Catalan Tutorial: Basic Catalan Phrases, Vocabulary, and Grammar

Written by Jonathan Maynard / Thank you to volunteers at Rhinospike for the audio files!

Catalan, a Gallo-Romance language spoken with a speaking population of about 11.5 million people, can be heard in Spain (Catalonia, Valencia, the Balearic Islands, La Franja in Aragon, Carche in Murcia), France (Pyrénées-Orientales), and Italy (City of Alghero on Sardinia). Also, Catalan is the official language of the Principality of Andorra. Being at the geographic center of the Romance-speaking western Mediterranean, Catalan acts as a bridge between many of its sister Romance languages by displaying phenomena that occur in French but not Italian, or in Portuguese but not Spanish, etc. (with the exception of Romanian).

As for the tutorials offered here, I will cover the Central Catalan accent in its standard variety, as that is the most often heard abroad since it's spoken in the symbolic capital of the Catalan-speaking world: Barcelona. Furthermore, the overwhelming majority of media in Catalan, being based in Barcelona, is thus in the Central accent. You may see in places that "Valencian" is a separate language but it is largely considered by linguists to be a dialect of Catalan, though with somewhat significant differences in pronunciations and aspects of morphology such as verb conjugations. Nonetheless, speakers of various Catalan dialects, like those who speak various dialects of English can still understand each other perfectly.

1. Basic Catalan Phrases (Expressions més freqüents)

Bon dia!	Hello! Good morning!
Bona tarda!	Good afternoon / evening!
Bona nit!	Good night!
Hola!	Hi!
Adéu!/A reveure!	Bye!/See you later!
Per favor/Sisplau	Please
(Moltes) gràcies!/Mercès!	Thank you (so much)!
De res!	You're welcome!
No es mereixen!/No hi ha per a tant!	It was nothing, really!/Don't mention it!
Benvingut(m.) Benvinguda(f.) Benvinguts(m.pl.) Benvingudes(f.pl.)	Welcome!
Som-hi!/Endavant!	C'mon!, Let's go!/ Go on!
Fins ara!/Fins aviat!	See you in a minute!/See you soon!
Que vagi bé!	Take care!
Quant (de) temps!	Long time, no see!
Ja ens veurem!	We'll be in touch!
Encantat! Molt de gust!	Nice/pleased to meet you!
Com estàs? (informal)/Com està (vostè)? (formal) Com va (tot)?	How are you? How's everything/it going?
Què passa? Què tal?	What's up?
Perdó	Excuse me
Ho sento (molt)/Em sap greu	I'm (very) sorry
Com et dius? (informal) Com es diu (vostè)? (formal)	What's your name?
Em dic ______.	My name is ______.
(Jo) sóc el/la _______.	I'm ________.
(Que) parla (formal)/parles (informal) català/anglès?	Do you speak Catalan/English?
Bona/Molta sort!	Good luck!
T'estimo	I love you
D'on és vostè? (formal)/D'on ets? (informal)	Where are you from?
Sóc de ______.	I'm from _____.
Vinc de ________.	I come from _______.
(No) ho entenc./ (No) ho comprenc.	I (don't) understand.

