Catalan normally forms a completed past with a distinctive two-word structure: a special auxiliary from anar plus the verb’s infinitive. Thus vaig parlar means “I spoke,” vam perdre means “we lost,” and van sortir means “they left.” The auxiliary carries person and number; the infinitive identifies the event and never changes for the subject.
This is called the periphrastic past (passat perifràstic or pretèrit perfet perifràstic). Despite its historical connection with anar “go,” the auxiliary no longer expresses motion.
The complete paradigm
The short forms are the best general standard baseline. The longer alternatives shown in the last column are also normative but are less general geographically.
| Person | General auxiliary | With parlar | Normative variant |
|---|---|---|---|
| jo | vaig | vaig parlar | — |
| tu | vas | vas parlar | vares parlar |
| ell / ella / vostè | va | va parlar | — |
| nosaltres | vam | vam parlar | vàrem parlar |
| vosaltres | vau | vau parlar | vàreu parlar |
| ells / elles / vostès | van | van parlar | varen parlar |
The accent marks in vàrem and vàreu are obligatory and show initial stress: VÀ-rem, VÀ-reu. Vares and varen also have initial stress by the ordinary spelling rules, while the short forms are monosyllabic. The infinitive keeps its dictionary spelling and stress: parlar, perdre, sortir, conèixer, conduir. Because the infinitive is invariant, forms such as vaig parlava or vam sortits are impossible.
Ahir vaig parlar amb el president de l'escala.
Yesterday I spoke with the head of the residents’ association.
Vas tancar la finestra abans de sortir?
Did you close the window before leaving?
La Núria va perdre l'últim autobús.
Núria missed the last bus.
Dissabte vam trobar un restaurant molt bo al barri.
On Saturday we found a very good restaurant in the neighborhood.
Vau arribar bé a casa?
Did you get home safely?
Els veïns van sentir el soroll, però no van veure res.
The neighbors heard the noise, but they didn’t see anything.
Agreement lives on the auxiliary
English marks many past verbs with the same form for every person: “I spoke, we spoke, they spoke.” Catalan instead shows the subject on the auxiliary. Compare vaig parlar with vam parlar: only vaig/vam changes.
Jo vaig reservar la taula i vosaltres vau comprar les entrades.
I booked the table and you bought the tickets.
Tu no vas rebre el missatge, però elles sí que el van rebre.
You didn’t receive the message, but they did receive it.
Subject pronouns remain optional unless contrast or clarity calls for them. The verb endings already distinguish vaig, vas, vam, and vau; va and van combine with context to identify the third-person subject.
The same formation works with the infinitive anar itself:
Diumenge vam anar a la muntanya i vam tornar abans que es fes fosc.
On Sunday we went to the mountains and came back before it got dark.
In vam anar, vam is the past auxiliary and anar is the lexical verb “go.” Repetition is not a mistake: each form has a different grammatical job.
Why it is not the present of anar
The auxiliary resembles the present of lexical anar, but the plural exposes an important difference:
| Person | Present motion | Past auxiliary |
|---|---|---|
| jo | vaig al mercat | vaig comprar |
| tu | vas al mercat | vas comprar |
| ell / ella | va al mercat | va comprar |
| nosaltres | anem al mercat | vam comprar |
| vosaltres | aneu al mercat | vau comprar |
| ells / elles | van al mercat | van comprar |
A bare infinitive immediately after the auxiliary normally creates past meaning: va sortir “he/she left.” A preposition changes the structure: va a l'estació is present motion, and va a buscar el cotxe contains a and can describe going to fetch the car. The contrast receives full treatment in Vaig parlar versus vaig a parlar.
Weak-pronoun placement
Weak pronouns may stand before the auxiliary or attach to the infinitive. Both placements are standard; preverbal placement is especially natural in ordinary conversation.
La carta, la vaig enviar dilluns.
I sent the letter on Monday.
Vaig enviar-la dilluns, però no va arribar fins dijous.
I sent it on Monday, but it didn’t arrive until Thursday.
Ens vam llevar tard perquè no va sonar el despertador.
We got up late because the alarm didn’t go off.
Vam llevar-nos tard perquè no va sonar el despertador.
We got up late because the alarm didn’t go off.
When attached, pronouns follow the ordinary infinitive spelling rules: veure'l, enviar-la, dir-ho, llevar-nos. Do not attach them to the finite auxiliary in affirmative statements: the structure is el vaig veure, not an invented vaig-lo veure.
