Si fa sol, podem pujar a la muntanya.

If it is sunny, we can climb the mountain.

Breakdown of Si fa sol, podem pujar a la muntanya.

• a: to
• poder: to be able to
• si: if
• fer sol: to be sunny

Questions & Answers about Si fa sol, podem pujar a la muntanya.

Why does Catalan say fa sol instead of something like és assolellat for it’s sunny?

Fa sol is the normal everyday way to say it’s sunny in Catalan.

Literally, fer often appears in weather expressions:

• fa sol = it’s sunny
• fa fred = it’s cold
• fa calor = it’s hot
• fa vent = it’s windy

So even though fa usually means does/makes, in weather expressions you should usually learn the whole phrase as a fixed expression.

What exactly is si doing here? Is it always if?

Here si means if and introduces a condition:

• Si fa sol, podem pujar a la muntanya.
• If it’s sunny, we can go up to the mountain.

Be careful not to confuse this with sí with an accent, which means yes.

So:

• si = if
• sí = yes

The accent changes the meaning.

Why is there no word for it in fa sol?

Catalan often leaves out the subject when it is understood, and in weather expressions there is usually no need for a separate word like English it.

English says: