A Catalan relative clause can either describe an antecedent that the speaker treats as an identifiable reality or specify the kind of person or thing being sought, imagined, or denied. The first perspective normally takes the indicative; the second favors the subjunctive. English usually leaves this contrast invisible, so translating the English verb form word for word will not work.
The crucial question is not whether the antecedent has an indefinite article. It is whether the discourse commits the speaker to a particular referent with the stated property.
Identified reality or open description?
Compare two superficially similar requests:
Truca al lampista que coneix bé l'edifici.
Call the plumber who knows the building well.
Busca un lampista que conegui bé els edificis antics.
Find a plumber who knows old buildings well.
In the first sentence, both speakers can identify the plumber, and coneix adds an asserted fact about that person. In the second, no suitable plumber has yet been identified. The relative clause defines the desired candidate, so conegui presents the knowledge as a requirement rather than as a fact.
| Speaker's stance toward the antecedent | Usual mood | Typical frame |
|---|---|---|
| identified or accepted as existing | indicative | Tinc una veïna que parla japonès. |
| sought but not yet identified | subjunctive | Busco algú que parli japonès. |
| existence or suitability denied | subjunctive | No hi ha ningú que ho sàpiga. |
| left deliberately unrestricted | subjunctive | Que vingui qui vulgui. |
M'han recomanat una aplicació que funciona sense connexió.
They have recommended an app to me that works offline.
Necessito una aplicació que funcioni sense connexió.
I need an app that works offline.
The indefinite phrase una aplicació appears in both sentences. The first app is already anchored by the recommendation, so its operation is asserted. The second remains a specification inside a search. Indefiniteness alone never acts as a mechanical subjunctive trigger.
Negative antecedents and denied existence
Expressions such as ningú, res, cap, and no hi ha commonly create a domain with no asserted member. The subjunctive is natural because the relative clause describes a candidate whose existence or relevant property is denied.
No conec ningú que et pugui portar a l'aeroport tan d'hora.
I don't know anyone who can take you to the airport that early.
No hem trobat cap habitació que doni al pati.
We haven't found any room that faces the courtyard.
Aquí no hi ha res que m'agradi prou per comprar-ho.
There is nothing here that I like enough to buy.
Negation does not automatically make every relative clause subjunctive. In No m'ha trucat el tècnic que porta el manteniment, the technician is known and porta el manteniment is asserted; only the calling is negated. Compare the genuinely existential denial:
No hi ha cap tècnic que porti tot el manteniment ell sol.
There is no technician who handles all the maintenance alone.
This distinction is about the scope of negation. Does no deny that a known person acted, or does it deny that any matching person exists?
Questions, noncommittal descriptions, and free choice
A question can leave existence genuinely open:
Coneixes algú que llogui una habitació pel mes d'agost?
Do you know anyone who rents out a room for August?
The speaker does not presuppose such a person. If the question instead identifies someone, the indicative is expected: Coneixes la noia que lloga l'habitació del tercer? “Do you know the woman who rents out the room on the third floor?”
Free-choice frames deliberately refuse to identify one member of a set. Catalan therefore uses the subjunctive in patterns such as qui vulgui, el que sigui, on sigui and reduplicative expressions:
Que s'hi apunti qui vulgui; no cal experiència prèvia.
Anyone who wants to can sign up; no previous experience is required.
Tria el restaurant que et faci més gràcia.
Choose whichever restaurant appeals to you most.
Ho deixarem on sigui més fàcil recollir-ho demà.
We'll leave it wherever it is easiest to pick it up tomorrow.
In these examples, the relative clause does not report a fact about a preselected person, restaurant, or place. It supplies the condition by which one will be selected.
Agreement, form, and weak pronouns
The relative pronoun does not determine the verb ending by itself. The antecedent supplies the understood subject: singular algú que pugui, plural persones que puguin. If the relative element is an object, the subject may be elsewhere: Busco una novel·la que els alumnes puguin llegir en una setmana has plural puguin because els alumnes is the subject, not because una novel·la is singular.
Ens calen voluntàries que puguin quedar-se fins al final.
We need volunteers who can stay until the end.