2. Pronunciation (La pronúncia)

a	always a like in "father" and never a like in "apple"
b/v	a.) b at beginning of a word or after m or n b.) p at end of a word or before an s c.) everywhere else: soft v produced without touching teeth to lower lip (many say this is actually more of a soft b, so it's really up to what the learner hears and can reproduce)
c	a.) + e,i = s b.) k everywhere else
ç	s
d	a.) voiced th in "that" when between two vowels or between an r and a vowel b.) t at end of a word c.) d everywhere else
e	a.) sometimes like ay in way, same sound as Spanish e (sometimes accented thus: é ) b.) sometimes like e in "get" (sometimes accented thus: è ), equivalent to French "ai" in "américaine" c.) neutral vowel that sounds like the first a in "separate" [sep-uh-rayt], essentially same as the e in French "le"; this sound of e occurs whenever it appears in an unstressed syllable
j/ge/gi	French j sound, much like s in vision
g	a.) g sound in "girl" when not followed by e or i b.) k at end of a word
gu	+ i, e = g in "girl"
gua/guë/güi	g is essentially silent, thus making the combinations sound like "wa," "way," and "we," respectively
h	always silent
i	a.) y when at beginning of word or between two vowels b.) ee in "keep" unless rule from a.) applies or unless i is in a diphthong/triphthong
ll	like the "lli" in "million" (corresponds to "lh" in Portuguese and "gl" in Italian), thus an English y sound with the tongue touching the roof of the mouth. however, many speakers today (as is the overwhelming case in Spanish as well) simply make a sound that corresponds to the English y
l·l	"ela geminada"; pronounced as a single l
n	m when before b/v in a word or phrase (e.g. enviar [em-bee-AH], un vas [oom BAHS] )
ny	like ny in "canyon" (corresponds to Spanish ñ, Portuguese nh, or French/Italian gn)
nys	same as ny but with the s being pronounced sh
inc/enc	when found as last syllable of a word: first one (-inc) corresponds to English -ing but with a very slight or even more pronounced k sound afterwards depending on the speaker or even the specific word (much like how in French the "c" is pronounced in "donc" but not in "blanc"). Same applies for -enc, though instead of corresponding to English -ing, it more corresponds to -ang like in the word "pang"
o	a.) sometimes open o like o in "dog" (sometimes accented thus: ò) b.) sometimes closed o like o in "row" (sometimes accented thus: ó) same sound as Spanish o c.) oo in "boot" when found in unstressed syllable (e.g. this occurs for every -o ending in the first person present tense conjugation of regular verbs like "parlo" or "surto")
qu	a.) + e, i = k b.) + a, u, o = kw
qü	+ e, i = kw
r	a.) trilled when at beginning of word or when doubled (pretty much like in Spanish) b.) essentially like d in "dad" when between two vowels c.) silent at end of word with some exceptions, the most notable being the preposition "per" NB: silent r at end of infinitive is pronounced when infinitive is followed by a weak pronoun (e.g. dir [dee] but dir-se [DEER-suh]
s	a.) z when between two vowels. NB liason occurs generally when a word ending in s is followed by a vowel or mute h (e.g. els agrada [uhl-za-GRAH-thuh] ) b.) s everywhere else
t	silent after n or l when at the end of a word, but English t everywhere else
u	always oo in "boot"
v	see rules for Catalan b
x	a.) sh in ship when at beginning of word or in combination "-ix" b.) x in "taxi" when between two vowels
ex + vowel	egz just like in French and English
ex + consonant	eks also like in French and English
z	always z as in "zebra"

It should be assumed that any letter not treated above (but still found in the Catalan alphabet) has essentially the same pronunciation as in English (i.e. m, l, etc.)

Catalan Consonant Combinations, Diphtongs and Triphthongs

tj/tg/dj	j in "jump"
tz	dz in "adze"
tx/ig	ch in "chip"
ou	o in "row"
oi	oy in "boy"
au	ow in "cow"
ei	ay in "bay"
ui	wee in "week"
ai	"eye"
iu	"you"
eu	no real English equivalent, simply try to pronounce both vowels quickly together
iai	"yi" in "yikes!"
uai	"why"
iau	same as English exclamation of pain "yow!"
ieu	no English equivalent: essentially "eu" with a y sound at beginning
ueu	no English equivalent: essentially "eu" with a w sound at beginning

NB: in the combinations oix, oig, aig, aix, uix, etc. there is NO acting diphthong. The i present in those combinations is linked to the following x or g and not the preceding vowel (e.g. vaig [bahch] and not [bye-ch], caixa [kah-shuh] and not [keye-shuh] ). Basically "ix" and "ig" are treated as single letters.

Stress

a.) If a word ends in an unstressed vowel, an untressed vowel + s, the combination "-en", or the combination "-in", then the stress of the word is on the penultimate, or second-to-last syllable (e.g. cotxe [COHCH-uh] "car", cotxes [COHCH-uhs] "cars", parlen [PAR-luhn] "they speak", parlin [PAR-leen] "they speak (present subjunctive)")

b.) If a word ends in a consonant other than s (even if that consonant, notably r, is not pronounced) or ends in "-an", "-on", "-un", then the stress of that word is on the final syllable (e.g. estimar [uh-stee-MAH] "to love", perdut [puhr-THUT] "lost", parlaran [par-lah-RAN] "they will speak", Ramon [rrah-MOHN] man's name, algun [al-GOON] "some").

c.) If word has an accent on any vowel, the first two rules are ignored and the stress falls on the syllable containing the accented vowel (e.g. català [kah-tah-LAH] Catalan, telèfon [tuh-LEH-foon].

