Catalan speakers share the same periphrastic-past construction—an auxiliary related historically to anar plus an infinitive—but they do not all use exactly the same auxiliary forms. The short series vaig, vas, va, vam, vau, van is the best general starting point. The expanded forms vares, vàrem, vàreu, varen are also standard, genuine Catalan and alive in several regions.
The variation is morphological, not semantic. Vam arribar and vàrem arribar both present the arrival as a completed past event; neither is more remote, more complete, or more polite.
The two standard series
The short and expanded forms can be displayed in one paradigm. There is no generally accepted expanded alternative to first-person singular vaig, and third-person singular is va in both series.
| Person | Short form | Expanded form | With arribar |
|---|---|---|---|
| jo | vaig | — | vaig arribar |
| tu | vas | vares | vas / vares arribar |
| ell / ella / vostè | va | — | va arribar |
| nosaltres | vam | vàrem | vam / vàrem arribar |
| vosaltres | vau | vàreu | vau / vàreu arribar |
| ells / elles / vostès | van | varen | van / varen arribar |
Dissabte vam pujar al refugi abans que es fes fosc.
On Saturday we climbed up to the mountain hut before it got dark.
Dissabte vàrem pujar al refugi abans que es fes fosc.
On Saturday we climbed up to the mountain hut before it got dark.
The expanded series contains -re- in the same persons that show -re- in the simple past: compare vares cantar with cantares, and vàrem cantar with cantàrem. That historical analogy explains the shape, but it does not make vares a simple-past form: the infinitive still follows, so the construction remains periphrastic.
Stress and spelling
The accents in vàrem and vàreu are obligatory. They mark stress on the first syllable: VÀ-rem, VÀ-reu. The forms vares and varen are also stressed on the first syllable, but ordinary Catalan accent rules do not require a written accent there. The lexical infinitive keeps its normal stress: vàrem arriBAR, varen conÈIXer, vares deCIDIR.
Vàreu entendre l'avís o el vàreu llegir massa de pressa?
Did you understand the notice, or did you read it too quickly?
Els tècnics varen resoldre l'avaria de matinada.
The technicians fixed the fault in the early hours of the morning.
The subject agrees with the auxiliary, never with the infinitive. Accordingly, nosaltres vàrem sortir and elles varen sortir differ in the auxiliary while sortir remains unchanged.
Central Catalan and the general media baseline
(regional: Central Catalan) Short vas, vam, vau, van strongly predominate in much everyday speech, especially in and around Barcelona, and are unmarked in writing. They are therefore the most efficient active paradigm for an international learner.
Quan vas començar a treballar aquí?
When did you start working here?
This does not mean that everyone within the Eastern Catalan area uses only the short forms. (regional: Girona and neighboring northeastern areas) Expanded vares, vàrem, vàreu, varen have a robust traditional and contemporary presence. A Girona speaker saying vàrem tornar tard is using a normal regional form, not an antiquated tense.
Vàrem tornar tard perquè la carretera estava tallada.
We came back late because the road was closed.
Balearic usage
(regional: Balearic) Expanded forms, especially vàrem and varen, are strongly associated with a number of Balearic speech traditions, although distribution differs by island, locality, generation, and individual speaker. Short forms are also fully available. Official Balearic administrative style may prefer the short series for consistency while explicitly accepting both.
The simple past remains alive in parts of Mallorca and Ibiza, so a speaker may have both vàrem arribar and simple arribàrem available. These are two different morphological routes to the same basic completed-past viewpoint; choices reflect region, genre, and style rather than a universal difference in time.
—A quina hora vàreu arribar? —Vàrem arribar devers les onze, però els al·lots ja dormien.
—What time did you arrive? —We arrived at about eleven, but the children were already asleep.
The words devers and al·lots in this dialogue reinforce a Balearic setting; the form vàrem itself is standard beyond the islands too. Never infer a speaker's precise island from one auxiliary alone.
Valencian usage
(regional: Valencian) The periphrastic past is ordinary and widespread, and the short auxiliary series is a priority model in major contemporary institutional and media styles. Expanded vares, vàrem, vàreu, varen are nevertheless accepted standard alternatives.
Some Valencian areas—notably central Valencian and, variably, parts of the south—also preserve the simple past in speech. A Valencian speaker may therefore say ahir vam anar al mercat, ahir vàrem anar al mercat, or simple ahir anàrem al mercat, depending on local usage and personal style.
Ahir vam eixir tard de la faena i vam sopar a Alcoi.
Yesterday we left work late and had dinner in Alcoi.
Here eixir and faena are normal Valencian lexical choices; vam is not “Catalonian.” Regional identity resides in a bundle of features, not in a forced one-to-one pairing between region and auxiliary.
Northwestern, Northern, and Alguerese perspectives
(regional: Northwestern Catalan) The short series is broadly available, while expanded variants occur with differing local frequencies. Use the general written forms unless representing a documented local voice. The wider geographic system is mapped on Regional Verb Morphology.
(regional: Northern Catalan) The periphrastic past has displaced the simple past in present-day ordinary usage. Local colloquial realizations such as vai can be heard, but (informal) they should not replace standard written vaig. General formal usage employs the shared paradigm.
(regional: Alguerese) The periphrastic past belongs to the historical Catalan system, but local forms and competing compound-past patterns reflect long contact with Sardinian and Italian. Learners writing common standard Catalan should use vaig, vas, va, vam, vau, van rather than improvising a spelling from local pronunciation. A dedicated dialect description is needed before representing Alguerese dialogue authentically.
