The Central Catalan imperfect subjunctive has two regular ending sets: first- and second-conjugation verbs use -és, -essis, -és, -éssim, -éssiu, -essin, while third-conjugation verbs use the corresponding -ís series. It appears after a past viewpoint and in remote or unreal situations, but its name does not mean that the subordinate event must be unfinished.
English has no comparable six-person paradigm. “She wanted me to call,” “if we arrived,” and “I wish you were here” all conceal distinctions that Catalan places directly on the verb.
The complete regular paradigms
Remove the infinitive ending and add the appropriate series. Cantar models the first conjugation, perdre the regular second conjugation, and dormir the pure third conjugation. Incoative servir uses the same imperfect-subjunctive endings as other third-conjugation verbs and does not insert present-tense -eix-.
| Person | cantar | perdre | dormir | servir |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| jo | cantés | perdés | dormís | servís |
| tu | cantessis | perdessis | dormissis | servissis |
| ell / ella / vostè | cantés | perdés | dormís | servís |
| nosaltres | cantéssim | perdéssim | dormíssim | servíssim |
| vosaltres | cantéssiu | perdéssiu | dormíssiu | servíssiu |
| ells / elles / vostès | cantessin | perdessin | dormissin | servissin |
La mare volia que jo descansés una estona.
My mother wanted me to rest for a while.
Em faria il·lusió que vinguessis al concert.
I would love it if you came to the concert.
La directora va demanar que lliuréssim l'informe abans de divendres.
The director asked us to submit the report before Friday.
No volien que perdéssiu l'últim tren.
They didn't want you all to miss the last train.
El pediatre va recomanar que els nens dormissin més.
The pediatrician recommended that the children sleep more.
Necessitàvem una sala que servís també de magatzem.
We needed a room that could also serve as storage.
First- and third-person singular are identical: jo cantés and ella cantés. Catalan normally omits subject pronouns, so context resolves the person; state the subject when a real ambiguity remains. Polite vostè takes third-person singular, and vostès takes third-person plural.
Stress and written accents
Stress stays on the tense vowel throughout each paradigm: cantés, cantessis, cantés, cantéssim, cantéssiu, cantessin. The forms cantessis and cantessin need no written accent because ordinary spelling already predicts stress on -es-; cantés, cantéssim, and cantéssiu require one. The third conjugation behaves in parallel with í: dormís, dormissis, dormís, dormíssim, dormíssiu, dormissin.
Leaving out an accent can create a spelling error even when the intended pronunciation seems obvious. The mark in cantéssim is not optional decoration.
Spelling changes preserve consonant values before e: tocar → toqués, pagar → pagués, començar → comencés, menjar → mengés. These are orthographic adjustments, not new endings.
El tècnic va suggerir que toquéssim només el botó verd.
The technician suggested that we touch only the green button.
La tutora preferia que comencessis per l'exercici més fàcil.
The tutor preferred you to start with the easiest exercise.
Many common second-conjugation verbs use special stems—tingués, pogués, conegués, fes. Learn those on the irregular imperfect-subjunctive page; do not force every -er/-re verb into the regular perdés model.
What the tense contributes
The imperfect subjunctive combines two kinds of distance. A past main verb can establish a past viewpoint: Volia que cantessis. A conditional or hypothetical frame can instead create modal distance from reality: Si cantessis més fluix, et sentiríem millor. In neither case does the form itself say that the singing was ongoing.
Si arribéssim deu minuts abans, trobaríem lloc a primera fila.
If we arrived ten minutes earlier, we would find seats in the front row.
Compare the neighboring moods:
| Sentence | Viewpoint |
|---|---|
| Sabia que dormíeu. | indicative: the sleeping is asserted |
| Dubtava que dormíssiu. | imperfect subjunctive: the sleeping is questioned from a past viewpoint |
| Dubto que dormiu. | present subjunctive: the doubt is anchored now |
The governing expression is not enough by itself. Em va dir que venia reports an asserted arrival; em va demanar que vingués presents an influenced action. Tense follows viewpoint, while mood follows assertion status.
Weak pronouns and negation
In dependent clauses and si-clauses, weak pronouns precede the finite verb. No precedes the whole cluster:
Volia que m'ho expliquessis sense presses.
I wanted you to explain it to me without rushing.
Ens van demanar que no ens n'anéssim fins al final.
They asked us not to leave until the end.
The ending still agrees with the subject, not with the pronoun. In volia que m'ho expliquéssiu, m' and ho are objects; plural -éssiu addresses vosaltres.