3. Alphabet (L'alfabet)

A a	a	J j	jota	S s	essa
B b	be alta	K k	ca	T t	te
C c	ce	L l	ela	U u	u
D d	de	M m	ema	V v	ve baixa
E e	e	N n	ena	W w	ve doble
F f	efa	O o	o	X x	ics
G g	ge	P p	pe	Y y	i grega
H h	hac	Q q	cu	Z z	zeta
I i	i	R r	erra

All letters in Catalan are feminine in gender (e.g. la ema).

4. Noun Gender, Articles, and Demonstratives (El gènere dels substantius, els articles i els adjectius demostratius)

As with the other Romance languages, Catalan nouns are marked as either masculine or feminine in gender and take different determiners (articles, demonstratives, etc.) and endings (for themselves and the adjectives that modify them) according to their gender and number, which is either singular or plural. Although a rule of thumb would be that nouns ending in consonants or stressed vowels are masculine and nouns ending in unstressed vowels are feminine, there are numerous exceptions to this rule. Quite simply, it's best to learn each noun as you come across it.

Definite Article (Els articles definits) - The

masculine		feminine
el	sing., before consonants	la	sing., before consonants, unstressed i/hi or u/hu
l'	sing., before vowel or h + a vowel	l'	sing., before vowel, h + a/o/e, stressed i/hi or u/hu
els	plural	les	plural

Indefinite Article (Els articles indefinits) - A, an, some

masculine		feminine
un	singular	una	singular
uns	plural	unes	plural

Uns and unes generally are used to mean "some" and can be left out in other situations (unlike French, which almost always requires the plural article for indefinite nouns).

There is no elision of the article (i.e. when it's spelled l' instead of la or el) before words that would sound the same (e.g. la normalitat and la anormalitat, NOT l'anormalitat).

Also, no elision occurs before the names of letters (e.g. la efa "the F"), before an i or a u that's acting as a consonant (e.g. el iaio "the grandpa", la UEFA "the UEFA"), or before certain words that don't take elision out of tradition (e.g. la una "one o'clock", la host "the host (of troops)")

NB the diphthongs "ai" and "au" occur between the feminine article and a non-elided noun beginning with an unstressed i or u (e.g. la imatge [leye-MAHJ-uh] "the image", la universitat [low-nee-ber-si-TAHT] (with the "ow" pronounced as the "ou" in "ouch!") "the university")

Demonstratives (Els adjectius i pronoms demostratius)

	masculine	feminine
this	aquest*	aquesta
these	aquests**	aquestes
that	aquell	aquella
those	aquells	aquelles

Neutral Pronouns (Els pronoms demostratius neutres)

this/that	això
that	allò

*The s in aquest is only pronounced when the word is followed by a noun beginning with a vowel or an h (e.g. aquest home [ah-kehs-tohm-uh] ), otherwise it's silent (e.g. aquest noi [ah-keht noy] ).

**Similarly, the first s in aquests is never pronounced. (e.g. aquests tipus [ah-kehts tee-poos] )

To form demonstrative pronouns in Catalan simply use the adjective form without any succeeding noun. For example, in the sentence: M'agrada molt aquesta camisa, però prefeixo aquella (I like this shirt a lot, but I prefer that one over there) aquesta is acting as a demonstrative adjective, whereas aquella is a demonstrative pronoun.

In everyday usage, aquell and its various forms really only designate things at a signifcant distance from the speaker, so much so that "that (insert noun) over there" is a better translation. This corresponds to the Spanish este-ese-aquel with aquest playing the role of both "este" and "ese" and aquell being more closely associate with "aquel."

However, in cases where clarification is needed, then aquell (as noted in the above chart) can simply translate to "that" in English (e.g. Vull aquell, no aquest "I want that one, not this one.")

The Neutral Demonstative Pronouns are used to refer to anything from an entire sentence (e.g. Facebook és gratuït. M'agrada això. "Facebook is free. I like that.") to an abstract genderless object (Què és això? "What is this/that?"). Això is much more preferred in everyday usage to allò and can thus function as either "this" or "that." However, allò is still possible and sometimes preferrable in certain cases.

