Si trenques el got, n'hem de comprar un altre.

Breakdown of Si trenques el got, n'hem de comprar un altre.

comprar
to buy
haver de
to have to
si
if
el got
the glass
un
one
en
of it
altre
other
trencar
to break

Questions & Answers about Si trenques el got, n'hem de comprar un altre.

Why is it si without an accent?

Because si without an accent means if.

Catalan also has with an accent, but that means yes. In this sentence, the word introduces a condition, so it has to be si.

What verb form is trenques?

Trenques is the 2nd person singular present indicative of trencar:

  • (tu) trenques = you break

The spelling changes from c to qu before e so the verb keeps the hard k sound.

Why is the verb after si in the present, not the future or the subjunctive?

In Catalan, normal real conditions use si + present indicative:

  • Si trenques el got...

This works like English If you break the glass... English also uses the present after if, not will.

So trenques is exactly the form you would expect here.

What does hem de comprar mean?

Haver de + infinitive means to have to / must.

So:

  • hem de comprar = we have to buy
  • hem = we have

Here haver is not showing possession. It is part of a structure expressing obligation.

Why does the sentence say we have to buy if it says you break?

Because the speaker is describing a shared consequence:

  • If you break the glass, we have to buy another one.

That may mean the cost or responsibility is shared by the speaker and someone else. The subject of the first verb and the subject of the second verb do not have to be the same.

If the meaning were you have to buy another one, Catalan would be:

  • Si trenques el got, n'has de comprar un altre.
What is n' doing there?

N' is the shortened form of the weak pronoun en.

Here it refers back to got and tells you that the noun is understood but not repeated. English usually uses one in this situation:

  • another one

Catalan often uses en to point back to the omitted noun:

  • n'hem de comprar un altre = we have to buy another one

So n' is helping avoid repeating got.

Why is there an apostrophe in n'hem?

The full pronoun is en, but before a vowel it usually drops its e:

  • en + hemn'hem

The apostrophe just shows that something has been omitted.

Could the pronoun go somewhere else, like hem de comprar-ne?

Yes, with a verb group like haver de + infinitive, Catalan often allows the weak pronoun in two places:

  • n'hem de comprar un altre
  • hem de comprar-ne un altre

The version in your sentence puts the pronoun before the conjugated verb hem, which is very common.

Why is it un altre and not just altre?

Because when altre means another and the noun is omitted, Catalan normally keeps the article:

  • un altre = another one

You would also keep it if the noun were stated:

  • un altre got = another glass

So altre on its own would not be the normal choice here.

Why is it un altre and not una altra?

Because it refers back to got, and got is a masculine singular noun:

  • el got
  • un altre

If the noun were feminine, you would use una altra.

Why do we get el got first but un altre later?

Because they do different jobs.

  • el got = a specific glass already understood in the situation
  • un altre = another one, a replacement

So first the sentence talks about the glass that might get broken, and then it talks about buying another glass afterward.

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