Incoative -ir Verbs in the Present | Catalan Grammar

Many Catalan verbs in -ir insert an incoative extension in four present-tense persons. In the Central standard, servir gives serveixo, serveixes, serveix, and serveixen, but the extension disappears in servim and serviu. This split is systematic once you know that a verb belongs to the incoative class.

The traditional label can mislead: modern incoative morphology does not mean that the action is beginning. Decideixo quedar-me simply means “I decide to stay,” not “I begin deciding.” The class is a fact about conjugation, and it must be learned with the verb.

The complete Central paradigm

The Central Catalan present of servir is:

Person	Form	Structure
jo	serveixo	serv- + -eix- + -o
tu	serveixes	serv- + -eix- + -es
ell / ella / vostè	serveix	serv- + -eix
nosaltres	servim	serv- + -im
vosaltres	serviu	serv- + -iu
ells / elles / vostès	serveixen	serv- + -eix- + -en

Serveixo el sopar a les vuit, però avui podem esperar una mica.

I serve dinner at eight, but today we can wait a little.

Aquest carregador et serveix per al mòbil nou?

Is this charger any use for your new phone?

Vosaltres decidiu on sopem i jo reservo taula.

You decide where we eat and I'll book a table.

Els avis pateixen quan no els truquem en tota la setmana.

The grandparents worry when we don't call them all week.

The extension appears in jo, tu, ell/ella/vostè, and ells/elles/vostès. It is absent from nosaltres and vosaltres. Those are also the two persons whose endings, -im and -iu, carry the stress.

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Memorize the distribution as “all singular plus third-person plural, but not nosaltres or vosaltres.” That one pattern predicts serveixo... servim, serviu... serveixen.

Stress explains the distribution

In the forms with the extension, -eix- is stressed: serveixo, serveixes, serveix, serveixen. In servim and serviu, the ending is stressed and the extension does not appear. This same stress pattern holds for regular incoative verbs such as decidir and patir:

Infinitive	jo	ell / ella	nosaltres	ells / elles
decidir	decideixo	decideix	decidim	decideixen
patir	pateixo	pateix	patim	pateixen

No pateixis per mi: decideixo jo i n'assumeixo les conseqüències.

Don't worry about me: I make my own decision and accept the consequences.

The first verb in that example, pateixis, is subjunctive inside a negative command; decideixo and assumeixo are present indicative assertions. Similar-looking stems do not mean the moods are interchangeable.

Pure versus incoative -ir verbs

Compare servir with pure dormir:

Person	Pure dormir	Incoative servir
jo	dormo	serveixo
tu	dorms	serveixes
ell / ella	dorm	serveix
nosaltres	dormim	servim
vosaltres	dormiu	serviu
ells / elles	dormen	serveixen

You cannot reliably infer the class from meaning or from the infinitive alone. There is no logical shortcut: learn dormir—dormo and servir—serveixo. The forms servim and serviu do not reveal the class because no extension occurs there.

The extensionless model is covered separately in Pure -ir Verbs in the Present.

Jo serveixo les begudes mentre els nens dormen.

I serve the drinks while the children sleep.

Valencian -isc- and -ix-

(regional: Valencian) standard usage commonly has -isc in the first-person singular and -ix- in the other extension-bearing forms:

Person	Central	Valencian
jo	serveixo	servisc
tu	serveixes	servixes
ell / ella / vostè	serveix	servix
nosaltres	servim	servim
vosaltres	serviu	serviu
ells / elles / vostès	serveixen	servixen

The table shows the characteristic everyday Valencian -isc/-ix- model. In written Valencian, serveixes, serveix, and serveixen also alternate with servixes, servix, and servixen, and the forms in -eix- are often preferred in more formal registers. The first-person servesc also exists in restricted or highly formal Valencian usage.

(regional: Northwestern) speech may have first-person servixo. (regional: Balearic) may have first-person servesc or serveix, and some Balearic speech has second-person serveixs. (regional: Alguerese) may likewise use first-person serveix, while (regional: Northern) Catalan may use serveixi. At A1, follow one codified local model consistently rather than mixing endings at random.

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Central -eix- and Valencian -isc/-ix- are standard regional solutions to the same morphological slot. Choose the model used by your speech community; neither is a more “correct” version of the other.

Present meaning and weak pronouns

The simple present can express a current fact, habit, general property, or near-future arrangement. In Aquest cable no serveix, the form states a current property. In Demà decidim el menú, a present form presents a future decision as scheduled.

Aquestes claus no serveixen: són de l'armari vell.

These keys are no use: they're for the old cupboard.

Demà decidim si continuem amb el projecte.

Tomorrow we decide whether to continue with the project.

Do not automatically replace the present with estar + gerund because English uses “is deciding.” Catalan Ara decideixen què fan is neutral; estan decidint explicitly zooms in on the deliberation in progress.

Weak pronouns precede an ordinary finite present: el serveixo, ho decideixen, no em serveix. With no, the order is no + pronoun + verb.

La sopa ja és calenta; la serveixo ara mateix.

The soup is hot now; I'll serve it right away.

Aquesta aplicació no em serveix perquè el meu mòbil és massa antic.

This app is no use to me because my phone is too old.

Mini-dialogue

—Qui decideix el menú? —El decideixen la cuinera i el responsable de sala, i després nosaltres servim els plats.

—Who decides the menu? —The cook and the dining-room manager decide it, and then we serve the dishes.

The singular question qui decideix? does not force the answer to be singular. In the reply, the coordinated subject takes decideixen, while nosaltres takes the extensionless servim.

Contrast with past and subjunctive

Present decideixo asserts a current decision. Periphrastic past vaig decidir presents a completed decision. Never insert a into that past: vaig a decidir means “I am going to decide” or describes movement toward deciding.

Compare Sé que serveix and Vull que serveixi. The indicative asserts usefulness; the subjunctive puts that usefulness inside a wish. Select mood by meaning and assertion status, not by spotting que.

For obligation, standard Catalan uses haver de, not Spanish-influenced tenir que: Hem de decidir-ho avui, not Tenim que decidir-ho avui.

Common Mistakes

1. Putting -eix- in all six persons.

❌ Nosaltres serveixim el dinar a la una.

Incorrect—the extension is absent in the first-person plural.

✅ Nosaltres servim el dinar a la una.

We serve lunch at one.

2. Treating an incoative verb as pure.

❌ Jo servo les taules del fons.

Incorrect in this meaning—Central servir has serveixo.

✅ Jo serveixo les taules del fons.

I wait on the tables at the back.

3. Overusing the progressive.

❌ Cada setmana estem decidint el menú dilluns.

Unnatural for a regular weekly routine.

✅ Cada setmana decidim el menú dilluns.

Every week we decide the menu on Monday.

4. Adding a to the periphrastic past.

❌ Ahir vaig a decidir quedar-me.

Incorrect for a completed decision.

✅ Ahir vaig decidir quedar-me.

Yesterday I decided to stay.

5. Using the indicative inside a nonasserted wish.

❌ Vull que aquesta explicació et serveix.

Incorrect—the usefulness is desired, not asserted.

✅ Vull que aquesta explicació et serveixi.

I want this explanation to be useful to you.

Key Takeaways

Central incoative verbs insert stressed -eix- in all singular persons and in the third-person plural, but not in nosaltres or vosaltres. Valencian characteristically uses -isc/-ix- in the corresponding cells. The class is morphological, not semantic, so learn a new -ir verb with its first-person present. As elsewhere in the verb system, viewpoint and assertion—not an English word-for-word match—choose between simple present, progressive, past, and subjunctive.

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