5. Subject Pronouns (Els pronoms personals forts)

jo	I	nosaltres	we
tu	you (informal singular)	vosaltres	you (informal plural)
ell	he	ells	they (masculine or feminine + masculine plural)
ella	she	elles	they (feminine plural)
vostè	you (formal singular)	vostès	you (formal plural)

Much like in Spanish or Portuguese, the subject pronouns in Catalan are rarely used except for adding emphasis. Also of note is the fact that ell, ella, and vostè all take the same verb forms and the same rule applies to their plural forms (ells, elles, vostès).

There exists a subject pronoun hom which translates to "one", "people", "you" (in a general sense) that is used for such things as passive constructions. It's equivalent to the pronoun "on" in French, minus the usage (that French has) of being an informal way of saying "we." However, "hom" is largely literary in usage and, as such, other ways of expressing passive or general statements are preferred in everyday spoken Catalan.

6. To Be & To Have (Ser/Ésser, Estar & Tenir)

ser / ésser - to be
present		past		future
sóc	I am	vaig ser	I was	seré	I will be
ets	you are	vas ser	you were	seràs	you will be
és	he/she/it is / you are	va ser	he/she/it was / you were	serà	he/she/it / you will be
som	we are	vam ser	we were	serem	we will be
sou	you are	vau ser	you were	sereu	you will be
són	they / you are	van ser	they / you were	seran	they / you will be

estar - to be
present		past		future
estic	I am	vaig estar	I was	estaré	I will be
estàs	you are	vas estar	you were	estaràs	you will be
està	he/she/it is / you are	va estar	he/she/it was / you were	estarà	he/she/it / you will be
estem	we are	vam estar	we were	estarem	we will be
esteu	you are	vau estar	you were	estareu	you will be
estan	they / you are	van estar	they / you were	estaran	they / you will be

tenir - to have
present		past		future
tinc	I have	vaig tenir	I had	tindré	I will have
tens	you have	vas tenir	you had	tindràs	you will have
té	he/she/it has / you have	va tenir	he/she/it / you had	tindrà	he/she/it / you will have
tenim	we have	vam tenir	we had	tindrem	we will have
teniu	you have	vau tenir	you had	tindreu	you will have
tenen	they / you have	van tenir	they / you had	tindran	they / you will have

Ser is much more common than ésser (which is archaic in many senses) but it's beneficial to be familiar with both forms. Also of note is that ésser is the noun form of ser (e.g. un ésser humà "a human being")

Ser and estar differentiate pretty much along the same lines as do their Spanish counterparts. However, one key area in which they differ is location. Whilst Spanish uses estar for location, Catalan uses ser. However, below is a more thorough outline of their uses.

Ser

Identify person/object	Aquest edifici és la meva residència.	This building is my residence/dorm.
Permanent qualities	Casa seva és molt gran.	His home is very large.
Nationality/occupation	Són metges.	They're doctors.
Telling time	Són dos quarts de dues.	It's 1:30.
Express ownership	La samarreta és del Xavi	The T-shirt is Xavi's.
Impersonal expressions	És possible que vingui a la festa.	It's possible that (s)he'll come to the party.
Passive voice	Els comprovants van ser firmats.	The receipts were signed.
Location	Els Pirineus són entre França i Catalunya.	The Pyrenees are between France and Catalonia.

Estar

State of being	Estic molt bé, gràcies! i tu?	I'm doing very well, thanks! How about you?
Temporary condition	La porta està tancada.	The door is closed/locked.
Progressive tenses	Estem buscant feina.	We're looking for work/jobs.

Common expressions with Tenir

tenir fred	to be cold	tenir present algú/alguna cosa	to keep something/somebody in mind
tenir calor	to be hot/warm	tenir por (de)	to be afraid (of)
tenir gana	to be hungry	tenir ganes de + inf.	to feel like verb-ing/to be excited to do something
tenir set	to be thirsty	tenir ______ anys	to be ______ years old
tenir èxit	to be successful	tenir sort	to be lucky
tenir son	to be sleepy	tenir gelosia (de)	to be jealous (of)
tenir lloc	to take place/to happen	no tenir-les totes amb	to not to be too sure about

7. Question Words (Paraules interrogatives)

what	què	whose	de qui
why	per què	which	quin / quina / quins / quines
where	on	how	com
when	quan	how many	quants / quantes
who	qui	how much	quant / quanta

8. 'Que' for absolute questions ('Que' per a preguntes absolutes)

One of the many uses of "que" in Catalan is a marker of an absolute question. Occurring at the beginning of a question, this "que" is the sign of an absolute (e.g. a "yes/no") question. However, it's completely optional so one will not always hear it in a yes/no question.

