Word
Quan hi ha molt vent, el pare tanca la finestra.
Meaning
When there is a lot of wind, my father closes the window.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Quan hi ha molt vent, el pare tanca la finestra.
haver-hi
there be
la finestra
the window
el pare
the father
tancar
to close
Questions & Answers about Quan hi ha molt vent, el pare tanca la finestra.
What does quan mean here: when or whenever?
In this sentence, quan can be understood as when, but in practice it often has the sense of whenever.
Because both clauses are in the present tense, the sentence sounds like a habitual or repeated action:
- Quan hi ha molt vent, el pare tanca la finestra.
- Whenever there is a lot of wind, father closes the window.
So when is correct, but whenever helps show the idea more clearly in English.
Why do we say hi ha? What does hi do?
Hi ha is the standard Catalan expression for there is or there are.
It comes from the verb haver-hi, which is used to talk about existence:
- Hi ha vent = there is wind
- Hi ha gent = there are people
In this expression, hi is part of the structure. You usually do not translate it word for word on its own here. It is simply necessary in Catalan.
So:
- ha alone does not mean there is
- hi ha does
Could I also say fa molt vent instead of hi ha molt vent?