Busco un vídeo que els meus avis puguin entendre sense subtítols.
I'm looking for a video that my grandparents can understand without subtitles.
Central Catalan uses forms such as parli, conegui, pugui, serveixi. Preserve their spelling and stress, including accents and diaereses where required: sàpiga, canviï, canviïn. Weak pronouns stand before the finite subjunctive: que se'n recordi, que m'ho expliqui, que els pugui servir. Negation comes first: que no se n'oblidi.
(regional: Valencian) The mood choice is the same, but standard Valencian often has forms such as parle, conega, puga and servisca where the Central baseline has parli, conegui, pugui and serveixi. These are parallel regional paradigms, not differences in assertion status.
Time viewpoint changes the subjunctive tense
The present subjunctive normally locates the open or desired property in the present or future: Busco algú que vingui demà. A past search or past nonexistence normally shifts the dependent verb to the imperfect subjunctive:
Ahir vaig buscar algú que sabés reparar la caldera, però no vaig trobar ningú.
Yesterday I looked for someone who knew how to repair the boiler, but I didn't find anyone.
Here vaig buscar is the Catalan periphrastic past: a present form of anar directly followed by an infinitive, with no a. By contrast, vaig anar a buscar el lampista means “I went to fetch/look for the plumber”; anar a + infinitive retains movement and purpose. Neither construction determines the mood of the relative clause—the search's time and the antecedent's assertion status do.
For the six past forms used in that contrast, see forming the imperfect subjunctive.
English also invites unnecessary progressives. Busco algú que treballi els dissabtes asks for someone whose schedule includes Saturdays. Use que estigui treballant ara mateix only when the ongoing activity itself matters: “who is working right now.”
Perfect meanings require a Catalan form of haver: Busco algú que hagi treballat amb aquest programa. Do not import Spanish forms of haber or build a perfect with tenir. Catalan mood is expressed through its own finite paradigms.
Mini-dialogue: finding a replacement
—Coneixes algú que pugui cobrir el meu torn divendres? —La Júlia té un company que treballa per torns; li ho preguntaré.
—Do you know anyone who can cover my shift on Friday? —Júlia has a colleague who works shifts; I'll ask him.
—Necessito algú que no se'n vagi abans de les deu. —D'acord, buscarem una persona que hi pugui ser tota la tarda.
—I need someone who won't leave before ten. —All right, we'll look for someone who can be there all afternoon.
Pugui, se'n vagi, and hi pugui ser describe candidates not yet secured. Treballa reports a fact about an identified colleague.
Common Mistakes
1. Treating every indefinite noun as nonasserted.
❌ Tinc una cosina que visqui a Girona.
Incorrect here—the cousin is identified and her residence is asserted.
✅ Tinc una cosina que viu a Girona.
I have a cousin who lives in Girona.
2. Using the indicative after denying that any candidate exists.
❌ No hi ha ningú que sap obrir aquesta caixa forta.
Incorrect—the sentence denies the existence of a qualifying person.
✅ No hi ha ningú que sàpiga obrir aquesta caixa forta.
There is nobody who knows how to open this safe.
3. Making the verb agree with the object antecedent instead of its subject.
❌ Busco una sèrie que els nens pugui mirar sols.
Incorrect—plural els nens is the subject of the relative clause.
✅ Busco una sèrie que els nens puguin mirar sols.
I'm looking for a series the children can watch by themselves.
4. Selecting mood from the word que rather than from meaning.
❌ Ja he trobat una botiga que vengui aquest recanvi.
Incorrect in this context—the found shop and what it sells are presented as established.
✅ Ja he trobat una botiga que ven aquest recanvi.
I've already found a shop that sells this spare part.
Key Takeaways
- Use the indicative to describe an identified or asserted antecedent; use the subjunctive for a sought, nonexistent, unrestricted, or otherwise noncommittal antecedent.
- Indefinite articles, negation, questions, and que are clues, not automatic triggers. Read what the speaker commits to.
- Let the actual subject of the relative clause determine person and number, and place weak pronouns before the finite subjunctive.
- Shift to the imperfect subjunctive when the search or denial is anchored in a past viewpoint.
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