by Max Wheeler
3.1.4.5 The definite article with geographical names
Rather more commonly than in English, Catalan geographical names contain the definite article. It occurs in many local place names, with most mountains and volcanoes, and also with Heaven (el cel) and Hell (l’infern).
When the definite article is part of a place name, the rules given above (3.1.1) concerning contractions apply. Except when the name appears on its own (in signs: L’Hospitalet, Les Borges Blanques), the article is written with lower-case initial, and this means that capitalization is different in the two languages when English versions of Catalan place names are being given: l’ajuntament de la Garriga ‘the town hall of La Garriga’, quan passàvem pel Vendrell ‘as we were going through El Vendrell’.
The names of rivers always have the definite article (as they do in English): l’Ebre ‘the Ebro’, el Tàmesi ‘the Thames’, el Ter, la Noguera, etc. Likewise for mountains (el Pirineu ‘the Pyrenees’, l’Everest, el Cadí, l’Aneto, el Montseny) with the exceptions of Montserrat, Montjuïc.
Most names of the Catalan comarques (traditional territorial divisions) contain the definite article: el Vallès, l’Empordà, el Barcelonès, l’Horta d’Alacant, les Garrigues, etc., but Anoia, Garraf, Osona are used without the article.
The majority of names of villages, towns, and cities have no article: València, Blanes, Puigcerdà, Madrid, Nova York ‘New York’. Some that do are: l’Argentera, les Borges Blanques, l’Escala, el Masnou, es Mercadal, s’Arenal. Noteworthy are some foreign cities with the definite article: el Caire ‘Cairo’, l’Alguer ‘Alghero’, la Meca ‘Mecca’, l’Havana ‘Havana’. There is no rule to predict the presence or absence of the article in this sort of name, though the article is often found when the place name is also (or begins with) a common noun, as in l’Ametlla, es Camp de Mar, l’Estany, la Figuera (but Figueres), el Prat de Llobregat, la Vila Joiosa (but Vilafranca, Vilanova), la Palma d’Ebre (but Palma, Majorca).
In the names of foreign countries and geographical regions the use of the definite article is quite a complex matter. We can state a number of principles, most of which have some exceptions. Generally speaking compound names contain the definite article: l’Alemanya Federal ‘The Federal Republic of Germany’, l’Amèrica Central ‘Central America’, l’Amèrica del Nord ‘North America’, l’Amèrica del Sud ‘South America’, l’Aràbia Saudita ‘Saudi Arabia’, l’Àsia Menor ‘Asia Minor’, els Estats Units ‘the United States’, els Països Baixos ‘the Netherlands’. (El Regne Unit ‘the United Kingdom’ always appears with the article but use is optional for (la) Gran Bretanya ‘Great Britain’.) Major exceptions: Corea del Nord ‘North Korea’, Corea del Sud ‘South Korea’, Irlanda del Nord ‘Northern Ireland’, Nova Guinea ‘New Guinea’, Nova Zelanda ‘New Zealand’.
Names of island groups bear the definite article: les Balears, les Canàries, les Filipines, les Hawaii.
Most names ending in -a have no article: Alsàcia ‘Alsace’, Armènia, Croàcia ‘Croatia’, Gascunya ‘Gascony’, Mongòlia, Sibèria, etc.; but note with the article l’Argentina, l’índia, l’lndo-xina ‘Indochina’, la Xina ‘China’, and usually l’Aràbia, l’Àsia, l’Arcàdia, la Campània ‘Campania’; variably (l’)Àfrica, (la) Florida, (la) Llombardia ‘Lombardy’, (la) Xampanya ‘Champagne’.
