Time: quan, en quant
Time joins with quan — "when". If the action is still ahead, the clause takes the subjuntiu — the form for what has not happened yet. For example: “Quan arribis, truca a la porta” — When you arrive, knock at the door. A rule from the Catalan course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Time joins with quan — "when". If the action is still ahead, the clause takes the subjuntiu — the form for what has not happened yet.
Quan arribis, truca a la porta — when you arrive, knock at the door. The form arribis is not a present: the future sits inside it.
Repeated and past events take the ordinary present: Quan plou, quedo a casa — when it rains, I stay home.
En quant — "as soon as" — is the bookish cousin; speech prefers tan bon punt. The question word quan? carries the accent.
Table
| situation | form | example |
|---|---|---|
| action ahead | quan + subjuntiu | quan arribis, truca |
| repeat or fact | quan + indicatiu | quan plou, quedo a casa |
| as soon as | en quant | en quant arribis, truca |
By example
- Quan arribis, truca a la portaWhen you arrive, knock at the door
- Quan et recuperis, torna a la feinaWhen you are better, come back to work
- Quan arribi el camió, truquem els mossosWhen the truck arrives, we will call the movers
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
Time: how does it work in Catalan?
Time joins with quan — "when". If the action is still ahead, the clause takes the subjuntiu — the form for what has not happened yet.
What does it look like in an example sentence Catalan?
“Quan arribis, truca a la porta” — When you arrive, knock at the door. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.