Si haguéssim comprat més enciam, ara faríem una amanida més gran.

Because Catalan uses the pluperfect subjunctive after si for unreal past conditions.

So in this sentence:

• Si haguéssim comprat més enciam = If we had bought more lettuce

This is the Catalan pattern for a hypothetical situation that did not happen in the past.

A very common structure is:

• si + imperfect/pluperfect subjunctive
• main clause in the conditional

Here that gives:

• Si haguéssim comprat..., ara faríem...

English is similar:

• If we had bought more lettuce, we would now make / have a bigger salad

Catalan does not normally say Si hauríem comprat... in standard grammar for this kind of sentence.

Haguéssim comprat is the pluperfect subjunctive of comprar.

It is built with:

• haguéssim = imperfect subjunctive of haver
• comprat = past participle of comprar

So:

• haguéssim comprat = we had bought

The full conjugation of haver in this tense is:

• jo hagués / haguera
• tu haguessis / hagueres
• ell/ella hagués / haguera
• nosaltres haguéssim / haguérem
• vosaltres haguéssiu / haguéreu
• ells/elles haguessin / hagueren

In this sentence, -éssim shows we.

Faríem is the conditional of fer and means we would make / we would do.

In this sentence:

• ara faríem una amanida més gran = now we would make a bigger salad

It expresses the result of the unreal condition.

So the logic is:

• unreal past condition: Si haguéssim comprat més enciam...
• hypothetical present result: ara faríem una amanida més gran

This is a nice example of a mixed conditional: the condition is in the past, but the result is about now.

Ara means now, and it is important here because it shows that the result is about the present moment, not the past.

Compare:

• Si haguéssim comprat més enciam, faríem una amanida més gran.
  = If we had bought more lettuce, we would make a bigger salad.

• Si haguéssim comprat més enciam, ara faríem una amanida més gran.
  = If we had bought more lettuce, we would now be making / make a bigger salad.

So ara helps signal that the sentence connects a past unreal action with a present hypothetical consequence.

Enciam here is being used as an uncountable noun meaning lettuce in a general quantity sense.

After més, Catalan often uses the noun directly:

• més enciam = more lettuce
• més pa = more bread
• més aigua = more water

You would not say més l'enciam here.

As for més d'enciam, that structure is used in some other contexts, but not in this simple quantity pattern. Here the normal expression is just:

• més enciam

They do two different jobs:

• més enciam = more lettuce
  Here més expresses a greater quantity.

• més gran = bigger / larger
  Here més modifies the adjective gran and creates a comparative.

So:

• més enciam = more of the ingredient
• una amanida més gran = a larger salad

This is perfectly normal in Catalan, just like English can say:

• more lettuce
• a bigger salad

Yes, in many contexts gran and gros/grossa can both relate to size, but they are not always identical.

In this sentence:

• una amanida més gran sounds very natural and neutral: a bigger salad

Grossa often suggests something more like thick, fat, or large in bulk, depending on context. For food portions, gran is usually the safest and most general choice.

So for learners, més gran is the best option here.

Catalan often drops subject pronouns because the verb ending already shows the person.

Here:

• haguéssim = we had
• faríem = we would

So the subject nosaltres is understood automatically.

You could say:

• Si nosaltres haguéssim comprat més enciam, ara faríem una amanida més gran

But normally Catalan leaves nosaltres out unless you want emphasis or contrast.

Yes. You can reverse the order, just as in English.

Original:

• Si haguéssim comprat més enciam, ara faríem una amanida més gran.

Reversed:

• Ara faríem una amanida més gran si haguéssim comprat més enciam.

Both are grammatical. The version starting with si is often clearer for learners because it presents the condition first.

Also note the punctuation:

• When the si clause comes first, a comma is normal.
• When it comes second, the comma is often omitted.

It is best understood as a mixed conditional.

Why?

• Si haguéssim comprat més enciam refers to an unreal situation in the past.
• ara faríem una amanida més gran refers to a hypothetical result in the present.

So it mixes:

• a past condition
• a present result

That is why haguéssim comprat and ara faríem appear together.

Yes, but it would change the meaning.

• faríem = we would make / would be making
  This points to a hypothetical result in the present.

• hauríem fet = we would have made
  This points to a hypothetical result in the past.

Compare:

• Si haguéssim comprat més enciam, ara faríem una amanida més gran.
  = If we had bought more lettuce, we would now make a bigger salad.

• Si haguéssim comprat més enciam, hauríem fet una amanida més gran.
  = If we had bought more lettuce, we would have made a bigger salad.

So the original sentence uses faríem because the result is tied to ara.

The accents help show both pronunciation and verb form.

• haguéssim has a stressed é
• faríem has a stressed í

These written accents are important in Catalan and should not be omitted in correct spelling.

For learners, they are also useful clues:

• -éssim often appears in subjunctive forms like haguéssim
• -íem often appears in conditional forms like faríem

So the accents are not decorative—they help identify the grammar.

It is very natural and idiomatic.

It sounds like standard, correct Catalan and expresses a realistic kind of everyday hypothetical thought.

A native speaker might say this when talking about cooking or shopping:

• We did not buy enough lettuce.
• As a result, we cannot make as big a salad now.

So it is a good example of real Catalan grammar, especially for learning:

• si + pluperfect subjunctive
• conditional in the main clause
• a mixed conditional with ara