This should not be confused with the question word "què" which is never optional in the sentences it occurs in and in fact has the pronunciation [keh], whereas "que" is either pronounced [kuh] or is elided with a followed word beginning with vowel or h + a vowel (e.g. que has après [kahz-ahs-prehs] "that you have learned" though it's pronounced as "qu'has après," such elision forms with "que" are never written, unlike in French where this written form would be grammatically correct).

(Que) vols menjar? Do you want to eat?

versus

Què vols menjar? What do you want to eat?

9. Cardinal and Ordinal Numbers (Els nombres cardinals i ordinals)

0	zero
1	u, un, una
2	dos, dues
3	tres
4	quatre
5	cinc
6	sis
7	set
8	vuit
9	nou
10	deu
11	onze
12	dotze
13	tretze
14	catorze
15	quinze
16	setze
17	disset
18	divuit
19	dinou
20	vint
21	vint-i-u
22	vint-i-dos
30	trenta
31	trenta-u
40	quaranta
50	cinquanta
60	seixanta
70	setanta
80	vuitanta
90	noranta
100	cent
200	dos-cents
1.000	mil
2.000	dos mil, dues mil

"U" is only used for 1 when it stands by itself (telling time, giving a phone number, counting out loud, etc.); otherwise use "un" for masculine nouns and "una" for feminine ones. Similarly, "dos" is used to go with masculine nouns and "dues" for feminine ones. When writing numbers out in words, Catalan observes the D-U-C (Desena-Unitat-Centena) rule which states that hyphens (except in the case of the 20s, e.g. 23 vint-i-tres) only occur between "D" (e.g. 10, 20, 30, etc.) and "U" (1,2,3, etc.) and/or "U" and "C" (100). To put this in perspective, here are several examples: mil nou-cents noranta-dos 1992 (nou is a "U" and cents is a "C", so nou-cents; noranta is a "D" and dos is a "U" so noranta-dos), dos-cents vuitanta-set 287, dos-cents seixanta mil cinc-cents 260.500, and tres-cents vint-i-set 327.

Just as in French, large Catalan numbers use . for every three digits, which is the opposite in English (e.g. "two thousand" English: 2,000 BUT Catalan: 2.000). The same is true of percents and decimals: where English uses . , Catalan uses , . Thus, "two point five percent" would be 2.5% in English, but 2,5% in Catalan.

	masculine singular	masculine plural	feminine singular	feminine plural
1st	primer (1r)	primers (1rs)	primera (1a)	primeres (1es)
2nd	segon (2n)	segons (2ns)	segona (2a)	segones (2es)
3rd	tercer (3r)	tercers (3rs)	tercera (3a)	terceres (3es)
4th	quart (4t)	quarts (4ts)	quarta (4a)	quartes (4es)
5th	cinquè (5è)	cinquens (5ns)	cinquena (5a)	cinquenes (5es)
6th	sisè (6è)	sisens (6ns)	sisena (6a)	sisenes (6es)
7th	setè (7è)	setens (7ns)	setena (7a)	setenes (7es)
8th	vuitè (8è)	vuitens (8ns)	vuitena (8a)	vuitenes (8es)
9th	novè (9è)	novens (9ns)	novena (9a)	novenes (9es)
10th	desè (10è)	desens (10ns)	desena (10a)	desenes (10es)
11th	onzè (11è)	onzens (11ns)	onzena (11a)	onzenes (11es)
20th	vintè (20è)	vintens (20ns)	vintena (20a)	vintenes (20es)
21st	vint-i-unè (21è)	vint-i-unens (21ns)	vint-i-unena (21a)	vint-i-unenes (21es)
30th	trentè (30è)	trentens (30ns)	trentena (30a)	trentenes (30es)
100th	centè (100è)	centens (100ns)	centena (100a)	centenes (100es)
1000th	milè (1000è)	milens (1000ns)	milena (1000a)	milenes (1000es)

10. Days of the week (Els dies de la setmana)

Monday	dilluns	weekend	el cap de setmana
Tuesday	dimarts	today	avui
Wednesday	dimecres	tonight	aquesta nit
Thursday	dijous	yesterday	ahir
Friday	divendres	day before yesterday	abans-d'ahir
Saturday	dissabte	last night	anit / ahir a la nit
Sunday	diumenge	tomorrow	demà
day	el dia	day after tomorrow	passat demà
weekday	el dia laborable / el dia de cada dia	nowadays	en els nostres dies
week	la setmana	in those days	en aquells temps

The "t" in setmana is never pronounced.

