Do you know how to say the days of the week in Catalan? How about the months? The seasons? Learn all these and more in this blog post, including where these words came from and some extra time phrases that might come in handy.
Days of the week in Catalan
| English | Catalan | Notes |
| Monday | dilluns | inherited from Latin diēs Lūnae (day of the moon, Monday) |
| Tuesday | dimarts | inherited from Latin diēs Martis (day of Mars, Tuesday) |
| Wednesday | dimecres | inherited from Latin diēs Mercuriī (day of Mercury, Wednesday) |
| Thursday | dijous | inherited from Latin diēs Jovis/Iovis (day of Jupiter, Thursday) |
| Friday | divendres | inherited from Latin diēs Veneris (day of Venus, Friday) |
| Saturday | dissabte | inherited from Latin diēs Sabbati (day of the Sabbath, Saturday) |
| Sunday | diumenge | inherited from Late Latin diēs Dominicus (Sunday, literally ‘day of the Lord’) |
However, two of the Catalan days of the week deserve special attention because of their interesting evolutions.
The first is dissabte (‘Saturday’), which comes from the Latin diēs Sabbati, or ‘day of the Sabbath’. The Latin is derived from the Ancient Greek word sábbaton, which in turn came from the Hebrew word shabát. Shabbat is the name given in Judaism to the day of religious observance that begins Friday before sunset and ends on Saturday evening after nightfall.
In a similar way, the Catalan word diumenge (‘Sunday’) comes from the Late Latin diēs Dominicus, meaning ‘day of the Lord’. It was given its name by the Christian faith, replacing the earlier pagan diēs Sōlis, meaning ‘day of the sun-god Sol’.
So, the Catalan words for Saturday and Sunday obliquely reference two different faiths!
Months in Catalan
The months in Catalan also have a mix of different roots. They include different stages of Latin (Vulgar Latin is the name given to the Latin spoken by everyday people), Old Catalan, and Old Occitan.
| English | Catalan | Notes |
| January | gener | inherited from Vulgar Latin ienuārius, from Latin iānuārius |
| February | febrer | inherited from Late Latin febrārius, from Latin februārius |
| March | març | inherited from Old Catalan març, from Latin mārtius |
| April | abril | inherited from Latin aprīlis |
| May | maig | inherited from Latin māius |
| June | juny | inherited from Old Catalan juny, from Latin iūnius |
| July | juliol | from a semi-learned alteration of Old Catalan jullol, juyol, itself a modification of juyl (to differentiate it from juny), from Old Occitan, from Latin iūlius |
| August | agost | inherited from Vulgar Latin agustus, from Latin augustus |
| September | setembre | inherited from Old Catalan setembre, from Latin september |
| October | octubre | borrowed from Latin octōbrem |
| November | novembre | borrowed from Latin novembrem |
| December | desembre | inherited from Old Catalan dehembre, deembre, from Old Catalan decembre, from Latin decembrem |
There’s a good reason why some of these names have come from Old Occitan!
Until the end of the 19th century, Catalan was considered a dialect of Occitan. The distance between Catalan and some Occitan varieties (such as Gascon) is similar to the difference between different Occitan varieties, and today, Catalan and Occitan are each other’s closest relatives.
Seasons in Catalan
You might see some more obvious relationships to Latin here (especially if you speak some Spanish!), but some of these season names might look a little different at first glance.
| English | Catalan | Notes |
| spring | la primavera | inherited from Late Latin prīma vēra, derived from Latin prīmus (first) + vēr (spring) |
| summer | l’estiu | inherited from Old Catalan estiu, from Latin [tempus] aestīvum (literally ‘summertime’) |
| autumn, fall | la tardor | inherited from Old Catalan tardaó, from Latin tardātiōnem, from tardus (‘late’) |
| winter | l’hivern | inherited from Old Catalan ivern, from Latin hībernum [tempus] (literally ‘wintry time’) |
Other Catalan time phrases
Here are some more words and phrases that you might find useful if you want to talk about when things are happening.
| English | Catalan | Notes |
| day | el dia | |
| night | la nit | |
| week | la setmana | |
| month | el mes | |
| year | l’any | |
| day before yesterday | abans d’ahir | abans de (‘before’) + ahir (‘yesterday’) |
| yesterday | ahir | from a (‘to’) + Old Catalan hir, from Latin herī (‘here’) |
| today | avui | from a- + vui, the latter from Latin hodiē (‘on this day’); you might also hear hui, vui or avuy |
| tomorrow | demà | inherited from Late Latin dē māne (‘early in the morning’) |
| day after tomorrow | demà passat | day after tomorrow |
| el matí | morning | |
| la tarda | afternoon | |
| el vespre | evening | ultimately from Latin vesper (‘evening, vespers’) |
Did you enjoy learning how to say the days of the week, months of the year, and seasons in Catalan? Let us know!
All the Catalan words and phrases in this post can be found in the Calendar topic on our app. Learn Catalan with uTalk, and you’ll learn around 2,500 useful words and phrases that are helpful for any occasion. Play games, score points, and most importantly, have fun!
Happy language learning!