Verbs in Catalan
13 words Catalan words on the topic “verbs”: soc — I am, vull — I want, anar — to go, menjar — to eat.
13 words on the topic
- socI amThe jo form of ésser — to be by essence: origin, profession, character: sóc d'aquí, sóc metge. For states and location the other verb, estar, steps in: estic bé, estic a casa
- vullI wantFrom voler, to want. Asking with a bare vull is blunt; volia — 'I would like' — is softer
- anarto goThe most irregular verb in Catalan: vaig, vas, va, anem. But it builds the future too: demà vaig — tomorrow I'll go
- menjarto eatBoth 'to eat' and 'to have lunch': menjem a les dos? — shall we have lunch at two? The noun 'food' is the same word: el menjar
- beureto drinkTo drink in the plain sense. Softer and broader is prendre: prenguem alguna cosa? — shall we get something to drink?
- llegirto readThe jo form is llegeixo: an eix grows between the root and the ending. Many verbs do this — it is the rule, not the exception
- parlarto speakTo speak and to talk. To say something concrete is another verb, dir: diu que sí — he says yes
- treballarto workTo work on something is treballar en; to work as something is treballar de
- viureto liveTo live somewhere and to be alive. Viure a — live in a place, viure de — live on something
- tenirto haveThe jo form is tinc. Age, hunger and cold all take it: tinc trenta anys, tinc gana, tinc fred
- hi hathere isAn impersonal form: it changes for neither person nor number — hi ha un cafè, hi ha dos cafès. Also the word in no hi ha de què — don't mention it
- m'agradaI like itThe verb agrees with what pleases, not with who is pleased: m'agrada el cafè, but m'agraden els llibres
- aprendreto learnTo learn yourself is aprendre; to teach someone else is ensenyar
How it sounds in a sentence
A word list is a blank. Conversation is made of sentences, and these are the ones the words fit into most often.
What is worth knowing about these words
soc — I am. The jo form of ésser — to be by essence: origin, profession, character: sóc d'aquí, sóc metge. For states and location the other verb, estar, steps in: estic bé, estic a casa
vull — I want. From voler, to want. Asking with a bare vull is blunt; volia — 'I would like' — is softer
anar — to go. The most irregular verb in Catalan: vaig, vas, va, anem. But it builds the future too: demà vaig — tomorrow I'll go
menjar — to eat. Both 'to eat' and 'to have lunch': menjem a les dos? — shall we have lunch at two? The noun 'food' is the same word: el menjar
Test yourself
Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than recognizing a familiar word — and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “I am” in Catalan?
The jo form of ésser — to be by essence: origin, profession, character: sóc d'aquí, sóc metge. For states and location the other verb, estar, steps in: estic bé, estic a casa
- How do you say “to work” in Catalan?
To work on something is treballar en; to work as something is treballar de
- How do you say “I want” in Catalan?
From voler, to want. Asking with a bare vull is blunt; volia — 'I would like' — is softer
- How do you say “to live” in Catalan?
To live somewhere and to be alive. Viure a — live in a place, viure de — live on something
- How do you say “to go” in Catalan?
The most irregular verb in Catalan: vaig, vas, va, anem. But it builds the future too: demà vaig — tomorrow I'll go
How to learn the set instead of just reading it
I want, I can, I am going, I know. Twenty verbs cover more everyday sentences than two hundred nouns.
A list is read in a minute and forgotten in a day. What works: hide the translation, try to recall, get it wrong — and come back to the same words tomorrow.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- This holds not only in experiments but in ordinary classrooms, with real students.checked many timesMawson & Kang, 2025, Behavioral Sciences 15(6):771 · 22 studies, d = 0.54 (confidence interval 0.31–0.77). The authors warn that individual studies disagree widely.
Frequently asked
How do you say “I am” in Catalan?
«soc». The jo form of ésser — to be by essence: origin, profession, character: sóc d'aquí, sóc metge. For states and location the other verb, estar, steps in: estic bé, estic a casa. It is one of 13 words in the set “verbs” — the rest are in the table above.
How many verbs do you need to start?
A dozen is enough. The set of 13 words on this page covers nearly every everyday case on the topic — but it is best taken a few at a time, not all at once.