Catalan weak pronouns, known as pronoms febles, are small words that replace nouns in a sentence.

They’re essential for speaking naturally and avoiding unnecessary repetition.

Native speakers use them constantly in everyday conversations.

Breaking them down into categories makes them much easier to learn.

I’ll show you exactly how to use these pronouns in standard Catalan.

What are weak pronouns?

A weak pronoun takes the place of a noun that you’ve already mentioned.

In English, we use words like “it”, “them”, “him”, or “there” for this exact purpose.

Instead of saying “I see the car, and I’m buying the car”, we say “I see the car, and I’m buying it.”

In Catalan, these pronouns attach themselves closely to the verb.

Because Catalan pronunciation is very fluid, these pronouns often use apostrophes or hyphens depending on whether the verb starts with a vowel or a consonant.

Let’s look at the most important categories of pronoms febles.

Direct object pronouns

The direct object is the person or thing that directly receives the action of the verb.

If you’re reading a book, the “book” is the direct object.

Catalan has specific weak pronouns to replace these direct objects.

Here’s how you replace a masculine singular noun like el llibre (the book).

Here’s how you replace a feminine plural noun like les pomes (the apples).

The pronoun ho is special because it replaces an entire concept, a neutral idea, or something unknown.

Indirect object pronouns

The indirect object is the person or thing that the action is done to or for.

In English, this is usually indicated by the words “to” or “for”, like “giving a gift to him”.

Catalan indirect object pronouns are very straightforward.

Here’s an example of giving something to a singular person.

Notice that li is used for both males and females in the singular form.

The pronoun en

The pronoun en is one of the most famous features of the Catalan language.

It generally translates to “some”, “any”, or “of it” in English.

You must use en to replace quantities, numbers, or undefined amounts.

You also use en to replace things that are introduced by the preposition de (of/from).

The pronoun hi

The pronoun hi is the perfect companion to en.

It generally translates to “there” or “in it” in English.

You use hi to replace physical locations.

It also replaces objects or concepts introduced by prepositions like a, en, or amb (everything except de).

Placement rules for weak pronouns

Knowing where to put these little words is just as important as knowing which one to choose.

When dealing with a normal conjugated verb, the weak pronoun always goes right before the verb.

However, the pronoun goes immediately after the verb in three specific situations.

These situations are when the verb is an infinitive (to do), a gerund (doing), or an affirmative command (do it!).

When placing the pronoun after the verb, you must connect it using a hyphen or an apostrophe.

Catalan also allows you to combine multiple weak pronouns together.

While pronoun combinations can get quite advanced, simply mastering these individual pronouns will vastly improve your conversational Catalan.