Si plou, no quedarem a la plaça; tornarem a casa.

not

Breakdown of Si plou, no quedarem a la plaça; tornarem a casa.

• a: at
• la casa: the home
• si: if

Questions & Answers about Si plou, no quedarem a la plaça; tornarem a casa.

What does si mean here, and why is it not sí?

Si means if.

Catalan makes an important spelling distinction:

• si = if
• sí = yes

So in this sentence, Si plou means If it rains. The version with an accent, sí, would be wrong here.

Why is it si plou and not si plourà?

After si meaning if, Catalan normally uses the present indicative for a real future possibility:

• Si plou... = If it rains...

This works much like English, where we say If it rains, we’ll go home, not normally If it will rain...

So the pattern is:

• si + present
• main clause in future if the result is in the future

That is exactly what you have here:

• Si plou
• no quedarem...; tornarem...

Why is there no word for English it in plou?