Nonformal analogical forms
Forms such as vàreig, vem, and veu occur colloquially in some areas by analogy with other members of the paradigm. (informal) They are useful for listening comprehension but do not belong in neutral formal writing. The standard equivalents are vaig, vam, and vau.
En una entrevista editada, escriuríem «vam parlar», encara que el parlant hagués pronunciat una variant local.
In an edited interview, we would write ‘we spoke,’ even if the speaker had pronounced a local variant.
This is an editorial choice, not a judgment about the speaker's competence. Dialect transcription, sociolinguistic research, and literature representing speech may deliberately retain local forms.
What does not vary with the auxiliary series
Pronoun placement and negation follow the same structure with either series:
No ens ho van explicar fins l'endemà.
They didn't explain it to us until the next day.
No ens ho varen explicar fins l'endemà.
They didn't explain it to us until the next day.
Both mean the same thing. The weak-pronoun cluster precedes the auxiliary, no precedes the cluster, and explicar remains an infinitive. Postinfinitival placement is also possible in the appropriate style: no varen explicar-nos-ho.
Nor does regional morphology insert the preposition a. Vàrem comprar pa is past “we bought bread”; anam a comprar pa (regional: Balearic) is lexical present anar plus purpose, “we are going to buy bread.” The presence of a and the wider context distinguish movement/prospective meaning from past time.
English progressive wording is equally unreliable as a selector. “We were talking” may require imperfect parlàvem as background, whereas vàrem estar parlant dues hores presents a bounded two-hour stretch. Regional choice between vam and vàrem does not decide aspect for you.
Finally, all variants on this page are indicative forms used for asserted completed events. A subordinate clause whose event is desired, doubted, or otherwise nonasserted may require subjunctive: Volien que hi anàrem (regional: Valencian) or Volien que hi anéssim in the Central baseline, not periphrastic van anar. Mood follows the intended assertion, not a trigger word copied mechanically.
Contrast with the simple past
The periphrastic and simple past usually share the same perfective viewpoint:
| Periphrastic past | Simple past | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| vaig cantar | cantí | I sang |
| vas / vares cantar | cantares | you sang |
| va cantar | cantà | he/she sang |
| vam / vàrem cantar | cantàrem | we sang |
| vau / vàreu cantar | cantàreu | you all sang |
| van / varen cantar | cantaren | they sang |
The simple past is prominent in literary and historical narrative (literary) (formal) and remains conversational in particular Valencian and Balearic areas (regional: parts of Valencia, Mallorca, and Ibiza). Elsewhere, using it throughout casual conversation may sound bookish. The periphrastic past is not an “easy substitute”; it is the ordinary spoken past across most of the language area.
Common Mistakes
1. Mixing short and expanded pieces into nonexistent forms.
❌ Nosaltres vàm arribar a les vuit.
Incorrect — the short form is vam without an accent; the expanded form is vàrem.
✅ Nosaltres vam arribar a les vuit.
We arrived at eight.
2. Omitting the written accents in expanded plural forms.
❌ Varem dinar i despres vareu marxar.
Incorrect — both auxiliary accents and the accent in després are missing.
✅ Vàrem dinar i després vàreu marxar.
We had lunch, and afterward you left.
3. Treating expanded forms as inherently archaic.
❌ «Vàrem parlar» només es pot usar en textos antics.
Incorrect claim — the expanded form remains standard and alive regionally.
✅ A Mallorca vàrem parlar amb una família que feia servir aquesta forma cada dia.
In Mallorca we spoke with a family who used this form every day.
4. Adding Spanish-style a to the completed past.
❌ Ahir vàrem a visitar el museu.
Incorrect for ‘Yesterday we visited the museum.’
✅ Ahir vàrem visitar el museu.
Yesterday we visited the museum.
5. Using a local colloquial form in neutral formal prose.
❌ En aquest informe vem analitzar cent respostes.
Nonstandard for neutral formal prose — use vam or vàrem.
✅ En aquest informe vam analitzar cent respostes.
In this report we analyzed one hundred responses.
Key Takeaways
Short vaig, vas, va, vam, vau, van gives you a neutral, cross-regional paradigm. Expanded vares, vàrem, vàreu, varen is also standard and especially visible in northeastern and Balearic usage, with additional local distribution elsewhere. Keep the series internally consistent in edited prose, spell vàrem and vàreu with their accents, and separate standard regional variation from colloquial forms such as vem or vàreig.
Related Topics
- Forming the Periphrastic PastA2 — Build Catalan’s ordinary past with the auxiliary forms vaig, vas, va, vam, vau, van and an unchanged infinitive.
- Vaig Parlar versus Vaig a ParlarA2 — Distinguish completed-past vaig parlar from present motion or restricted imminence in vaig a parlar.
- Where the Simple Past Is UsedC1 — Understand the literary, historical, liturgical, and regional settings in which Catalan uses the synthetic simple past.
- Regional Verb MorphologyB2 — Compare coherent Catalan verb paradigms across Central, Valencian, Balearic, Northwestern, Northern, and Alguerese usage without mistaking regional standards for errors.
- ValencianB1 — Understand the coherent Valencian standard in its vowels, demonstratives, possessives, verbs, weak pronouns, and register choices.
- Balearic CatalanB1 — Recognize Balearic stressed schwa, salat articles, zero first-person endings, weak-pronoun forms, and the division between local speech and public writing.