Passejo el gos a menys que plogui.

Because Catalan often drops subject pronouns when the verb already makes the subject clear.

• passejo = I walk / I take for a walk
• The ending -o shows first person singular

So Passejo el gos... already means I walk the dog...
You could say Jo passejo el gos..., but that usually adds emphasis or contrast, like I’m the one who walks the dog.

Here, passejo comes from passejar, and it means I walk in the sense of I take the dog for a walk.

That is important because passejar can work in two ways:

• intransitive: to stroll / to go for a walk
• transitive: to take someone or something for a walk

So Passejo el gos is a natural way to say I walk the dog.

A learner might expect something based on caminar, but caminar usually means to walk yourself, not to walk a dog.

Because el gos is the direct object of passejo.

In Catalan, unlike Spanish, you usually do not put a before a direct object just because it is animate. So:

• Passejo el gos = normal
• not Passejo al gos in ordinary standard usage

So this structure is exactly what you should expect in Catalan.

A menys que is a fixed expression meaning unless.

It introduces the condition that would prevent the main action from happening.

So the structure is:

• Passejo el gos = main action
• a menys que plogui = exception/condition

In other words: the dog gets walked, except in the case that it rains.

Because a menys que normally requires the subjunctive in Catalan.

• plou = indicative, used for a stated fact: it is raining
• plogui = subjunctive, used here because the rain is a possible condition, not a fact being asserted

After expressions like a menys que, Catalan uses the subjunctive because the speaker is talking about something hypothetical or uncertain.

So:

• Passejo el gos a menys que plogui = correct
• Passejo el gos a menys que plou = not the normal standard structure

The infinitive is ploure, meaning to rain.

plogui is a present subjunctive form of ploure. This verb is somewhat irregular, and because it is a weather verb, it is usually used impersonally, especially in the third person singular.

Useful comparison:

• plou = it rains / it is raining
• plogui = that it rain / unless it rains

The u is there to keep the g hard.

In Catalan spelling:

• g before e or i would normally sound soft
• adding u in gui keeps the hard g sound

So in plogui, the u is part of the spelling rule. It is not pronounced as a separate vowel.

This is similar to other Romance-language spelling patterns where gu is used to preserve the hard g before i or e.

Most naturally, it sounds like a habitual or general statement:

• I walk the dog unless it rains

That is because the present tense in Catalan often expresses routines and general truths.

With enough context, it could also refer to a current or near-future plan, but if you see the sentence on its own, the habitual meaning is the most likely one.

Yes. You can also say:

A menys que plogui, passejo el gos.

That means the same thing. The difference is mainly in emphasis and sentence rhythm.

When the subordinate clause comes first, a comma is natural.

Yes, but the nuance is a little different.

• passejar el gos = to walk the dog, to take the dog for a walk
• treure el gos = to take the dog out

So treure el gos is a bit broader and can simply mean bringing the dog outside, while passejar el gos more clearly suggests an actual walk.

In many everyday situations, both are possible, but passejar el gos matches walk the dog most directly.