Most names of countries or regions ending other than in -a do have the article: el Brasil, el Canadà, l’Equador, el Iemen ‘Yemen’, l’Iran, l’Iraq, el Japó ‘Japan’, el Marroc ‘Morocco’, el Paraguai, el Perú, el Piemont ‘Piedmont’, el Sudan, el Tibet, el Tirol, el Txad ‘Chad’, etc. Variable are: (l’) Aragó ‘Aragon’, (el) Vietnam. Examples without the article are: Lleó ‘León’, Luxemburg, Portugal, Xile ‘Chile’.
Names of countries and regions which are generally used with the definite article may appear without the article in lists, and on labels or addresses, and so on: Canadà, Uruguai, Xina; but the article will appear when the name is used in a phrase: els habitants del Canadà ‘the inhabitants of Canada’, les exportacions de l’Uruguai ‘Uruguay’s exports’, un viatge a la Xina ‘a trip to China’.
Use of the definite article in urban geography also deserves comment. The article does not appear in street signs: Plaça de la Revolució ‘Revolution Square’, Carrer d’Aribau ‘Aribau Street’, Ronda de la Universitat, etc., but it is used when talking about these streets, squares, avenues, etc.:
Abans vivia al carrer Balmes però s’ha traslladat fa poc a la plaça del Pi.
He used to live in Balmes Street but he recently moved to Pi Square.
3.2 INDEFINITE ARTICLES
As with the definite article, there is general correspondence between the behaviour of the Catalan indefinite article and ‘a/an’ in English. Divergence is most noticeable in relation to:
(i) The fact that the Catalan indefinite article un/una can appear in the plural:
Són uns ganduls.
They are lazy people.
Tens unes idees ben rares.
You have (some) very strange ideas.
(ii) The fact that in some contexts the indefinite article is not used before singular count nouns:
Tinc passaport.
I have a passport.
S’escriu sense guionet.
It’s written without a hyphen.
És broma.
I’m only teasing, (lit. It’s a joke.)
(iii) A plural indefinite subject, in preverbal position, usually requires an article.
These features are covered in detail below (3.2.3).
3.2.1 MORPHOLOGY OF THE INDEFINITE ARTICLE
singular plural
masculine un uns
feminine una unes
3.2.2 SYNTAX OF THE INDEFINITE ARTICLE
The indefinite article is usually needed before each noun given in a list:
L’acompanyaven un nen i una nena.
A boy and (a) girl came with him.
Encara hi han d’instal·lar una dutxa i un bidet.
They still have to install a shower and (a) bidet in here.
This does not apply when the nouns have the same referent:
Ho ha fet amb una elegància i delicadesa extraordinàries.
He did it with extraordinary elegance and delicacy.
un poeta i periodista complert
an accomplished poet and journalist (one person)
The restrictions on the combination of masculines and feminines pointed out for the definite article (3.1.2) apply here as well:
uns nens i unes nenes d’uns col·legis i unes escoles
some boys and some girls from some secondary and some primary schools
uns nens i nenes d’uns col·legis i escoles
some boys and giris from some secondary and primary schools
but not: *unes nenes i nens d’unes escoles i col·legis
some girls and boys from some primary and secondary schools
Also observed is the rule that requires subject nouns before the verb usually to have some kind of determiner (3.2.3):
Uns amics vindran a saludar-te. (not *Amics vindran a saludar-te.)
Some friends will come to say hello to you.
Options are available when the subject comes after the verb, or when the noun concerned is not the subject of the sentence:
Vindran (uns) amics a saludar-te. Some friends will come to say hello to you.
T’he vist amb uns amics. I saw you with (some) friends.
T’he vist amb amics. I saw you with friends.
Some subtleties of uns/unes are covered in 3.2.4. The use of un/una as impersonal subject is discussed in 29.3.
3.2.3 PRESENCE AND ABSENCE OF THE INDEFINITE ARTICLE
As mentioned above, preverbal indefinite subjects, whether singular or plural, generally have an indefinite article; a postverbal indefinite plural subject may have no article.
Unes propostes han sorgit per regularitzar la posició dels estudiants estrangers.
approx. = Han sorgit propostes per
regularitzar la posició dels estudiants estrangers.
