Catalan (Català), spoken in Catalonia, Land of Valencia (where it is called Valencià), Balearic Islands (where it is sometimes called Mallorquí or Eivissenc), Andorra (where it is the only official language), the south of France (north Catalonia) and the Sardinian city Alghero, is spoken by about 7 million people, making it the 8th language in the European Union. It is, like Spanish and French, a Romance language, and people who hear it for first time have the impression that it's a mix between them. It's a separate language however, as old as the other Romance languages, and you will be very welcome if you try to say some words while you are in a Catalan-speaking region.
Like Spanish and most other languages, Catalan nouns (words for things) have genders. Every noun is either masculine, like home ("man") or feminine, like dona ("woman"). The gender of things doesn't always seem to follow logically from the meaning of the word; why a house (casa) is feminine but a car (cotxe) is masculine is just one of the vagaries of the language. Fortunately, the gender of a noun is usually but not always indicated by the last letter of the word; -a indicates feminine nouns, but as a difference from Spanish, masculine words don't have a common ending.
Adjectives also have gender and number. Like nouns, -a usually indicates the feminine form. Adding an -s at the end of an adjective makes it plural. Adjectives need to match the noun they describe in both gender and number. For example, borratxo "drunk", when modifying les dones ("the women"), makes les dones borratxes.
In this guide, where genders of nouns or adjectives comes up, we use the form "/a" to differentiate. It should be clear from context when to use the feminine and when to use the masculine form.
Pronunciation Guide
Written Catalan may seem less phonetic as Spanish or Italian to an anglophone foreigner, but it is definitely less complicated to pronounce than French or English. It has variations from one region to other; the model presented here is the standard pronunciation, similar to the language of the region in Barcelona. Each of the major dialectal areas has its differences in pronunciation and vocabulary (just like English does in Britain, by the way):
Western (Lleida province and Ebre river basin), Balearic (Balearic islands), Valencian, etc...
Vowels
To know how to pronounce vowels in Catalan, is necessary to know the strong syllable of the word; a, e, and o change if are in the strong syllable or a weak one. In other words, some vowels are reduced when unstressed or unstressed.
a
stressed as the 'a' in "article" [ah], and unstressed 'a' in "sofa" [uh]
e
stressed as the 'e' in "pet" [eh], and unstressed 'e' in "open" [uh]
i
like 'ee' in "bee"
o
stressed as the 'o' in "hot" and "port" [oh], unstressed 'oo' in "zoo" [oo]
u
silent between 'g' and 'e/i' and between 'q' and 'e/i', elsewhere as 'u' in "flute" [oo]
Watch for the different accent signs in e and o: è sounds always as 'e' in "bed", é sounds as 'ea' in "bear", ò sounds as 'o' in "bond" and ó sounds like the 'o' in "score". Like Spanish, stress usually falls on the second-last syllable unless the word ends in certain consonants ('l', 'r', 'z', 'd') and has an accent. Also, the 'i' with two dots, 'ї', indicates that the vowel sound should be pronounced as a separate syllable: Ensaїmada [ehn-SUH-ee-mah-duh] (sweet pastry).
Consonants
b
like 'b' in "bed"
c
when followed by 'e' or 'i', like 'c' in "cell", otherwise like 'k' in "kid"
ç
like 'c' in "cell"
d
like 'd' in "dog"
f
like 'f' in "fine"
g
when followed by 'e' or 'i', like 'j' in "james", otherwise like "g" in "go" (in the clusters "gue" and "gui", the "u" is silent, unless it bears a diaeresis, as in "güe" and "güi")
gu, gü
like 'Gu' in McGuire or 'w' in "wire"
h
silent
j
like 'j' as in "jean" (French pronunciation)
k
like 'c' in "cat"
l
like 'l' in "love"
ll
like 'lli' in "million" (palatalized l)
m
like 'm' in "mother"
n
like 'n' in "nice", and like 'n' in "anchor"
ny
like the Spanish "ñ" as in Señor; the y is soft sign.
p
like 'p' in "pig"
q
like 'q' in "quiche" (always with a silent "u")
r
like 'r' in "butter"; except at the beginning of a word, or after "l" and "n"
r
like 'r' in "row"; at the beginning of a word, or after "l" and "n"
rr
like 'rr' in "mirror"; identical to the sound above
s
like 's' in "sun" except when is between vowels, when it sounds like 'z' in "zone". Sometimes pronounced like a soft "sh".
ss
like 'ss' in "hiss". Always goes between vowels.
t
like 't' in "top"
tx
pronouned like the 'ch' as in "chip"
v
like 'b' in "bed"
w
like 'w' in "weight" in English words, like 'b' in "bed" in Germanic words
x
like 'sh' in "short", except if is between two vowels, when sounds like the x as in "Axel"
z
like 'z' in "zone"
Phrase list
Basics
Common signs
OPEN
Obert
CLOSED
Tancat
ENTRANCE
Entrada
EXIT
Sortida
PUSH
Empenyeu
PULL
Estireu
TOILET
Serveis
MEN
Homes
WOMEN
Dones
FORBIDDEN
Hello (informal).
Hola. (OH-lah). For the formal equivalent of "hola" see good morning, good afternoon, good evening, below.
How are you?
Com estàs? (kohm ehs-TAHS?) (informal); Com està? (kohm ehs-TAH?) (formal)
Fine, thank you.
Molt bé, gràcies. (mohl behh, GRAH-syehs)
What is your name?
Com et dius? (informal) (kohm eht thyoos?) / Com es diu? (formal) (kohm ehs thyoo?)
My name is ______ .
Em dic ______ . (ehm theek...)
Nice to meet you.
Molt de gust. (mohl theh goos)
Please.
Sisplau./Si us plau. (sees-PLOW/see oos plow)
Thank you.
