When you’re just sinking your teeth into a new language, it can be tricky to know where to begin. So, we thought we’d help! We’ve collected over 20 useful Catalan phrases for you to learn – phrases that should be useful no matter where you’re at in your language-learning journey. Plus, you can get all the audio for these phrases on our app. Happy language learning!
Learning Catalan? You’ve come to the right place!
Spoken in Catalonia, Valencia, Andorra, the Balearic Islands and parts of Sardinia, Catalan is a Romance language most closely related to Occitan, although it also shares many similarities with Spanish, Italian, and Sardinian. Catalan boasts around ten million speakers and plays a key role in the Catalan national identity.
In this post, we’ve gathered some phrases from our app we think might come in handy the next time you have a chance to speak Catalan. Check them out and see which ones you still have to learn!
Basic phrases
- Hola – Hello
- Sí – Yes
- No – No
- Si us plau – Please
- Gràcies – Thank you
- De res – You’re welcome
- Perdoni – Excuse me
- Ho sento – Sorry
- Adéu – Goodbye
These are mostly one-word or very short phrases that you’ll come across early in your language-learning journey. Already know a little Spanish or Italian? They should be nice and easy for you!
Language-related help
- No l’entec. – I don’t understand.
- No ho sé. – I don’t know.
- Parli més a poc a poc, si us plau. – Please speak more slowly.
- M’ho pot repetir, si us plau? – Can you repeat that, please?
Of course, no ho sé can be helpful in all kinds of situations, but the other three phrases here are handy to have under your belt from the start. Asking people to slow down or repeat things in Catalan should keep them speaking to you in the language, so you can keep getting the practice you want.
Getting around
- On són els serveis? – Where are the toilets?
- On és el banc? – Where is the bank?
- esquerra – left
- dreta – right
- Giri a l’esquerra. – Turn left.
- Giri a la dreta. – Turn right.
- Segueixi tot recte. – Go straight ahead.
The first two phrases are handy because you can use on són/és and then wherever you want to go. You might have something like Google Maps to hand, but that doesn’t mean you won’t need help now and again, especially if you need to know where something is in a store, for example. Learning left, right, and straight ahead should be enough to get you where you’re going.
Out and about
- Quant val això? – How much does this cost?
- Què és això? – What is this?
- Voldria comprar això. – I’d like to buy this.
- El compte, si us plau. – The bill, please.
- Bon profit! – Enjoy your meal!
- Voldria un cafè, si us plau. – I’d like a coffee, please.
- Què voldrà per beure? – What would you like to drink?
- Què voldrà menjar? – What would you like to eat?
Like to shop, eat out, visit museums or do any other leisure activity? Look no further than these phrases! The expression voldria means ‘I would like’, which is a useful one to know. The final two phrases in this section are ones you might only need to recognise rather than produce – you’ll want to know what you’re being asked in a restaurant, right?
Being friendly
- Bon dia. – Good morning.
- Bona tarda. – Good afternoon.
- Bona nit. – Good evening, goodnight.
- Com estàs? – How are you?
- Bé, gràcies. – Fine, thanks.
- Com et dius? – What’s your name?
- Em dic… – My name is…
- D’on ets? – Where are you from?
- Sóc del… – I’m from…
- Somriu! – Smile!
- Salut! – Cheers!
- Enhorabona! – Congratulations!
- M’ho he passat molt bé. – I had a great time.
- Fins després! – See you later!
The best part of learning a new language is making new friends, and the phrases here should help you do that. Learn how to ask people how they are, their name, and where they’re from, as well as help people take photos with somriu (a smile) if you’re hanging around in touristy areas. Finally, let your new friends know you’ll see them again with fins després – ‘see you later’!
We hope the Catalan phrases in this blog post will prove useful for you. Don’t forget, you can get full audio for every phrase on the uTalk app. You can even learn them all in the app by playing games, scoring points, and having fun.
Bona sort (good luck) with your language learning!