Negation and questions preserve the two-word core
Negation places no before the pronoun-plus-auxiliary group; a question normally uses intonation and punctuation, not an English-style auxiliary:
No els vam poder avisar a temps.
We couldn’t warn them in time.
Per què no em vas trucar ahir?
Why didn’t you call me yesterday?
The finite element is already vas/vam. Do not insert an equivalent of English did or conjugate the infinitive as well. Likewise, neither Spanish haber nor Catalan haver replaces anar in this particular tense: he parlat is a different Catalan tense, while vaig parlar is the periphrastic past. More complex word order belongs on the dedicated pages about negation and questions and pronouns.
Regional and register variants
The expanded forms vares, vàrem, vàreu, and varen are normative and alive with uneven regional distribution, notably in Girona and neighboring areas and in parts of the Balearic and Valencian domains (regional: Girona, Balearic Islands, and parts of Valencia). Many style guides nevertheless choose the short set vas, vam, vau, van for a uniform supradialectal standard (formal). Keep one series consistent within a text.
The analogical forms vem and veu occur in speech (informal; regional: Central Catalan), but they are not appropriate in formal standard writing.
The synthetic simple past—parlí, parlares, parlà...—expresses essentially the same perfective past. It remains alive in parts of Valencian and Balearic speech (regional: Valencian and Balearic) and occurs in formal or literary writing, but the periphrastic past is the safest general spoken form.
Mini-dialogue: checking the forms
—Vau veure la Mariona ahir? —Sí, la vam trobar sortint de la feina.
—Did you see Mariona yesterday? —Yes, we ran into her as she was leaving work.
—I li vau donar les claus? —No, vam oblidar-nos-en completament.
—And did you give her the keys? —No, we completely forgot about it.
The auxiliaries vau and vam agree with their subjects. Veure, trobar, donar, and oblidar remain infinitives; the weak pronouns attach according to normal Catalan syntax.
Common Mistakes
1. Conjugating both verbs.
❌ Ahir vaig parlava amb el conserge.
Incorrect—the lexical verb must be an infinitive after vaig.
✅ Ahir vaig parlar amb el conserge.
Yesterday I spoke with the caretaker.
2. Using lexical anar forms as plural auxiliaries.
❌ Diumenge anem visitar els avis.
Incorrect for past time—anem is the lexical present, not the past auxiliary.
✅ Diumenge vam visitar els avis.
On Sunday we visited our grandparents.
3. Inserting a into the past construction.
❌ Dissabte vam a visitar el castell.
Incorrect for a completed Saturday visit—a creates a different construction.
✅ Dissabte vam visitar el castell.
On Saturday we visited the castle.
4. Combining a form of haver with a bare infinitive.
❌ Ahir he reservar una taula.
Incorrect—he requires a participle, while the periphrastic past uses vaig plus an infinitive.
✅ Ahir vaig reservar una taula.
Yesterday I reserved a table.
5. Misspelling the expanded forms.
❌ Nosaltres varem arribar tard.
Incorrect—the expanded auxiliary vàrem requires a grave accent.
✅ Nosaltres vàrem arribar tard.
We arrived late.
Key Takeaways
- Build the tense with vaig, vas, va, vam, vau, van + infinitive.
- Person and number are marked on the auxiliary; the infinitive never agrees.
- Vares, vàrem, vàreu, and varen are normative regional alternatives.
- A bare infinitive signals the past construction; a + infinitive belongs to a different structure.
- Weak pronouns can precede the auxiliary or attach to the infinitive.
Now practice Catalan
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Catalan →Related Topics
- Present of AnarA1 — Conjugate present-tense anar for movement and plans, and distinguish the same-looking forms used to build the periphrastic past.
- Using the Periphrastic PastA2 — Use the periphrastic past for completed events and bounded sequences in a past time frame, especially in ordinary speech.
- Vaig Parlar versus Vaig a ParlarA2 — Distinguish completed-past vaig parlar from present motion or restricted imminence in vaig a parlar.
- Weak Pronouns with the Periphrastic PastB1 — Place Catalan weak pronouns before the past auxiliary or, where licensed, attach them to the infinitive.
- Regional Forms of the Periphrastic PastB1 — Compare short and expanded Catalan periphrastic-past auxiliaries and understand where each series is used.
- The Simple Past: Regular ParadigmsC1 — Recognize and form the regular Catalan synthetic past across the three conjugations, with correct stress and spelling.