Catalan C1: Storytelling: the perfet simple · Words

Literature and formal writing often narrate in the perfet simple, where speech uses the perifràstic (va cantar). -ar verbs: -í, -ares, -à, -àrem, -àreu, -aren (ell cantà, ells cantaren). -er and -ir verbs: -é, -é / -í (ell perdé, ell dormí). Common irregulars: fou (va ser), tingué (va tenir), féu (va fer), digué (va dir), vingué (va venir). You mostly need to recognise the third person.

• fou — he/she was (literary)
• tingué — he/she had (literary)
• féu — he/she did, made (literary)
• vingué — he/she came (literary)
• digué — he/she said (literary)
• una vegada hi havia — once upon a time
• tot seguit — at once, immediately
• la rondalla — folk tale

• Una vegada hi havia un rei molt ric. — Once upon a time there was a very rich king.
• No digué ni una paraula. — He didn’t say a word.
• Visqueren feliços. — They lived happily ever after.
• Fou el primer a entendre-ho. — He was the first to understand.