Ara puc respondre sense mirar el paper.

now

Breakdown of Ara puc respondre sense mirar el paper.

• sense: without
• poder: to be able to
• mirar: to look at
• el paper: the paper
• respondre: to answer

Questions & Answers about Ara puc respondre sense mirar el paper.

Why is there no word for I in the sentence?

Catalan often leaves out the subject pronoun when the verb already makes the subject clear.

Here, puc means I can, so jo is not necessary.
You could say Ara jo puc respondre sense mirar el paper, but that usually adds emphasis, like I can answer now.

So the normal, natural version is simply:

Ara puc respondre sense mirar el paper.

What does ara mean, and why is it at the beginning?

Ara means now.

Putting it at the beginning is very natural because it sets the time frame right away: Now I can...

Catalan often places time words like ara, avui, demà, etc. near the beginning of the sentence, but other positions are sometimes possible depending on emphasis.

What exactly is puc?

Puc is the 1st person singular present form of the verb poder, which means to be able to / can.

So:

• poder = to be able to
• puc = I can

Some other forms are:

• pots = you can
• pot = he/she/it can
• podem = we can
• podeu = you all can
• poden = they can

Why is respondre in the infinitive after puc?

After poder, Catalan uses another verb in the infinitive, just like English uses can + base verb.

So:

• puc respondre = I can answer
• puc mirar = I can look
• puc llegir = I can read

This is a very common structure:

poder + infinitive

Why is it sense mirar and not something like sense de mirar?

In Catalan, sense means without, and it is commonly followed directly by a noun or an infinitive.

So:

• sense mirar = without looking
• sense parlar = without speaking
• sense diners = without money

You do not need de here.

So sense mirar el paper literally means without looking at the paper.

Why is mirar used here? Doesn’t it mean to watch?

Mirar can mean to look, to watch, or to look at, depending on context.

In this sentence, it means to look at:

• mirar el paper = to look at the paper

This is normal Catalan usage. English often needs look at, but Catalan can simply use mirar + object.

So Catalan says:

• mirar el paper

not necessarily a separate word for at.

Why is it el paper and not just paper or un paper?

El paper means the paper.

Catalan often uses the definite article when referring to a specific, known thing in the situation. Here, it probably means a particular sheet/page/notes that both speaker and listener understand.

Compare:

• el paper = the paper
• un paper = a paper / one sheet of paper
• paper = paper in a general/material sense

So in this sentence, el paper sounds like the paper I’ve been using to help myself.

Does respondre need a preposition, like answer to something?

Usually, respondre can be used directly, especially when the object is understood from context.

In this sentence, the thing being answered is not stated, because it is already obvious from the situation.

For example:

• Puc respondre = I can answer
• Puc respondre la pregunta = I can answer the question

Sometimes Catalan also uses respondre a in certain contexts, especially with indirect objects or when the structure requires it, but here respondre on its own is perfectly natural.

Is paper a false friend? Does it mean the same as English paper?

It is often similar, but not always identical in every context.

In this sentence, paper really does mean paper, probably a sheet of paper, notes, or a written page.

But Catalan paper can also mean role in a play or function in some contexts, much like English paper has multiple meanings too.

Here, though, the literal meaning is the important one: the paper you might look at for help.

Can this sentence imply that before, I could not do it?

Yes, very often it can.

Starting with ara gives a sense of now I can, which may suggest a change from before. For example, maybe you needed notes earlier, but now you do not.

If you want to make that idea even stronger, Catalan often adds ja:

Ara ja puc respondre sense mirar el paper.

That means something like Now I can answer without looking at the paper already / now I’m finally able to answer without looking at the paper.

How is respondre pronounced? It looks a bit unusual.

For an English speaker, the tricky part is that the final -dre is not pronounced like English dray.

A rough guide is:

• respondre ≈ reh-spohn-druh / reh-SPON-druh

But the exact pronunciation depends somewhat on dialect.

A few helpful points:

• the r is Catalan, not English
• o is a clear vowel, not an English diphthong
• the ending -re is weaker than an English fully stressed ray

If you are learning standard Central Catalan pronunciation, listening to native audio is especially useful for verbs ending in -dre like respondre, aprendre, entendre.