Proposals have come up for regularizing the situation of foreign students.
Sonaven trets a tot arreu, (not *Trets sonaven a tot arrreu.)
Gunfire could be heard all around.
Van venir col·legues de tots els països.
Colleagues came from every country.
The expected indefinite article before a preverbal plural subject may optionally be omitted in enumerations:
Homes, dones, criatures, tothom va sortir a rebre’ls. (Fabra)
Men, women and children, everyone came out to greet them.
Also in proverbs, such as:
Hostes vingueren que de casa ens tragueren.
lit. Guests came who removed us from home, (approx. They ate us out of house and home.)
Another exception is observed in a sentence like:
Idees com aquestes només se t’acuden a tu.
Ideas like this only occur to you.
This exceptional usage is not possible with a singular indefinite noun phrase:
*Idea com aquesta només se t’acut a tu.
* Aigua s’escampava pertot arreu. → S’escampava aigua pertot arreu.
Water spread everywhere.
Where there is an option the difference between the indefinite article (amb uns amics) and zero (amb amics) is rather difficult to define. In the plural, as here, it can be said that uns/unes corresponds to alguns/algunes ‘some’/‘certain’; it tends to suggest a more specific, usually small, number. To some degree the choice between ‘some’ and zero in plural noun phrases in English is similar for example, ‘with some friends’, ‘with friends’. In Catalan a similar choice may occur also with singular indefinite phrases. Hi haurà examen de final de curs ‘There will be an end-of-year exam’ makes a statement differing slightly from Hi haurà un examen de final de curs, which has the same translation but which is specific about the number of examinations.
Against this general background, in the following sections we approach the question of particular uses involving the presence or absence of the indefinite article.
(i) Absence of the indefinite article before predicative nouns denoting profession, status, and so on
No article is used before nouns in predicate position which identify the subject as a member of a class (profession, occupation, social status or sex):
El germà gran és metge i els altres són enginyers.
The elder brother is a doctor and the others are engineers.
El seu oncle era professor de matemàtiques.
His uncle was a maths teacher.
La meva veïna és vídua.
My neighbour is a widow.
Em preguntava si la persona que mirava era home ο dona.
I wondered whether the person I was looking at was a man or a woman.
A predicative noun used metaphorically, however, entails the use of the indefinite article: És un inquisidor ‘He’s an inquisitor’ (by nature, not profession), Ets un pispa ‘You’re a sneak thief’ (e.g. said when someone has ‘borrowed’ something not theirs). The article is also retained if the meaning is ‘one of …’:
-Qui és aquell? -No ho sé; deu ser un jardiner.
‘Who is that?’ Ί don’t know; he must be a gardener’ (i.e. ‘one of the gardeners’ not ‘a gardener by profession’).
If the predicative noun is qualified or restricted by an adjective or adjective phrase, the article is required:
És una actriu famosa.
She is a famous actress.
És un arquitecte que ha fet molta feina a l’estranger.
He is an architect who has done a lot of work abroad.
This kind of construction with a qualified noun, entailing use of the article, is not to be confused with compound noun phrases (like professor de matemàtiques above) that in themselves denote an identifiable profession or general category: Havia estat entrenador de cavalls ‘He had been a horse trainer’. This principle applies to a wider category of predicates of ser: in Tu ets (un) home seriós ‘You are a serious man’, the absence of the indefinite article places the person referred to in a pre-existing category of ‘serious people’, whereas the presence of the article makes the qualification seriós more descriptive than categorizing.
(ii) Absence of the indefinite article in certain other circumstances after ser
The indefinite article may be absent in some common set expressions where a noun is complement of the verb ‘be’:
Era qüestió de … It was a question of…
Són víctimes d’un equívoc. They are victims of a mix-up.
És broma. I’m only kidding.
Ha estat pura casualitat. It was (a) sheer coincidence.
