Posa un tovalló al costat del plat, si us plau.

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Breakdown of Posa un tovalló al costat del plat, si us plau.

• al costat de: next to
• el plat: the plate
• posar: to put

Questions & Answers about Posa un tovalló al costat del plat, si us plau.

What kind of verb form is posa?

Posa is the tu imperative of posar, meaning to put or to place. It is used when giving a command to one person informally.

So this sentence is speaking to someone as tu:

• (tu) posa = put
• (vostè) posi = put, formal singular
• (vosaltres) poseu = put, informal plural

Catalan often leaves out the subject pronoun, so Posa by itself is completely normal.

Why is there un before tovalló?

Un is the masculine singular indefinite article, so it means a or one.

• un tovalló = a napkin
• el tovalló = the napkin

Here, un tovalló sounds natural because you are asking for a napkin, not pointing to one specific napkin already identified.

Is tovalló the normal word for napkin?

Yes. Tovalló is the standard Catalan word for napkin.

You may also hear servilleta in some places or in more colloquial speech, but tovalló is a good standard word to learn and use.