A temps o tard? in Catalan
Two friends agree on the time of a meeting in Catalan. 6 phrases that the conversation is made of: «A quina hora és el dinar de diumenge a casa teva? Quina hora és ara, abans que m'oblidi?» — What time is Sunday lunch at your place? What time is it now, before I forget? The conversation is predictable: few lines, and almost all of them repeat from one exchange to the next.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: two friends agree on the time of a meeting. The conversation is short and predictable — which is exactly what makes it good for a first try: few lines, and almost all of them repeat from one exchange to the next.
- A quina hora és el dinar de diumenge a casa teva? Quina hora és ara, abans que m'oblidi?What time is Sunday lunch at your place? What time is it now, before I forget?
- A les dues i mitja. I tu arriba d'hora, no com l'any passat: aleshores va arribar tard i el dinar va acabar fred.At half past two. And come early, not like last year: then you came late, and the lunch went cold.
- Aquesta vegada vinc d'hora, paraula. Només cal que el bus no s'aturi al mig del camí per l'aigua del gener.This time I will come early, word of honor. If only the bus does not stop halfway because of the January water.
- Si arribes tard, comencem sense tu: aquest any la sopa no espera ningú, i ja n'he tingut prou d'escuses.If you come late, we will start without you: this year the soup waits for nobody, and I am fed to the brim with excuses.
- Fet. I em portes una beguda sense gel? Tinc set només de pensar que el tren arriba a mitjanit.Agreed. And put a drink without ice for me? I am already thirsty at the mere thought that the train arrives at midnight.
- D'acord: beguda sense gel i pa de tot el dia, per si el viatge és llarg. Fins diumenge, i a temps!All right: a drink without ice and bread for the whole day, in case of a long road. Until Sunday, and on time!
Lines one by one
| Catalan | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| A quina hora és el dinar de diumenge a casa teva? Quina hora és ara, abans que m'oblidi? | — | What time is Sunday lunch at your place? What time is it now, before I forget? |
| A les dues i mitja. I tu arriba d'hora, no com l'any passat: aleshores va arribar tard i el dinar va acabar fred. | — | At half past two. And come early, not like last year: then you came late, and the lunch went cold. |
| Aquesta vegada vinc d'hora, paraula. Només cal que el bus no s'aturi al mig del camí per l'aigua del gener. | — | This time I will come early, word of honor. If only the bus does not stop halfway because of the January water. |
| Si arribes tard, comencem sense tu: aquest any la sopa no espera ningú, i ja n'he tingut prou d'escuses. | — | If you come late, we will start without you: this year the soup waits for nobody, and I am fed to the brim with excuses. |
| Fet. I em portes una beguda sense gel? Tinc set només de pensar que el tren arriba a mitjanit. | — | Agreed. And put a drink without ice for me? I am already thirsty at the mere thought that the train arrives at midnight. |
| D'acord: beguda sense gel i pa de tot el dia, per si el viatge és llarg. Fins diumenge, i a temps! | — | All right: a drink without ice and bread for the whole day, in case of a long road. Until Sunday, and on time! |
How to prepare for a conversation like this
Memorizing the lines is not enough: the other person will say their own thing, not what is written. What helps more is catching the key words by ear and keeping three rescue phrases ready: “I don't understand”, “repeat, please”, “slower”.
And one more thing phrasebooks do not mention: awkwardness gets in the way more than not knowing the words.
- Fear of making mistakes gets in the way of learning a language, and it gets in the way badly. It is one of the most reliably measured findings in the entire field.checked many timesTeimouri, Goetze & Plonsky, 2019, Studies in Second Language Acquisition 41(2) · 19,933 participants from 23 countries; correlation with results r = −0.36.
- That fear can be dealt with — the methods have been tested and they work.checked many timesXiong et al., 2024, Journal of Language and Social Psychology · 37 studies, anxiety reduced by −0.61. Of the seven conditions examined, only age turned out to matter.
Frequently asked
How do you start a conversation in Catalan in this situation?
“A quina hora és el dinar de diumenge a casa teva? Quina hora és ara, abans que m'oblidi?” — What time is Sunday lunch at your place? What time is it now, before I forget?. The first line in such a conversation is almost always the same, and that is the one worth learning: the other person will carry it from there.
What if you did not understand the reply?
Say “I don't understand” and “repeat, please” — both are in the rescue set. Admitting your language is still shaky almost always makes the other person more patient.
Should you memorize the dialogue?
No. It is more useful to catch the key words by ear: the other person will say their own thing, and a memorized line will not always fit their reply.