No creuis el carrer ara; espera al semàfor.

not

Breakdown of No creuis el carrer ara; espera al semàfor.

• ara: now
• a: at
• el carrer: the street
• esperar: to wait
• el semàfor: the traffic light
• creuar: to cross

Questions & Answers about No creuis el carrer ara; espera al semàfor.

Why is it no creuis and not no creua?

Because in Catalan, negative commands use the present subjunctive, not the regular imperative form.

So:

• creua = cross! (positive command, informal singular)
• no creuis = don’t cross! (negative command, informal singular)

This is a very common pattern in Catalan:

• Parla! = Speak!
• No parlis! = Don’t speak!

So No creuis el carrer ara is the normal way to say Don’t cross the street now when speaking to one person informally.

Why is it espera but creuis? Why are the two verb forms different?

They are different because one is a positive command and the other is a negative command.

In this sentence:

• No creuis = negative command → uses the subjunctive
• espera = positive command → uses the imperative

For tu commands in Catalan:

• positive: usually uses the ordinary imperative form
• negative: uses no + present subjunctive

So the pattern is:

• Creua el carrer. = Cross the street.
• No creuis el carrer. = Don’t cross the street.
• Espera al semàfor. = Wait at the traffic light.

That contrast is completely normal.

Who is being addressed here? Is this tu, vostè, or something else?

This sentence is addressing one person informally, so it corresponds to tu.

Catalan often leaves subject pronouns out when they are understood from the verb form. So there is no written tu, but it is implied.

You can think of it as:

• (Tu) no creuis el carrer ara; (tu) espera al semàfor.

If it were formal singular (vostè), the forms would be different, for example:

• No creui el carrer ara; esperi al semàfor.

If it were plural informal (vosaltres):

• No creueu el carrer ara; espereu al semàfor.

What exactly is creuis? What verb does it come from?

Creuis comes from the verb creuar, meaning to cross.

Here it is the present subjunctive, 2nd person singular form:

• jo creui
• tu creuis
• ell/ella/vostè creui
• nosaltres creuem
• vosaltres creueu
• ells/elles/vostès creuin

In this sentence, Catalan uses that tu creuis form because it is a negative command: No creuis.

Why is it el carrer? Why is there a definite article where English often just says the street or sometimes uses no article in other expressions?

In this case, el carrer simply means the street.

Catalan uses the definite article very naturally with many nouns, including places and everyday objects. Here, the article is not unusual at all: you are crossing the street.

So:

• carrer = street
• el carrer = the street

The sentence is talking about a specific street in the immediate situation, even if it is not named.

What does ara mean, and where does it go in the sentence?

Ara means now.

In No creuis el carrer ara, it tells you when not to do the action: don’t cross the street now.

Its position is natural here at the end of that clause, but Catalan word order can sometimes be flexible for emphasis. This version sounds straightforward and natural.

So the first part breaks down as:

• No = not / don’t
• creuis = you cross
• el carrer = the street
• ara = now

Together: Don’t cross the street now.

Why is it al semàfor and not a el semàfor?

Because al is the normal contraction of a + el.

So:

• a el → al

That means:

• al semàfor = at/to the traffic light

This kind of contraction is very common in Catalan. For example:

• a + el = al
• de + el = del

So espera al semàfor literally means something like wait at the traffic light.

Does semàfor mean traffic light or crosswalk?

Semàfor means traffic light.

It does not literally mean crosswalk. A crosswalk is usually pas de vianants.

In context, espera al semàfor means wait at the traffic light or wait by the lights, implying that you should wait for the proper moment to cross.

So the sentence is directing someone to wait at the controlled crossing point.

Why is there no word for you in the sentence?

Because Catalan is a pro-drop language, which means subject pronouns are often omitted when the verb form already shows who the subject is.

In English, you usually need you:

• Don’t cross the street now; wait at the traffic light.

In Catalan, the verb endings already indicate the person, so tu is unnecessary unless you want emphasis or contrast.

So:

• No creuis... already tells us it is addressed to you (informal singular)
• espera... also does the same

What is the function of the semicolon here? Could it be a comma or a period instead?

The semicolon links two closely connected instructions:

• No creuis el carrer ara
• espera al semàfor

It shows that the second command is closely related to the first: don’t do this now; instead, do that.

A period would also be possible:

• No creuis el carrer ara. Espera al semàfor.

A comma is less formal and may be seen in casual writing, but the semicolon is a neat way to connect the two commands clearly.

How would this change if I wanted to say it formally or to more than one person?

Here are the most useful versions:

Informal singular (tu)

• No creuis el carrer ara; espera al semàfor.

Formal singular (vostè)

• No creui el carrer ara; esperi al semàfor.

Informal plural (vosaltres)

• No creueu el carrer ara; espereu al semàfor.

Formal plural (vostès)

• No creuin el carrer ara; esperin al semàfor.

This is a good sentence for seeing how Catalan command forms change depending on who you are talking to.