The main-clause form van demanar above is a periphrastic past: present anar plus an infinitive, with no a. Van anar a demanar ajuda means “they went to ask for help” and contains movement plus purpose. English “going to” and Spanish ir a do not provide a safe template for Catalan tense choice.
Regional standard series
This page uses the Central -s- paradigm. (regional: Valencian) Standard Valencian widely uses the -ra series: cantara, cantares, cantara, cantàrem, cantàreu, cantaren. The same pattern gives perdera and dormira. The -s- forms are also standard, and forms tagged Valencian can extend into neighboring Northwestern speech.
(regional: Balearic) In the first conjugation, the traditional -às series is well established: cantàs, cantassis, cantàs, cantàssim, cantàssiu, cantassin. These are genuine standard regional forms. They do not alter the mood's syntax or meaning.
Si arribàreu abans, podríeu parlar amb la directora.
If you arrived earlier, you could speak with the director. (Valencian)
Volia que m'avisassis en arribar.
I wanted you to let me know when you arrived. (Balearic)
Use one coherent regional series. A learner using the Central baseline should produce arribéssiu and avisessis, while recognizing arribàreu (regional: Valencian) and avisassis (regional: Balearic).
Mini-dialogue: changing the meeting
—La cap volia que parléssim avui? —Sí, però li aniria millor que ho deixéssim per demà.
—Did the boss want us to talk today? —Yes, but it would suit her better if we left it until tomorrow.
—I si ens reuníssim a primera hora? —Perfecte, sempre que no comencéssim abans de les vuit.
—What if we met first thing? —Perfect, as long as we didn't start before eight.
Parléssim is dependent on a past wish; deixéssim, reuníssim, and comencéssim present proposed or hypothetical situations. The same morphology serves both temporal and modal distance.
Common Mistakes
1. Using one ending set for every conjugation.
❌ Volien que els nens dormessin més.
Incorrect—third-conjugation dormir uses the -ís series.
✅ Volien que els nens dormissin més.
They wanted the children to sleep more.
2. Dropping required accents.
❌ La directora volia que parlessim avui.
Incorrect spelling—the stressed vowel requires an accent in the first-person plural.
✅ La directora volia que parléssim avui.
The director wanted us to talk today.
3. Keeping the present incoative extension.
❌ Necessitàvem algú que serveixés el sopar.
Incorrect—the imperfect subjunctive of servir does not contain -eix-.
✅ Necessitàvem algú que servís el sopar.
We needed someone to serve dinner.
4. Using the past indicative where the past frame is nonassertive.
❌ Em van demanar que arribava abans.
Incorrect for a request—the arrival is being influenced, not reported as fact.
✅ Em van demanar que arribés abans.
They asked me to arrive earlier.
5. Importing a Spanish auxiliary form.
❌ Dubtava que hubiera arribat a temps.
Incorrect Catalan—the Spanish form hubiera does not belong to the Catalan paradigm.
✅ Dubtava que hagués arribat a temps.
I doubted that he had arrived on time.
Key Takeaways
- First- and second-conjugation verbs use the -és series; third-conjugation verbs use the -ís series.
- Write every required accent, and preserve consonant sounds in forms such as toqués, pagués, and comencés.
- The tense can mark a past viewpoint or modal distance; it does not automatically express an ongoing event.
- Central -s-, Valencian -ra, and Balearic first-conjugation -às forms are regional paradigm choices with the same syntactic work.
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Start learning Catalan →Related Topics
- Present Subjunctive of Regular -ar VerbsB1 — Form the Central Catalan -i present subjunctive of regular -ar verbs, with correct stress, spelling changes, agreement, and regional -e variants.
- Present Subjunctive of -er, -re, and -ir VerbsB1 — Build present-subjunctive forms of regular second- and third-conjugation verbs, including pure and incoative -ir patterns and regional standards.
- Irregular Imperfect SubjunctivesB1 — Master the high-frequency irregular stems of the Catalan imperfect subjunctive and the velar families that make many forms predictable.
- Past-Time Subjunctive in Dependent ClausesB1 — Use the imperfect subjunctive after past wishes, emotions, evaluations, doubts, and influence while preserving time relations and assertion contrasts.
- Imperfect Subjunctive for Present or Future UnrealityB1 — Use the imperfect subjunctive for remote conditions, counterfactual present situations, wishes, and politely distanced proposals.
- Which Subjunctive Tense?B2 — Choose among the present, imperfect, present perfect, and pluperfect subjunctive by locating the subordinate event relative to its reference point.