Fa una hora que busco els texans, i encara no els trobo.

In Catalan, fa + time expression + que + present tense is a very common way to express how long something has been happening up to now.

So:

• Fa una hora que busco... = I’ve been looking for an hour
• literally, it is something like It makes one hour that I’m looking...

This structure focuses on a duration that started in the past and continues into the present.

Using he buscat durant una hora would sound more like I searched for an hour, which can suggest a finished action. In your sentence, the searching is still going on, so fa una hora que busco is the natural choice.

Because Catalan often uses the present tense for actions that began in the past and are still continuing now.

So:

• Fa una hora que busco els texans literally uses present tense
• but in English, the natural translation is I’ve been looking for the jeans for an hour

This is one of the important differences between English and Catalan:

• English often uses the present perfect continuous
• Catalan usually uses present tense with a time expression such as fa una hora que

Here, fa comes from the verb fer, which usually means to do or to make.

But in time expressions, fa means something like:

• ago
• or it has been

Examples:

• Fa una hora = an hour ago
• Fa una hora que estudio = I’ve been studying for an hour
• Fa dos dies que plou = It has been raining for two days

So in this sentence, fa is part of a fixed time expression, not the ordinary meaning to do/make.

Catalan often uses the definite article more than English does.

So els texans means the jeans. In English, depending on context, you might simply say I’m looking for my jeans or I’m looking for the jeans. Catalan commonly includes the article with clothing nouns.

Also, texans is the usual Catalan word for jeans. It is plural, just like in English.

That els is a direct object pronoun meaning them.

It refers back to els texans.

So:

• busco els texans = I’m looking for the jeans
• no els trobo = I can’t find them

Catalan uses object pronouns before the conjugated verb:

• els trobo = I find them
• no els trobo = I don’t find them / I can’t find them

This is very normal and natural. Once the noun has already been mentioned, Catalan often replaces it with a pronoun.

Because in Catalan, object pronouns usually come before a conjugated verb.

Examples:

• el veig = I see him / it
• la conec = I know her
• els trobo = I find them

With infinitives, gerunds, and affirmative commands, pronouns are often attached to the end instead, but with a normal finite verb like trobo, they go before it.

So els trobo is the expected word order.

Encara no means not yet.

So:

• no els trobo = I can’t find them / I don’t find them
• encara no els trobo = I still haven’t found them / I can’t find them yet

The word encara adds the idea that the situation continues up to now. It emphasizes that after all this time, the jeans still have not appeared.

Yes, trobar can mean both to find and to meet, depending on context.

Here, with els texans, it clearly means to find:

• trobar les claus = to find the keys
• trobar els texans = to find the jeans

It can also mean to meet in sentences like:

• Demà trobo la Maria = Tomorrow I’m meeting Maria

So the context tells you which meaning is intended.

Yes. That is another very natural way to express the same idea.

• Fa una hora que busco els texans = I’ve been looking for the jeans for an hour
• Porto una hora buscant els texans = I’ve spent an hour looking for the jeans / I’ve been looking for the jeans for an hour

Both are common. The fa... que + present pattern is extremely useful and worth learning well, because it appears very often.

Catalan does have a progressive form, such as estic buscant, but it uses it less often than English uses be + -ing.

In many cases, simple present is enough:

• Busco els texans can mean I’m looking for the jeans
• Trobo les claus can mean I’m finding the keys only in a suitable context, though normally just I find the keys

In this sentence, busco is completely natural. Catalan does not need a progressive form just because English does.

It can be either exact or approximate, depending on the situation.

In everyday speech, fa una hora que... often means roughly for about an hour unless the speaker is being precise.

If you want to be more exact or more approximate, Catalan can show that too:

• Fa exactament una hora que... = It’s been exactly an hour that...
• Fa gairebé una hora que... = It’s been almost an hour that...
• Fa més o menys una hora que... = It’s been about an hour that...

The comma separates two closely related clauses:

• Fa una hora que busco els texans
• i encara no els trobo

It helps readability and reflects a natural pause. In short everyday writing, some people might omit the comma, but with a longer first clause, the comma is very normal.

The important grammar point is that i simply means and, linking the two parts of the sentence.