Some Catalan verbs use one stem vowel when the root is stressed and another when the ending is stressed: surto but sortim, cullo but colliu. Stress tells you where the alternation appears, but it does not tell you which verbs alternate. That membership is lexical and must be learned with each verb.
This page uses contemporary general forms with Central Catalan as its pronunciation baseline. All unlabelled forms are neutral standard Catalan. Regional pronunciation sometimes makes an alternation less audible or creates a different, equally systematic regional paradigm.
The present-tense stress map
In many presents, persons 1, 2, 3, and 6 are root-stressed; persons 4 and 5 are ending-stressed. The complete paradigm of sortir shows the distribution:
| Person | Present of sortir | Stress | Written stem |
|---|---|---|---|
| jo | surto | root | surt- |
| tu | surts | root | surt- |
| ell / ella / vostè | surt | root | surt- |
| nosaltres | sortim | ending | sort- |
| vosaltres | sortiu | ending | sort- |
| ells / elles / vostès | surten | root | surt- |
Surto de casa a dos quarts de vuit, però els nens surten més tard.
I leave home at seven thirty, but the children leave later.
Els divendres sortim de la feina a les tres.
On Fridays we leave work at three.
The endings still mark person and number: surto is first singular and sortim first plural. The vowel alternation does not add a new meaning. Both forms can describe a habit, a current departure, or a scheduled future when context supplies that viewpoint.
The productive-looking u/o family is actually a short list
Several common pure -ir verbs have u in root-stressed present forms and o in the two ending-stressed plurals. The pattern is clear once the verb is known, but modern speakers do not freely apply it to every verb with o.
| Infinitive | jo | tu | ell / ella | nosaltres | vosaltres | ells / elles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| collir | cullo | culls | cull | collim | colliu | cullen |
| cosir | cuso | cuses | cus | cosim | cosiu | cusen |
| escopir | escupo | escups | escup | escopim | escopiu | escupen |
| tossir | tusso | tusses | tus | tossim | tossiu | tussen |
A la tardor collim les olives i les portem al molí.
In autumn we pick the olives and take them to the mill.
Em pots cosir aquest botó? Jo no cuso gens bé.
Can you sew this button on for me? I don't sew well at all.
Si tus molt aquesta nit, demà truca al metge.
If you cough a lot tonight, call the doctor tomorrow.
In Central speech, unstressed written o is normally pronounced [u]. That can make surto and sortim sound as though they contain the same vowel even though their standard spelling differs. (regional: Valencian and much Northwestern Catalan) unstressed o and u remain more distinct, so the alternation is generally easier to hear. The spelling is shared; see unstressed o and u for the full sound pattern.
There is no honest shortcut that predicts the class from the infinitive alone. Transparent dormir gives dormo/dormim, not durmo/dormim in the general standard. Memorize alternating verbs as families.
E/i and e/a patterns
The same stress architecture appears with other vowels. Eixir “to go out,” used especially (regional: Valencian), has ixo or isc, ixes, ix, eixim, eixiu, ixen: root-stressed cells have i, while ending-stressed cells retain ei. In most Central usage, sortir is the ordinary lexical choice, so this is both a morphological and regional contrast.
Els alumnes ixen ara, però nosaltres eixim d'ací a les cinc.
The students are leaving now, but we leave here at five. (regional: Valencian)
Some second-conjugation verbs show e in root-stressed forms but a in ending-stressed forms. General treure has trec, treus, treu, traiem, traieu, treuen; néixer has neixo, neixes, neix, naixem, naixeu, neixen. The a also appears in many other forms, such as traient and naixia.
Tu treus els plats i nosaltres traiem les postres de la nevera.
You clear the plates, and we'll take the dessert out of the fridge.
(regional: Valencian and other Western varieties) the infinitives traure and nàixer display a more broadly. Both treure/traure and néixer/nàixer belong to the standard language. This is not a formal-versus-informal opposition; it is regional variation.
Mixed irregular verbs
High-frequency verbs can combine a vowel alternation with a velar or exceptional first person: puc/pots/podem from poder, vull/vols/volem from voler, and tinc/tens/tenim from tenir. Stress helps organize these forms, but it cannot derive every vowel and consonant.
