"One's own": possessives and propi
The possessive stands before the noun and takes an article: el meu germà (my brother), la meva germana (my sister). For example: “El meu germà viu amb nosaltres” — My brother lives with us. A rule from the Catalan course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
The possessive stands before the noun and takes an article: el meu germà (my brother), la meva germana (my sister).
After ésser the article drops: és meu — it is mine.
There is no separate word for "one's own": the pronoun already says whose. Catalan also likes the other order — noun plus possessive: un germà meu — a brother of mine.
To press the point, propi goes after the possessive: la nostra pròpia casa — our very own house.
Table
| position | example |
|---|---|
| before the noun | el meu germà |
| after the noun | un germà meu |
| after ésser | és meu |
| intensified | la seva pròpia casa |
By example
- El meu germà viu amb nosaltresMy brother lives with us
- Un cosí meu viu a BarcelonaA cousin of mine lives in Barcelona
- Tenim la nostra pròpia casa amb patiWe have our own house with a yard
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
"One's own": how does it work in Catalan?
The possessive stands before the noun and takes an article: el meu germà (my brother), la meva germana (my sister).
What does it look like in an example sentence Catalan?
“El meu germà viu amb nosaltres” — My brother lives with us. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.