Vols guanyar, oi?

Vols is the 2nd person singular present form of the verb voler (to want).

So:

• jo vull = I want
• tu vols = you want
• ell/ella vol = he/she wants

In Vols guanyar, oi?, vols means you want.

Catalan often drops the subject pronoun when it is already clear from the verb ending.

So both of these are possible:

• Vols guanyar, oi?
• Tu vols guanyar, oi?

The version without tu is very normal and natural.
You would add tu mainly for emphasis, contrast, or clarity.

For example:

• Tu vols guanyar, però ell no.
  = You want to win, but he doesn’t.

Guanyar is the infinitive form of the verb, meaning to win.

After voler (to want), Catalan usually uses the infinitive directly:

• Vull menjar = I want to eat
• Vols sortir = You want to go out
• Vols guanyar = You want to win

So this structure is:

• vols = you want
• guanyar = to win

Because in Catalan, after voler, you normally use the infinitive without a separate word like English to.

Compare:

• English: You want to win
• Catalan: Vols guanyar

This is very common in Catalan and other Romance languages.

Oi? is a very common Catalan tag used to ask for confirmation. It often corresponds to:

• right?
• isn’t that so?
• don’t you? / aren’t you? in some contexts

So:

• Vols guanyar, oi?
  = You want to win, right?

It does not change depending on the verb or subject. That is different from English, where tag questions change form:

• You want to win, don’t you?
• He’s coming, isn’t he?

In Catalan, oi? can work in many situations as a general confirmation tag.

It is generally neutral and very common in speech. It is not especially slangy, and it is used a lot in everyday Catalan.

That said, in very formal writing, people may choose other ways to ask for confirmation. But in normal conversation, oi? is extremely natural.

Yes, Vols guanyar, no? is also possible and common in speech.

Both can mean something like right?, but there can be a slight difference in feel:

• oi? often sounds like a straightforward request for agreement or confirmation
• no? can sound a bit more conversational and sometimes a little softer or more casual

Both are useful, and learners will hear both.

Yes. The sentence is understood as a question because of:

1. intonation
2. the tag oi?
3. the question mark in writing

Without the tag, Vols guanyar could simply mean You want to win or could be understood as a question depending on context and intonation.

With oi?, it clearly becomes a confirmation question:
You want to win, right?

Not usually in the same built-up way English does. English changes the auxiliary and pronoun:

• You want to win, don’t you?

Catalan commonly uses simpler tags such as:

• oi?
• no?

So instead of copying the English structure, Catalan typically uses one of these general confirmation tags.

Yes. Vols is used with tu, the informal singular you.

If you were speaking formally to one person, standard Catalan would usually use vostè with 3rd person singular verb forms:

• Vol guanyar, oi?
  = You want to win, right? (formal, singular)

If you were addressing more than one person:

• Voleu guanyar, oi?
  = You want to win, right? (plural, or formal depending on region/context)

So vols specifically points to one person, informal.

A broad pronunciation guide is:

• Vols ≈ bols / vols
• guanyar ≈ gwuh-NYAR or gwə-NYAR depending on accent
• oi ≈ oy

A rough full pronunciation might be:

• bols gwuh-NYAR, oy?

A few useful notes:

• The gua in guanyar sounds like gwa
• ny in Catalan represents the same sound as ñ in Spanish or the ny in canyon
• oi sounds like oy

Pronunciation varies somewhat by dialect, but that guide will help you be understood.

No. Guanyar can also mean to earn in other contexts.

For example:

• guanyar un partit = to win a match
• guanyar diners = to earn money

In Vols guanyar, oi?, the natural meaning is to win.

Yes, Catalan can express a similar idea in other ways, depending on emphasis.

For example:

• Vols guanyar, oi? = You want to win, right?
• Oi que vols guanyar? = Isn’t it true that you want to win? / You do want to win, right?

The version with oi que... is another common pattern for asking for confirmation. It is slightly different in structure, but very similar in meaning.

Because oi is functioning as a tag added to the end of the sentence. In writing, Catalan normally separates that kind of tag with a comma:

• Vols guanyar, oi?

This is similar to English punctuation in:

• You want to win, right?

The comma helps show that oi is not part of the main clause, but an added request for confirmation.