As with most other languages (and countries), the days of the week are not capitalized and the week begins with Monday, unlike Sunday as is the case in the United States.

Normally, the days of the week are used without any modifiers to indicate a one time occurrence (e.g. Ja et veuré (el) divendres. "I shall see you (on) Friday."). However, the definite article is required when the day is modified by an adjective (e.g. El passat dissabte hi va haver un robatori. "Last Saturday, there was a burglary.").

When expressing something that happens regularly on a particular day, the plural article is required before the day of the week (e.g. Els diumenges anem a la platja. "On Sundays, we go to the beach.") NB as "dimumenge" and "dissabte" are the only two days of the week in Catalan that don't end in "s," they are consequently also the only two that add "s" when used for habitual actions (e.g. dissabte --> els dissabtes, but dimarts --> els dimarts).

11. Months of the year (Els mesos de l'any)

January	gener	October	octubre
February	febrer	November	novembre
March	març	December	desembre
April	abril	month	el mes
May	maig	year	l'any
June	juny	decade	la dècada
July	juliol	century	el segle
August	agost	millennium	el mil·lenni
September	setembre	the date	la data

Centuries are generally written with Roman numerals (e.g. el segle XX "The 20th/Twentieth Century"). As with days of the week, months are never capitalized when written and are always masculine. For writing the date:

a.) el + day + de + month + de + year (e.g. el vint-i-cinc de desembre de vuit-cents OR el 25 de desembre de 800 = "December 25, 800")

b.) the "day" in a date is always a cardinal number, except for the first day which optionally uses the ordinal "primer" (e.g. el primer de gener de dos mil OR l'u de gener de dos mil "January 1, 2000"). Also, contrary to the norm used in the United States, Catalan dates (when written with numbers only) are recorded Day/Month/Year and not Month/Day/Year, as is the American style.

12. Seasons (Les estacions)

spring	la primavera	in spring	a la primavera
summer	l'estiu (m)	in summer	a l'estiu
autumn	la tardor	in autumn	a la tardor
winter	l'hivern (m)	in winter	a l'hivern

13. Directions (Les direccions)

to the right	a la dreta
on the right-hand side	*a mà dreta*
to the left	a l'esquerra
on the left-hand side	*a mà esquerra*
straight ahead	tot recte

north	el nord	northeast	el nord-est
south	el sud	northwest	el nord-oest
east	l'est	southeast	el sud-est
west	l'oest	southwest	el sud-oest

northern	del nord, septentrional
southern	del sud, meridional
eastern	de l'est, oriental
western	de l'oest, occidental

NB "de l'oest" is generally only used for directions, whereas "occidental" is more for talking about items related to the "West" or Western civilization.

14. Colors & shapes (Els colors i les formes geomètriques)

red	vermell / vermella	circle	el cercle
pink	rosa	square	el quadrat
orange	taronja	rectangle	el rectangle
yellow	groc / groga	triangle	el triangle
green	verd / verda	oval	l'oval (m.)
blue	blau / blava	cube	el cub
violet	violeta	sphere	l'esfera (f.)
purple	morat / morada	cylinder	el cilindre
brown	marró	cone	el con
black	negre / negra	octagon	l'octàgon (m.)
gray	gris / grisa	box	la caixa
white	blanc / blanca	pyramid	la piràmide
golden	daurat / daurada	diamond	el rombe
silver	platejat / platejada	dark	fosc / fosca
platinum	platí	light	clar / clara

NB some colors such as "marró" do not agree with the nouns they modify, this is due to the fact that they are really nouns themselves merely acting as adjectives. (la rosa = "rose", la taronja = "orange (piece of fruit)", platí = "platinum (the chemical element)")

15. Time (L'hora)

The traditional Catalan method of telling time is the quarter system. More specifically, it's based on how many quarters (i.e. 15 minute intervals) of the mentioned hour have passed (e.g. 'Són tres quarts de quatre de la tarda' would translate to 3:45PM and NOT 4:45PM because it's as if 4 o'clock is some glass and "3/4 of it" are full). In the phrase 'quart i mig,' generally this "half of 15 minutes" turns out to be 7 or 8 minutes. Thus, 'Són dos quarts i mig de tres de la matinada' would be either 3:37AM or 3:38AM. However, to be more precise (and less complex), time in Catalan can also be rendered as simply: 'Són les deu vint-i-cinc' (10:25) or by the equation: són/és + the hour + "i" + number of minutes + "minuts" (e.g. Són les onze i quaranta minuts (11:40)).

