Breakdown of Ens orientem amb la brúixola.
amb
with
la brúixola
the compass
orientar-se
to find one's bearings
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Questions & Answers about Ens orientem amb la brúixola.
What does ens mean here?
Ens is the 1st person plural reflexive pronoun in Catalan. In this sentence, it means ourselves.
So:
- ens orientem = we orient ourselves / we get our bearings
Catalan often uses a reflexive structure where English might use either a reflexive form or a more natural expression like find our way or get oriented.
Why is the verb orientem?
Orientem is the present indicative, 1st person plural form of orientar.
The verb endings for a regular -ar verb in the present include:
- jo oriento
- tu orientes
- ell/ella orienta
- nosaltres orientem
- vosaltres orienteu
- ells/elles orienten
So orientem means we orient.
Because the sentence has ens, the full idea is we orient ourselves.
Why isn’t it orientem-nos?