Catalan soler + infinitive marks a usual pattern: solc esmorzar aviat “I usually have breakfast early,” solíem anar-hi a peu “we used to walk there.” The finite verb soler packages habituality; the infinitive names the repeated event. English normally relies on “usually,” “tend to,” or “used to,” so there is no reliable word-for-word tense match.
Soler is genuinely defective: in contemporary neutral usage it is restricted to the imperfective indicative forms, above all the present and imperfect. That limitation is not a puzzle with a hidden shortcut. Learners must know the two useful paradigms and choose another construction when the discourse requires a future, a completed past, a command, or a productive subjunctive.
For the wider contrast between background, ongoing situations, and repeated past events, see Uses of the Imperfect. The present page focuses on how Catalan explicitly marks a habit.
The two productive paradigms
| Person | Present | Imperfect |
|---|---|---|
| jo | solc sortir | solia sortir |
| tu | sols sortir | solies sortir |
| ell / ella / vostè | sol sortir | solia sortir |
| nosaltres | solem sortir | solíem sortir |
| vosaltres / vós | soleu sortir | solíeu sortir |
| ells / elles / vostès | solen sortir | solien sortir |
The present has the irregular first-person form solc. Stress falls on the stem in solc, sols, sol, and solen, and on the ending in solem and soleu. Every imperfect form contains soli-; the written accents in solíem and solíeu keep the stress on í. The verb form sol has no accent; sòl with a grave accent is the noun “ground.”
No preposition links the verbs. The pattern is soler + infinitive, not soler a, soler de, or soler + gerund.
Solc agafar el tren de dos quarts de vuit perquè el següent va massa ple.
I usually catch the seven-thirty train because the next one is too crowded.
Soleu dinar a casa o us emporteu alguna cosa a la feina?
Do you usually have lunch at home, or do you take something to work?
En aquesta època de l'any sol ploure al vespre.
At this time of year it usually rains in the evening.
Present habits, not actions in progress
The present forms describe what generally happens around the current period. They do not say that the event is unfolding at the moment of speech.
Els divendres solem sopar amb uns amics del barri.
On Fridays we usually have dinner with some friends from the neighborhood.
No solc mirar el correu quan estic de vacances.
I don't usually check my email when I'm on vacation.
Compare solc llegir al vespre with estic llegint ara. The first is a habit; the second zooms in on an activity in progress. English uses “I am working from home” both for an event now and sometimes for a temporary routine, but Catalan does not automatically copy that progressive.
Aquest mes solc treballar des de casa els dimecres.
This month I usually work from home on Wednesdays.
Ara estic treballant des de casa perquè espero un paquet.
Right now I'm working from home because I'm waiting for a package.
Negated soler describes what is not customary. No solc beure cafè means “I don't usually drink coffee,” not necessarily “I never drink coffee.” For a categorical claim, use mai.
Past habits with the imperfect
Solia + infinitive makes a past pattern explicit. It is especially useful when English has “used to” and when the bare imperfect might otherwise be read as background in progress.
Quan vivíem a Girona, solíem anar al mercat els dissabtes.
When we lived in Girona, we used to go to the market on Saturdays.
La meva àvia solia deixar la ràdio encesa mentre cuinava.
My grandmother used to leave the radio on while she cooked.
De petit no solies menjar verdura, però ara t'agrada molt.
As a child you didn't usually eat vegetables, but now you really like them.
The bare imperfect can also be habitual: anàvem al mercat els dissabtes already means “we used to go to the market on Saturdays.” Solíem anar-hi explicitly labels the recurrence, while the bare imperfect relies more on the time expression and context.
| Form | Likely reading |
|---|---|
| Els dissabtes anàvem al mercat. | habit supplied by the plural time phrase |
| Solíem anar al mercat. | habit stated by soler |
| Quan vas trucar, anàvem al mercat. | movement in progress at that past moment |
The difference illustrates viewpoint. The same imperfect anàvem can support a repeated or ongoing reading; solíem forces the habitual one.
Why soler does not fill every tense
Because habituality is inherently imperfective, current standard use does not productively say soleré, soleria, vaig soler, or an imperative of soler. Rare historical and dialectal forms can be found (archaic, literary, or regional), but they are not good models for present-day general use.
For a future habit, use a frequency expression with the future or present:
A partir d'octubre, normalment treballaré a la biblioteca.
Starting in October, I'll usually work at the library.
For a bounded past period, use the imperfect plus a frame, or state the number of occurrences. Do not force soler into the periphrastic past.
Durant aquell curs anava a la biblioteca gairebé cada tarda.
During that academic year I went to the library almost every afternoon.
The sequence va anar is the ordinary periphrastic past “went.” Va soler anar is not the neutral way to say “used to go”; use solia anar. This also prevents confusion between completed va anar and the habitual imperfect anava.
If a subordinate environment would ordinarily call for a subjunctive, current Catalan often recasts the sentence instead of producing a marginal form of soler: És habitual que arribi aviat “It is usual for him to arrive early.” Mood must reflect assertion and clause structure, not a supposed rule that every lexical trigger accepts every form.
