Vostè vol llogar el pis?

Vostè means you in a formal singular sense. You use it when speaking politely, respectfully, or at some social distance from the other person, for example with a customer, an older stranger, or in a formal interaction.

In many everyday situations, Catalan speakers often prefer tu instead, so vostè can sound quite formal. But it is completely correct and very useful to know.

Because vostè takes a third-person singular verb form in Catalan.

So:

• tu vols = informal singular you want
• vostè vol = formal singular you want
• vosaltres voleu = informal plural you want
• vostès volen = formal plural you want

This is similar to Spanish usted quiere.

Vol comes from the verb voler, which means to want.

In this sentence, vol is the present tense, third-person singular form:

• jo vull = I want
• tu vols = you want
• ell / ella / vostè vol = he / she / you (formal) want

So Vostè vol... means You want... in a formal way.

Catalan does not use an auxiliary like English do to form ordinary questions.

So English:

• Do you want to rent the flat?

Catalan:

• Vostè vol llogar el pis?

The sentence is marked as a question mainly by:

• intonation in speech
• the question mark in writing

This is very common in Catalan.

Yes. Catalan often drops subject pronouns because the verb form already gives enough information.

So Vol llogar el pis? is a perfectly natural sentence. It still means Do you want to rent the flat/apartment? in a formal singular sense, depending on context.

Including vostè can make the sentence:

• clearer
• more explicit
• sometimes a bit more formal or emphatic

Here llogar means to rent or to lease.

In this sentence, the meaning is that the person is considering renting the apartment as a tenant.

A useful thing to know is that llogar can sometimes be a little broader in Catalan, and context tells you whether someone means:

• to rent something
• or to rent something out

But in Vostè vol llogar el pis?, the natural meaning is Do you want to rent the apartment?

El pis means the flat or the apartment.

• el = the for a masculine singular noun
• pis = flat / apartment

So el pis is simply the apartment.

A learner may notice that pis looks a bit unusual if they know Spanish piso. Catalan uses pis where English would usually say flat or apartment.

Not normally. In your sentence, Vostè is capitalized because it is the first word of the sentence.

If it appeared in the middle, it would usually be written vostè with a lowercase v:

• Si vostè vol, podem parlar ara.

In some older or especially formal writing, people may capitalize forms of address out of respect, but that is not the standard everyday rule.

The informal singular version would usually be:

Vols llogar el pis?

You could also say: Tu vols llogar el pis?

The difference is:

• vols goes with tu
• vol goes with vostè

As in many Catalan sentences, the pronoun tu is often omitted, so Vols llogar el pis? is very natural.

A simple learner-friendly approximation is:

vos-TEH vol lyo-GAR el pees

A few pronunciation notes:

• vostè is stressed on the last syllable: -tè
• vol is short, with a clear l at the end
• ll in llogar is not the normal English l; it is a palatal sound, roughly like the lli sound some speakers use in million
• pis sounds close to English peace

The exact pronunciation varies somewhat by dialect, but that approximation is good enough for a beginner.