És llàstima. It’s a pity.
És part del nostre deure. It’s (a) part of our duty.
És norma de la casa no admetre menors d’edat. It’s a house rule not to admit minors.
No hard and fast rule governs this behaviour and many other similar expressions retain the indefinite article:
És una pena. It’s a pity.
És un problema. It’s a problem.
És un desastre. It’s a disaster.
Ha estat un error. It was a mistake.
Serà un èxit. It’ll be a success.
This is an area of usage in which omission is optionally allowed for stylistic effect:
És obligació dels rics fer obres caritatives.
It is an obligation of the wealthy to do charitable works.
És axioma que el peix gros es menja sempre el peix petit.
It is axiomatic that the big fish always swallows the little fish.
Under this heading we can also consider use of the indefinite article to distinguish nouns from adjectives:
En Pere és presumit. Pere is presumptuous.
En Pere és un presumit. Pere is a presumptuous person.
Sou idealistes. You are idealistic.
Sou uns idealistes. You are idealists.
(iii) Absence of indefinite article before objects of certain verbs
Catalan does not use the indefinite article before count nouns acting as objects of the verbs tenir ‘have’, portar/dur ‘wear’ (clothes, etc.), buscar/cercar ‘look for’, trobar ‘find’, comprar ‘buy’, and others. The common denominator of the object nouns in question is that they are items which are normally had or used one at a time: Tenc cotxe Ί have a car’, Té clau de l’apartament ‘He has a key to the flat’, Abans duia barba ‘He used to have a beard’, Cercam pis al centre ‘We are looking for a flat in the town centre’, Troba taxi sempre que vol ‘She finds a taxi whenever she wants one’.
When the indefinite article is used after the verbs under discussion it is with an object, often qualified, that is seen as specific and as having particularized relevance:
Portava una brusa blanca i uns pantalons de ratlles grogues i blaves.
She was wearing a white blouse and (a pair of) yellow and blue striped trousers.
Tenia un aspecte de gueriller vençut.
He had the look of a defeated warrior.
Compare tenir aspecte (de) which means, much more generally, ‘look’: Això té bon aspecte This looks good’, El teu amic té aspecte de setciències ‘Your friend looks like a know-all’.
The point is reinforced by comparing
Tenia dona i fills.
He had a wife and children.
with
Tenia una dona manyaga i uns fills obedients.
He had a loving wife and obedient children.
(iv) Absence of indefinite article after prepositions amb, sense, and en
The principle explained in (iii) above also operates in this case. The indefinite article is absent when no need is felt to underline that the object (even when a singular count noun) is specific:
Ha vingut sense cartera. He came without a briefcase.
un bar amb terrassa a bar with outside tables
un ca sense cua a dog without a tail
Si surts sense paraigua, segur que plourà. If you go out without an umbrella, it’s bound to rain.
Even when the noun is qualified the article may be absent:
Escriu amb bolígraf negre. She writes with a black ballpoint.
But compare Escriu amb un bolígraf negre que li va regalar un cosí seu, ‘She writes with a black ballpoint that a cousin of hers gave her’, where the complement is now distinctly individuated. The article is also retained if the idea of ‘(a single) one’ is emphasized: sense un duro ‘without a single duro (fivepeseta coin)’.
The article is not used after en with nouns expressing a means of transport: Han vingut en tren/en avió/en cotxe ‘They came by train/by plane/by car’, etc. The article does appear after en when the noun is qualified: Han arribat en un avió militar ‘They arrived in a military aircraft’. Central dialects substitute amb for en in this context, systematically when the noun is unqualified (anar amb cotxe, amb tren, amb avió, etc.), less frequently when the noun is qualified.
Note also parlar en veu baixa/alta ‘speak in a low/loud voice’.
(v) Absence of indefinite article with nouns in apposition
The indefinite article is normally absent in appositive phrases (which are, we note, a feature much more of the written than of the spoken language):