Quan em fa mal el coll, no vull parlar per telèfon.

to want

Breakdown of Quan em fa mal el coll, no vull parlar per telèfon.

• no: not
• em: me
• quan: when

Questions & Answers about Quan em fa mal el coll, no vull parlar per telèfon.

Why does the sentence start with Quan?

Quan means when here. In a sentence like this, it often has the sense of whenever or when(ever) in English:

• Quan em fa mal el coll, no vull parlar per telèfon.
• When my throat/neck hurts, I don’t want to talk on the phone.

So this can describe a repeated situation, not just one single moment.

What does em fa mal el coll literally mean?

Literally, it is something like my neck/throat does pain to me or the neck/throat causes pain to me.

The structure is:

• em = to me
• fa = does / makes
• mal = pain / harm
• el coll = the neck / throat

Catalan often uses this pattern for physical pain:

• Em fa mal el cap = My head hurts.
• Em fan mal els peus = My feet hurt.

It is a very common and natural structure.

What is the role of em in em fa mal?

Em is an unstressed pronoun meaning to me.

In this expression, the pain is understood as affecting a person:

• em = to me