A handy dandy Catalan phrase sheet

A traveler's cheat sheet on how to say the basics and ask important questions in Catalan, the language of Barcelona

Catalan—the language spoken in Barcelona and the rest of Spain's Catalonia region, as well as on the Balearic Islands (Ibiza, Majorca, etc.) and in Valencia—is not Spanish, nor is it a dialect of Spanish. It is its own langauge (though it is still a Romance language, so it sounds a bit like a cross between Spanish and French, with a dash of Italian and some Portuguse on the side).

Yes, most people in Barcelona also speak and understand Spanish, but it's far more polite to try to speak their actual language.

Basics | Transport | Lodging | Dining | Time/Numbers | [pronunciation notes]

Basics

Transport

Lodging

Dining

Time & numbers

Catalan pronunciation notes

Catalan shares some of its pronunciation quirks with Spanish—like the double-l "yuh" sound, and (sometimes) pronouncing a "v" like a "b." However, they do no "lisp" their c's and z's as in the Castillian Spanish ceceo.

• "c" followed by an "i" or "e" is pronounced as a soft "c" as in celery.
• "c" followed by an "a," "o," "u" or a consonant is a hard "c," prounounced like a "k."
• "ç" is pronounced as a soft "c" as in celery.
• "j" is pronounced as a "zh" sound, like the s in pleasure.
• "ll" is pronounced as a "y" as in "yes."
• "r" (at the start of a word or after a consonant) and "rr" are r-r-rolled, as in most Romance languages (and Scottish)
• "x" is usually pronounced "sh"—unless it is between two vowels, in which case it actually is pronounced "x" (with a bit of an "sh" at the end—so kind of "ksh")
• "tx" is prounounched "ch"
• "ny" is the Catalan version of the Spanish ñ, prounoucned as in canyon.
• "v" is pronounced sometimes like a "b" as in "boy" (especially if it starts a word), other times like a cross between a "b" and a "v" (hard to describe; try to make a "v" sound with your lips starting lightly closed—as opposed to tightly closed, as they would be for a hard "b")
• "h" is silent. (So "hola" is prounounced "o-la").
• "qu" is tricky. Normally, you pronounce the u part, so it is "kw" as in "quack"—unless the following letter is an i or an e, in which case the u is silent (so "que"="kay" and "qui"="key")... unless the u is a ü, in which case go back to pronouncing the u ("qüe"="kway" and "qüi"="kwai").
• "gu" follows the same tricky rules as qu ("gue"="geh" and "gui"=
  ghee", otherwise it's all "gw...")
• "g" is usually a hard g (as in "go"), unless it is followed by an e or i, in which case it is soft, like the "j" in jeans.