Vull venir, però no puc sortir abans de les sis.
I want to come, but I can't leave before six.
These forms need direct learning. Do not extend puc to puguem when making a present indicative statement: podem is indicative, whereas puguem is subjunctive. Morphology and assertion status are different questions.
Weak pronouns and viewpoint
A weak pronoun precedes a finite present: en surto, les cullo, ho puc fer. Negation comes first: no en surto, no les cullo. The pronoun never selects the alternating vowel.
De l'oficina, en surto a les cinc; de l'edifici, no en surto fins més tard.
As for the office, I leave it at five; I don't leave the building until later.
English often translates a current simple present with be + -ing, but Catalan does not need a progressive merely because an event is happening now: Ara surto naturally means “I'm leaving now.” Ara estic sortint is possible when the speaker deliberately focuses on the action already being in progress.
Mini-dialogue
—A quina hora sortiu demà? —Nosaltres sortim a les set, però l'Arnau surt una hora més tard. —Doncs li trec un bitllet per al tren de les vuit.
—What time are you leaving tomorrow? —We're leaving at seven, but Arnau leaves an hour later. —Then I'll get him a ticket for the eight o'clock train.
The simple presents refer to a scheduled future because demà and the stated times establish discourse time. The alternating vowels do not carry futurity.
Contrast with past and mood
Present surto gives a current, habitual, or planned viewpoint. Periphrastic past vaig sortir presents a completed past event. Do not insert a: vaig a sortir belongs to the separate anar a + infinitive construction and does not mean “I left.”
Similarly, Sé que surt ara asserts the departure and uses indicative; Dubto que surti ara withholds that assertion and uses subjunctive. A conjunction such as que is not enough to select mood by itself.
Common Mistakes
1. Keeping o in a root-stressed cell.
❌ Sempre sorto de casa a les vuit.
Incorrect in standard Catalan — the root-stressed form is surto.
✅ Sempre surto de casa a les vuit.
I always leave home at eight.
2. Extending u into an ending-stressed plural.
❌ Nosaltres surtim després de dinar.
Incorrect — first-person plural has the sort- stem.
✅ Nosaltres sortim després de dinar.
We leave after lunch.
3. Overusing the progressive for a habit.
❌ Cada setembre estem collint les olives.
Unnatural as a neutral yearly habit.
✅ Cada setembre collim les olives.
Every September we pick the olives.
4. Adding a to the periphrastic past.
❌ Ahir vaig a sortir tard de la feina.
Incorrect for a completed past event.
✅ Ahir vaig sortir tard de la feina.
Yesterday I left work late.
5. Copying a Spanish obligation periphrasis.
❌ Tinc que sortir abans de les sis.
Incorrect in standard Catalan — tenir que is a Spanish calque.
✅ He de sortir abans de les sis.
I have to leave before six.
Key Takeaways
Root stress groups persons 1, 2, 3, and 6; ending stress groups persons 4 and 5. That distribution explains where alternations such as surto/sortim occur, but verb-by-verb learning tells you whether they occur. Keep regional systems such as eixir and traure coherent, and choose tense, aspect, and mood from viewpoint and assertion rather than from the English translation.
Related Topics
- Common Present-Stem IrregularitiesA2 — Recognize the recurring stem patterns behind high-frequency irregular present-tense verbs such as poder, voler, dir, veure, and tenir.
- Pure -ir Verbs in the PresentA1 — Conjugate non-incoative -ir verbs such as dormir and sentir in the Catalan present indicative.
- Velar Stems in the PresentA2 — Learn the Catalan verb family whose first-person present ends in a velar consonant, as in bec, dic, duc, tinc, and vinc.
- Unstressed O and UA2 — Master Central Catalan neutralization of unstressed o and u as [u], and recover the correct spelling through stressed relatives and word families.
- Regional Verb MorphologyB2 — Compare coherent Catalan verb paradigms across Central, Valencian, Balearic, Northwestern, Northern, and Alguerese usage without mistaking regional standards for errors.
- Conjugation of sortirA2 — Complete contemporary conjugation of sortir for going out, leaving, emerging, and turning out, with its surt- stem and governed prepositions.