Si tenim temps dissabte, volem visitar la biblioteca i endreçar el pis després.

Questions & Answers about Si tenim temps dissabte, volem visitar la biblioteca i endreçar el pis després.

Why is there no subject pronoun like nosaltres in this sentence?

Catalan often leaves subject pronouns out because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

  • tenim = we have
  • volem = we want

So nosaltres is not necessary. You could add it for emphasis, but normally Catalan prefers to omit it.

What forms are tenim and volem?

They are both 1st person plural present indicative forms:

  • tenirtenim = we have
  • volervolem = we want

That is why the whole sentence is understood as talking about we.

Why is si followed by tenim in the present tense, even though the sentence refers to the future?

Because in Catalan, after si for a real future condition, you normally use the present tense, not the future.

So:

  • Si tenim temps... = If we have time...

This works much like English If we have time, not If we will have time.

Why is volem in the present tense too? Is it really talking about the future?

Yes. In Catalan, the present tense is often used for current plans, intentions, or scheduled future actions.

Here volem visitar... i endreçar... means something like we want / we’re planning to visit... and tidy up...

So the present tense can sound very natural even when the action will happen later.

Why is there no preposition before dissabte?

Catalan often uses days of the week directly as time expressions, without a preposition.

So:

  • dissabte = on Saturday

This is completely normal. English needs on, but Catalan usually does not here.

Could the sentence also be Si dissabte tenim temps?

Yes. That is also possible.

Catalan has some flexibility with time expressions, so both of these are natural:

  • Si tenim temps dissabte...
  • Si dissabte tenim temps...

The original version sounds very natural and puts the focus first on having time, then adds Saturday.

Why is it volem visitar and not volem de visitar or volem a visitar?

Because voler is followed directly by an infinitive in Catalan.

So you say:

  • volem visitar
  • volem endreçar

There is no extra word between voler and the next verb.

Why are visitar and endreçar both in the infinitive?

Because they both depend on volem.

The structure is:

  • volem visitar...
  • volem endreçar...

But Catalan, like English, does not need to repeat volem the second time, so it becomes:

  • volem visitar la biblioteca i endreçar el pis

That means we want to visit the library and tidy the flat.

What exactly does endreçar el pis mean?

Endreçar means to tidy up, put in order, straighten up.

El pis here means the flat / apartment.

So endreçar el pis means to tidy up the apartment or to straighten up the flat.

A learner should notice that pis is a very common Catalan word for flat/apartment, not just something related to the English word piss.

Does pis always mean apartment?

Not always, but very often in everyday Catalan it does mean flat/apartment.

Context matters. In this sentence, endreçar el pis clearly means tidy the apartment, not anything else.

What does després mean here, and why is there no de after it?

Here després means afterwards / later and is being used on its own as an adverb.

So:

  • després = afterwards

You use després de only when something comes after it:

  • després de dinar = after lunch
  • després de visitar la biblioteca = after visiting the library

But in the sentence you gave, després stands alone, so de is not needed.

Does després refer only to endreçar el pis, or to the whole sentence?

In this sentence, it most naturally means that the tidying happens after the library visit.

So the sequence is understood as:

  1. visit the library
  2. tidy the apartment afterwards

Its position at the end makes that reading very natural.

Why is there a comma after dissabte?

Because the sentence begins with a conditional clause:

  • Si tenim temps dissabte

When that kind of clause comes first, Catalan normally separates it from the main clause with a comma in writing.

So the comma helps show the structure:

  • condition first
  • main statement after
Is this sentence expressing a wish, a plan, or both?

It can be a bit of both, but in context it most naturally expresses a plan or intention.

Volem + infinitive can mean:

  • we want to...
  • we intend to...
  • we’re planning to...

So here it sounds like a real plan, but one that depends on having enough time.

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