la clau anglesa
“la clau anglesa” — wrench in Catalan. Noun, level A2, topic — home and things. Literally "the English key": the unnamed inventor was, by legend, an Englishman. You knew la clau — the door key: this is its relative. In a live sentence: “On és la clau anglesa? Al calaix de la cuina” — Where is the wrench? In the drawer in the kitchen. One of 230 words in the set “home and things” in the Catalan course.
In short
| Written in Catalan | la clau anglesa |
| Translation | wrench |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A2 |
Why it looks that way
Literally "the English key": the unnamed inventor was, by legend, an Englishman. You knew la clau — the door key: this is its relative
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- On és la clau anglesa? Al calaix de la cuinaWhere is the wrench? In the drawer in the kitchen
Nearby words: home and things
Room, key, water, electricity. You will need them on your first day in a rented flat.
- la casahouseA casa without the article means 'at home'; a la casa — inside the specific building. The ear hears the difference
- l'habitatgehousingThe bookish 'housing in general': ads say habitatges de lloguer — housing for rent. The specific flat is el pis
- l'habitacióroomDo not mix up with l'habitatge, housing as a whole. Habitació doble — a room for two: that is how hotels write it
- la cuinakitchenBoth the room and the cooking: la cuina catalana — Catalan cuisine. The cook is el cuiner, he is in this unit too
- el banybathroomBoth the bathroom and the bath: prendre un bany — to take a bath. In ads: pis amb dos banys
- el balcóbalconyWith the accent: buhl-KOH. Al balcó hi ha flors — flowers on the balcony, a classic of Catalan streets
- la plantafloor (story)The same word is 'plant': context divides. Planta baixa — the ground floor, quarta planta — the fourth
- l'ascensorliftA relative of French ascenseur. Old houses lack it — sense ascensor is written large and honestly
- l'escalastaircaseAlso a 'scale' and a 'scope'. The entrance stairwell is l'escala: 'Scale A' on the plate by the door
- la taulatableA taula! — to the table! — the call to lunch. Taula rodona — a round table, and negotiations
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “home and things”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “wrench” in Catalan?
Literally "the English key": the unnamed inventor was, by legend, an Englishman. You knew la clau — the door key: this is its relative
- How do you say “floor (story)” in Catalan?
The same word is 'plant': context divides. Planta baixa — the ground floor, quarta planta — the fourth
- How do you say “room” in Catalan?
Do not mix up with l'habitatge, housing as a whole. Habitació doble — a room for two: that is how hotels write it
- How do you say “table” in Catalan?
A taula! — to the table! — the call to lunch. Taula rodona — a round table, and negotiations
- How do you say “balcony” in Catalan?
With the accent: buhl-KOH. Al balcó hi ha flors — flowers on the balcony, a classic of Catalan streets
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- 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.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “wrench” in Catalan?
«la clau anglesa». In a live sentence: “On és la clau anglesa? Al calaix de la cuina” — Where is the wrench? In the drawer in the kitchen. Noun, level A2, from the set “home and things”.
Why does this word look the way it does?
Literally "the English key": the unnamed inventor was, by legend, an Englishman. You knew la clau — the door key: this is its relative. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.