Acostumar a and other habitual alternatives
Nonpronominal acostumar a + infinitive can also mean “usually do” or “be in the habit of doing.” It is standard, though soler and frequency adverbs are often lighter in everyday conversation.
A l'hivern acostumem a tancar una hora abans.
In winter we usually close an hour earlier.
Aquest ocell acostuma a niar prop dels rius.
This bird usually nests near rivers.
Do not confuse it with pronominal acostumar-se a + infinitive, which means “get used to doing.” The reflexive pronoun changes the participant structure and the meaning.
M'he acostumat a llevar-me d'hora, però no solc esmorzar de seguida.
I've got used to getting up early, but I don't usually have breakfast right away.
Frequency adverbs let the speaker calibrate the pattern: normalment “normally,” sovint “often,” de vegades “sometimes,” gairebé sempre “almost always,” mai “never.” They can be used in tenses where soler is unavailable and can specify frequency more precisely.
De vegades teletreballo, però normalment vaig a l'oficina.
Sometimes I work remotely, but I normally go to the office.
Weak-pronoun placement
An object or reflexive pronoun belonging to the infinitive can generally precede soler or attach to the infinitive: ho sol fer / sol fer-ho; em solc llevar / solc llevar-me. With acostumar a, low attachment is a clear default: acostuma a fer-ho.
A la Jana, la solen avisar amb temps. / Solen avisar-la amb temps.
They usually notify Jana well in advance.
Els diumenges ens solem llevar tard. / Els diumenges solem llevar-nos tard.
On Sundays we usually get up late.
The finite verb—not the infinitive—shows person and number. When a cluster is attached, Catalan spelling keeps its hyphens and apostrophes: sol explicar-m'ho.
Mini-dialogue
—Sols venir en bicicleta? —Normalment sí, però quan plou acostumo a agafar l'autobús. —I abans? —Abans solia venir a peu.
—Do you usually come by bicycle? —Normally, yes, but when it rains I usually take the bus. —And before? —I used to come on foot.
The dialogue uses present sols for a current routine, acostumo a as a present alternative, and imperfect solia for a former habit.
Regional and register notes
The present and imperfect uses are shared across the standards. The first-person present has documented regional variation, but solc is a safe general standard form and the Central Catalan baseline taught here. Acostumar a is standard across regions; its relative frequency varies by speaker and register. In careful prose, habitualment and normalment are useful (formal) alternatives, while cada dos per tres “very frequently” is expressive (informal).
Spanish has a similar verb, but its forms are not Catalan: Spanish suelo, suele must not replace Catalan solc, sol. The shared infinitive pattern does not make the paradigms interchangeable.
Common Mistakes
1. Adding a preposition after soler.
❌ Solc a llegir abans d'anar a dormir.
Incorrect—soler takes the infinitive directly.
✅ Solc llegir abans d'anar a dormir.
I usually read before going to sleep.
2. Copying Spanish forms.
❌ Suelo arribar abans que els altres.
Incorrect—suelo is Spanish, not Catalan.
✅ Solc arribar abans que els altres.
I usually arrive before the others.
3. Forcing soler into the periphrastic past.
❌ De jove vaig soler sortir cada divendres.
Nonneutral for a past habit—use the imperfect.
✅ De jove solia sortir cada divendres.
When I was young, I used to go out every Friday.
4. Using a progressive for a stable routine.
❌ Cada matí estic anant a la feina a peu.
Unnatural for an ordinary repeated habit.
✅ Cada matí solc anar a la feina a peu.
Every morning I usually walk to work.
5. Confusing habitual acostumar with pronominal acostumar-se.
❌ M'acostumo a agafar el tren cada matí.
Incorrect for 'I usually take the train every morning'—the pronominal verb means getting used to doing it.
✅ Acostumo a agafar el tren. / M'estic acostumant a agafar-lo.
I usually take the train. / I'm getting used to taking it.
Key Takeaways
Use present solc, sols, sol, solem, soleu, solen for current habits and imperfect solia, solies, solia, solíem, solíeu, solien for past habits. Attach the infinitive directly. Because soler is defective, switch to frequency adverbs, acostumar a, or a bare imperfect when another tense or mood is needed. Keep habitual meaning distinct from an action in progress and from pronominal acostumar-se a “get used to.”
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Start learning Catalan →Related Topics
- Uses of the ImperfectA2 — Use the Catalan imperfect for past habits, background scenes, simultaneous situations, age and time, polite distancing, and unreal play.
- Uses of the Present IndicativeA2 — Use the Catalan present indicative for habits, states, current events, performatives, general truths, schedules, narrative, and live commentary.
- Frequency AdverbsA2 — Express habits with sempre, sovint, de vegades, normalment, and gairebé mai, using neutral and focused placement.
- Infinitives after Modal and Control VerbsA2 — Combine poder, voler, saber, intentar, decidir, and prometre with an infinitive, and identify who performs the infinitive's action.
- Dur, Portar, and Fer for DurationB1 — Express how long an ongoing or absent situation has lasted with fa... que, des de fa, and the newer dur or portar duration constructions.
- Overusing Estar plus GerundA1 — Replace English-driven progressive forms with the Catalan simple present or imperfect unless an unfolding process is genuinely in focus.