Gràcies. (GRAH-syehs) OR Mercès. (MEHR-sehhs)
You're welcome.
De res. (duh rrehs)
Yes.
Sí. (see)
No.
No. (noh)
Excuse me. (getting attention)
Dispensi./Disculpi. (dees-PEHN-see/dees-KOOL-pee)
Excuse me. (begging pardon)
Perdoni. (pehr-THOH-nee)
I'm sorry.
Ho sento. (oo SEHN-too) OR Em sap greu. (ehm sahp greh-oo)
Goodbye
Adéu. (uh-THEH-oo) OR Adéu-siau. (uh-THEH-oo-syah-oo)
I can't speak Catalan [well].
No parlo [bé] el català. (noh PAHR-loo [behh] ehl kah-TAH-lah)
Podries dur-me una mica de _____? (POH-dryehs door-meh OO-nuh MEE-kah deh______?)
salt
sal (SAHL)
black pepper
pebre (PEH-breh)
butter
mantega (mahn-TEH-guh)
Excuse me, waiter? (getting attention of server)
Perdoni, cambrer? (pehr-DOH-nee, KAHM-brehr?)
I'm finished.
Ja he acabat. (yah eh uh-KAH-baht)
It was delicious.
Estava deliciós. (ehs-TAH-bah deh-lee-SYOHS)
Please clear the plates.
Pots endur-te els plats. (pohts ehn-DOOR-teh ehls plahts)
The check, please.
El compte, si us plau. (ehl KOHMP-teh, see oos plow)
Bars
Do you serve alcohol?
Teniu alcohol? (...)
Is there table service?
Hi ha servei de taules? (...)
A beer/two beers, please.
Una cervesa/dues cerveses, si us plau. (...)
A glass of red/white wine, please.
Un got de vi negre/blanc, si us plau. (...)
A pint, please.
Una pinta de cervesa, si us plau. But in Catalan speaking Spain it is better to ask for a quinto (20 cl), a mitjana (33 cl) or a canya (tap beer).
A bottle, please.
Una ampolla, si us plau. (...)
_____ (hard liquor) and _____ (mixer), please.
_____ amb _____, si us plau. (...)
whiskey
whiskey (...)
vodka
vodka (...)
rum
rom (...)
water
aigua (I-gwah)
club soda
club soda (...)
tonic water
tònica (...)
orange juice
suc de taronja (...)
Coke (soda)
coca-cola (KOH-ka-KOH-la)
Do you have any bar snacks?
Teniu alguna cosa per picar? (...)
One more, please.
Un altre, si us plau. (...)
Another round, please.
Una altra ronda, si us plau. (...)
When is closing time?
A quina hora tanqueu? (tankeu)
Shopping
Do you have this in my size?
Teniu això en la meva talla? (...)
How much is this?
Quant costa això? (...)
That's too expensive.
És massa car. (...)
Would you take _____?
Agafaries _____? (...)
expensive
car (...)
cheap
barat (...)
I can't afford it.
No puc pagar-ho. (...)
I don't want it.
No ho vull. (...)
You're cheating me.
M'estàs timant. (...)
I'm not interested.
No hi estic interessat. (...)
OK, I'll take it.
D'acord, me'l quedo. (...)
Can I have a bag?
Em pots donar una bossa? (...)
Do you ship (overseas)?
Feu enviaments (a l'estranger)? (...)
I need...
Necessito... (...)
...toothpaste.
...pasta de dents. (...)
...a toothbrush.
...raspallde dents. (...)
...tampons.
...tampons. (...)
...soap.
...sabó. (...)
...shampoo.
...xampú. (...)
...pain reliever. (e.g., aspirin or ibuprofen)
...calmant. (...)
...cold medicine.
...medicina per el refredat. (...)
...stomach medicine.
...medicina per l'estómac. (...)
...a razor.
...una fulla d'afeitar. (...)
...an umbrella.
...un paraigües. (...)
...sunblock lotion.
...crema protectora pel sol. (...)
...a postcard.
...una postal. (...)
...postage stamps.
...segells. (...)
...batteries.
...piles. (...)
...writing paper.
...paper per escriure. (...)
...a pen.
...un bolígraf. (...)
...English-language books.
.. llibres en anglès. (...)
...English-language magazines.
...revistes en anglès. (...)
...an English-language newspaper.
...diari en anglès. (...)
...an English-Catalan dictionary.
...diccionari anglès-català. (...)
Driving
I want to rent a car.
Vull llogar un cotxe. (...)
Can I get insurance?
Puc obtenir una assegurança? (...)
stop (on a street sign)
para (...)
one way
un sentit (...)
yield
cedeix el pas (...)
no parking
no aparcar (...)
speed limit
límit de velocitat (...)
gas (petrol) station
benzinera (...)
petrol
benzina (...)
diesel
gas-oil (...)
Authority
I haven't done anything wrong.
No he fet res de dolent. (...)
It was a misunderstanding.
Ha estat un malentès. (...)
Where are you taking me?
On em porteu? (...)
Am I under arrest?
Estic arrestat? (...)
I am an American/Australian/British/Canadian citizen.
Sóc un ciutadà Americà/Australià/Britànic/Canadenc. (...)
I want to talk to the American/Australian/British/Canadian embassy/consulate.
Vull parlar amb l'ambaixada/el consulat Americà/Australià/Britànic/Canadenc. (...)
I want to talk to a lawyer.
Vull parlar amb un advocat. (...)
Can I just pay a fine now?
Puc simplement pagar una multa ara? (...)
Other Resources
DACCO Creative Commons Catalan-English Dictionary in català and English
This is a usable phrasebook. It explains pronunciation and the bare essentials of travel communication. An adventurous person could use it to get by, but please plunge forward and help it grow!
