Breakdown of Primer has de barrejar la ceba amb el tomàquet.
amb
with
haver de
to have to
la ceba
the onion
el tomàquet
the tomato
Questions & Answers about Primer has de barrejar la ceba amb el tomàquet.
What does primer mean here, and why is it primer rather than primera?
Here primer means first or first of all.
In this sentence, it is being used adverbially, not as an adjective modifying a noun, so it does not agree with anything. That is why you see primer, not primera.
Compare:
- Primer, has de barrejar... = First, you have to mix...
- la primera vegada = the first time
Here primera agrees with the feminine noun vegada.
So in your sentence, primer is just marking the first step.
What does has de barrejar mean grammatically?
Has de barrejar is the structure haver de + infinitive, which means to have to do something or must.
Breaking it down:
- has = you have (from haver, for tu)
- de = part of the structure
- barrejar = to mix
So:
- has de barrejar = you have to mix
This is a very common way to express obligation or instructions in Catalan.
Why does the sentence use instead of the imperative ?