The above mentioned and some other ways are illustrated below.

Quina hora és?	What time is it?
És la una de la nit.	It's 1:00 AM.
Són les dues del vespre	It's 2:00 PM.
Són tres quarts de quatre del vespre.	It's 3:45 PM.
És un quart i mig d'una del migdia.	It's 12:23 PM.
Són dos quarts i cinc de set del vespre.	It's 6:35 PM.
Falten deu minuts per les set del matí / Són les set menys deu del matí.	It's 10 to 7 AM.
Passen quatre minuts de la una del migdia.	It's 4 past 1 PM.
de la matinada	in the early morning / AM
del matí	in the morning / AM
del migdia	around noon / AM or PM
de la tarda	in the early afternoon / PM
del vespre	in the evening / PM
de la nit	at night / PM
en punt	exactly / sharp
Són les cinc en punt.	It's 5 o'clock exactly.

Expressions like "de la matinada, del matí, etc." are generally only used with the traditional Catalan system of telling time (i.e. the quarter system). When telling time using the international system (i.e. the 24 clock), no such expressions are necessary (e.g. Són les divuit i set minuts "18:07," or "6:07PM" using the 12 hour clock).

The expression "quina hora és?" is always pronounced [keen-aw-rrays] with the "a" in "quina" and the "a" in "hora" becoming effectively silent and "o" in "hora" being pronounced as an open "o" (e.g. like the "o" in "dog").

16. Weather (El Temps)

Quin temps fa?	What's the weather like?
el pronònostic del temps / la méteo	the weather forecast
Fa bo.	It's nice / beautiful out.
Fa bon temps.	The weather's nice outside.
Fa fred.	It's cold / chilly.
Fa calor.	It's hot.
Fa vent.	It's windy.
Fa sol.	It's sunny.
Hi ha boira.	It's foggy.
Hi ha núvols. / Està ennuvolat.	It's cloudy / overcast.
Hi ha humitat.	It's humid.
Està xafogós.	It's muggy.
Plou (cada dia).	It rains (every day).
Està plovent.	It's raining.
Neva (a l'hivern).	It snows (in the winter).
Està nevant.	It's snowing.
Està calamarsejant.	It's hailing.
el ruixat	rainshower
el tempesta	storm
la inundació	flood

17. The Personal Article (L'article personal)

When a person's first name is mentioned in any context other than addressing him or her in the second-person, the personal article, which agrees based on gender, is used before his or her name.

masculine	feminine
el / l' or en / n'	la / l' or na / n'

El Ramon, En Xavi, N'Ignasi, L'Oriol, La Isabel, L'Anna, Na Meritxell, N'Assumpció

La Mireia i jo estem anant a la platja. Mireia and I are going to the beach.

L'Andreu va comprar unes flors per a la seva dona. Andreu bought some flowers for his wife.

However, the personal article is not used:

a.) with the verb "dir-se" (e.g. És la Magdalena BUT Es diu Magdalena)

b.) with full or last names in a formal context (Josep Pla va néixer el 20 d'abril de 1893)

The personal article is still permissible with full or last names in more informal contexts (e.g. Diuen que el Josep Pla tenia amics franquistes). In these (and all contexts involving the personal article, really), the article functions as a sign of familiarity towards the person to whom it refers.

In contemporary Catalan (at least in the varieties spoken in Catalonia), " el/l' and la/l' " are preferred by speakers over " en/n' and na/n' ", which are used more in literature and other dialects, notably in the Balearic dialect. Also, notice that the rules for elision with the definite article are the same with the personal article (e.g. La Isabel and NOT L'Isabel).

