Si l'oncle ho descobrís abans, la meva neboda i el meu nebot es posarien tristos.

If my uncle found out beforehand, my niece and my nephew would get sad.

Breakdown of Si l'oncle ho descobrís abans, la meva neboda i el meu nebot es posarien tristos.

• i: and
• meu: my
• si: if
• l'oncle: the uncle

Questions & Answers about Si l'oncle ho descobrís abans, la meva neboda i el meu nebot es posarien tristos.

Why is it l'oncle and not el oncle?

Because el becomes l' before a vowel sound. This is called elision.

• el + oncle → l'oncle

So l'oncle simply means the uncle.

Why do la meva neboda and el meu nebot have both an article and a possessive?

In Catalan, it is very common to use the definite article + possessive + noun together:

• la meva neboda
• el meu nebot

That is different from English, where we normally just say my niece and my nephew without the.

So this is a normal Catalan structure, especially in standard usage.

What does ho mean here?

Ho is a neutral direct object pronoun. It usually refers to it, but specifically to:

• a fact
• a situation
• something previously mentioned
• an idea or whole clause

So in this sentence, ho descobrís means discovered it / found that out.

Unlike nouns such as el llibre or la carta, ho does not show masculine or feminine gender.

Why is it descobrís?