely integrated verb phrases.
- Verb-Periphrasis CalquesB1 — Replace Spanish- and English-shaped verb chains with idiomatic Catalan expressions of obligation, futurity, duration, and viewpoint.