Catalan for Spanish speakers
You already know more Catalan than you think. Of the 2,264 everyday words in Cognata, 1,743 have a Spanish cognate — the same word, reshaped by centuries of speech. Start from those, learn the regular changes that link the two languages, and keep the false friends in sight.
- share a source
- 77%
- inherited on both sides
- 27%
- to learn fresh
- 23%
2,264 words compared
Words you already know
Everyday words whose Spanish and Catalan forms come from the same source.
The sound laws between them
Regular changes that turn a Spanish word into its Catalan cognate — learn one and it pays out across hundreds of words.
- Stressed short E breaks into ieie (open and closed syllables)e [ɛ] (no diphthong); i next to a palatal (llit)PETRAMpiedrapedra
- Stressed short O breaks into ue / uo / euue (open and closed syllables)o [ɔ] (no diphthong)NOVUMnuevonou
- French stressed free A becomes ea (kept)a (kept)MAREmarmar
- French fronts long U to [y]u [u] (kept)u [u] (kept)LŪNAMlunalluna
- AU becomes oooAURUMoroor
- French vowel + nasal becomes a nasal vowelvowel + n keptoral vowel; final n after the stress lost (pa, vi)PĀNEMpanpa
- Spanish initial F- becomes h- (silent)h- (silent); f- kept before ue and rf- keptFĪLIUM (fr. from nom. FĪLIUS)hijofill
- Voiceless stops between vowels softenb d gb (v) d g; p t c again at the end of a word (amic, agut)VĪTAMvidavida
- C before E and Iθ (c, z); s where there is seseos (c, ç); between vowels lost, or u at the end (veí, deu)CAELUMcielocel
- French CA becomes chaca keptca keptCABALLUMcaballocavall
- Initial I- (J-) and G before E, Ij [x] before a back vowel; y-, h- or nothing before ej, g [ʒ]IOCUMjuegojoc
- B and V merge in Spanishone sound: b, v = [b] (soft [β] between vowels)merged as in Spanish (Central Catalan); v kept in Balearic and parts of ValenciaVĪNUMvinovi
- Germanic W- becomes gu- / g-gu- ([gw] before a, o; [g] before e, i)gu- ([gw] before a, o; [g] before e, i)Germanic *WERRAguerraguerra
- L before a consonant becomes ual → o (otro); ult → uch (mucho); often keptl kept (altre, falç)ALTERUMotroaltre
- CTch [tʃ]it, t (the i absorbed by the vowel: nit, fet)NOCTEMnochenit
- L + yodj [x]ll [ʎ]FOLIAMhojafulla
- C'L inside a wordj [x]ll [ʎ]OCULUMojoull
- CL-, PL-, FL- at the start of a wordll- (often)cl- pl- fl- (kept)CLĀVEMllaveclau
- NN, GN and N + yodñ [ɲ]ny [ɲ], also from NN (any)ANNUMañoany
- S + consonant at the start of a wordes-es-STELLAMestrellaestrella
- French loses S before a consonant (^)s kepts keptFESTAMfiestafesta
- Italian assimilates clusterssimplified: pt → t; mn → ñ; x → j [x] or ssimplified: pt → t, mn → n; x → ix [ʃ]SEPTEMsieteset
- Final vowels-o, -a, -e kept; -e dropped after a single r, l, n, s, d, zdropped except -a (said [ə]); -e kept after clustersLUPUMlobollop
- Plurals: -s or -i-s, -es (from the accusative)-s, -es (from the accusative)LUPŌS (acc.) / LUPĪ (nom.)lobosllops
- -TĀTEM: -dad, -té, -tà-dad (-tad in some words after a consonant)-tatCĪVITĀTEMciudadciutat
- -TIŌNEM: learned -ción, inherited -zón-ción (learned); inherited -zón-ció (learned); inherited -ó (raó, tió)RATIŌNEMrazónraó
- -ĀRIUM: -ero, -ier, -aio-ero, -era-er, -eraCABALLĀRIUMcaballerocavaller
- Adverbs in -mente / -ment-mente-mentCLĀRĀ MENTEclaramenteclarament
- Single L between vowels: lost in Portuguese, r in Romanianl keptl keptFĪLUMhilofil
- Portuguese loses single N between vowelsn keptn kept; lost where it became final (mà; see final-n)LĀNAMlanallana
- Romanian turns velars into labialsch, j, ñ; cu, gu (velar kept or palatalized)it/t, ix [ʃ], ny; qu, guOCTŌochovuit
- Romanian T, D, S before i become ț, z, șt, d, s keptt, d, s keptDĪCEREdecirdir
- Catalan drops -n at the end of a wordn kept (pan, vino)lost (pa, vi); back in the plural (pans, vins)PĀNEMpanpa
False friends to watch
llevar (Catalan) means “to remove, take off; (llevar-se) to get up” · llevar (Spanish) means “to carry, take; to wear”
Both from Latin LEVĀRE 'to lift'. Spanish lifts and carries; Catalan lifts away (lleva't la jaqueta 'take your jacket off') or lifts itself, like French se lever. Catalan carries with portar.
pujar (Catalan) means “to go up, climb; to raise” · pujar (Spanish) means “to bid; to strain, push hard”
Catalan pujar is generally derived from spoken Latin *PODIĀRE 'to climb' (PODIUM). Spanish pujar is usually linked to it, perhaps through 'raising' a price, though the details are debated. In Barcelona, puja is 'come up'.
cama (Catalan) means “leg” · cama (Spanish) means “bed”
Coincidence. Catalan cama is Late Latin CAMBA 'hock, leg' (the source of Italian gamba and French jambe); Spanish and Portuguese cama 'bed' is a Late Latin word of Hispanic, probably pre-Roman, origin.
Words to learn fresh
Common words where Catalan went its own way.