18. Family members and domestic animals (Els membres de la família i animals domèstics)

family	la família	cousin (m)	el cosí
parents	els pares	cousin (f)	la cosina
husband	el marit, l'espòs, l'home	cousins	els cosins
wife	la muller, l'esposa, la dona	relatives	els parents, els familiars
father / dad	el pare/el papà	stepfather	el padrastre
mother / mom	la mare/la mamà	stepmother	la madrastra
son	el fill	stepbrother	el germanastre
daughter	la filla	stepsister	la germanastra
children	els nens	stepson	el fillastre
only child (m)	el fill únic	stepdaughter	la fillastra
only child (f)	la filla única	godfather	el padrí
boy	el noi	godmother	la padrina
girl	la noia	baby	el bebè
brother	el germà	teenager	l'adolescent (m.,f.), el/la jove
sister	la germana	man	l'home
brothers & sisters	els germans	woman	la dona
half-brother	el germanastre	adult	l'adult (m.), l'adulta (f.)
half-sister	la germanastra	twins (m)	els bessons
father-in-law	el sogre	twins (f)	les bessones
mother-in-law	la sogra	widower	el vidu
brother-in-law	el cunyat	widow	la vídua
sister-in-law	la cunyada	fiancé (m)	el promès, el xicot
son-in-law	el gendre	fiancée (f)	la promesa, la xicota
daughter-in-law	la nora, la jove	dog	el gos, la gossa
kid (m) / little boy	la criatura, el noiet, el nen	cat	el gat, la gata
kid (f) / little girl	la criatura, la noieta, la nena	bird	l'ocell (m.)
grandfather / grandpa	l'avi (m.), iaio	fish	el peix
great-grandfather	el besavi	horse	el cavall
grandmother / grandma	l'àvia (f.), iaia	goat	la cabra
great-grandmother	la besàvia	pig	el porc
grandparents	els avis	cow	la vaca
grandson	el nét	bull	el toro
granddaughter	la néta	rabbit	el conill
grandchildren	els néts	turtle	la tortuga
uncle	l'oncle (m.)	mouse	el ratolí
aunt	la tia	frog	la granota
aunts & uncles	els tiets	lizard	la sargantana
nephew	el nebot	guinea pig	el conillet d'índies
niece	la neboda	rat	la rata
nieces & nephews	els nebots	ferret	el furó, la fura
girlfriend	la xicota, la parella	snake	la serp
boyfriend	el xicot, la parella	chicken, hen	la gallina

"La dona" is by far the most preferred term for "wife" in everyday spoken Catalan. "Marit" and "home" are equally heard on a daily basis but "home" is more colloquial. Similarly, "jove" is much more preferred when referring to teenagers or young adults.

19. To know people and things (Conèixer i Saber)

conèixer - to know people, places, works of art, etc.	saber - to know facts / how to do things
conec	sé
coneixes	saps
coneix	sap
coneixem	sabem
coneixeu	sabeu
coneixen	saben

20. Possessive Adjectives and Pronouns (Els pronoms i adjectius possessius)

	masculine		feminine
	singular	plural	singular	plural
my	el meu	els meus	la meva	les meves
your	el teu	els teus	la teva	les teves
his/her/its/your	el seu	els seus	la seva	les seves
our	el nostre	els nostres	la nostra	les nostres
your	el vostre	els vostres	la vostra	les vostres
their/your	el seu	els seus	la seva	les seves

Just as in Italian, the possessive adjective in Catalan is "composed," meaning it is always preceded by a definite article of the same number and gender. Possessive forms similar to those in French: "mon, ton, son, etc." used to exist in Catalan but are now considered archaic and only found in fixed expressions, usually related to relatives (e.g. mon avi, ta mare, though even in these cases, the more normal "el meu avi" and "la teva mare" are certainly permissable and even more common depending on the dialect.)

Similarly, the possessive adjective "llur(s) (their)" is archaic and thus should only be learned if one is reading old Catalan texts.

To form possessive pronouns ("mine, yours, his, etc.") simply use the composed possessive adjective without a noun following it (e.g. Quin cotxe agafem, el meu o el teu? "Which car do we take, mine or yours?"). Sometimes, the possessive pronoun alone has its own implications (e.g. els nostres "our relatives")

The possessive adjective can, on occasion, follow the noun, especially in certain fixed expressions (most notably "casa meva/teva/seva/etc." = my/your/his/her/etc. home). In these cases the definite article is omitted (e.g. amic meu, "friend of mine/my friend")