contenir-se
“contenir-se” — to hold oneself back in Catalan. Verb, level B1, topic — people and family. The reflexive of contenir — to contain: to hold oneself in. He held himself back and did not say what he thought of the report. In a live sentence: “Es va contenir i no va dir el que pensava de l'informe” — He held himself back and did not say what he thought of the report.
In short
| Written in Catalan | contenir-se |
| Translation | to hold oneself back |
| Part of speech | verb |
| Level | B1 |
Why it looks that way
The reflexive of contenir — to contain: to hold oneself in. He held himself back and did not say what he thought of the report
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.
- Es va contenir i no va dir el que pensava de l'informeHe held himself back and did not say what he thought of the report
Nearby words: people and family
Mum, friend, child, neighbour. The first thing people ask you about, and the first thing you tell about yourself.
- l'amicfriendBefore a vowel the article shrinks: l'amic, l'amiga. A mere acquaintance is un conegut
- la famíliafamilyA false friend: this is the family, not the surname. The surname is el cognom. Stress the í: fuh-MEE-lyuh
- la maremotherThe neutral word, for documents and third-person talk. The tender 'mom' is mamà, stress at the end. The sea is el mar: the article tells them apart
- el parefatherThe tender one is papà, stress at the end. The mark decides: papa without it is potato and the Pope
- el fillchildA child as someone's son or daughter. In the plural els fills means children in general; a small child regardless of parents is el nen
- la personapersonThe counting unit of people: dues persones — two people, not dues homes. The neutral word instead of 'men and women'
- l'homemanNot 'home': l'home is the human and the man, as in l'home del temps — the weatherman. The plural is homes
- la donawomanOne syllable with an n at the end: DOH-nuh. The plural is dones. Dia de la Dona — March 8
- el joveyoung manJove is young in general: about a youth they say el jove, about a girl more often la noia. Jove is also 'young' about wine
- la noiagirlA girl and a teenage girl at once. Noia is the ordinary word, like Spanish chica
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “people and family”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “to hold oneself back” in Catalan?
The reflexive of contenir — to contain: to hold oneself in. He held himself back and did not say what he thought of the report
- How do you say “man” in Catalan?
Not 'home': l'home is the human and the man, as in l'home del temps — the weatherman. The plural is homes
- How do you say “mother” in Catalan?
The neutral word, for documents and third-person talk. The tender 'mom' is mamà, stress at the end. The sea is el mar: the article tells them apart
- How do you say “girl” in Catalan?
A girl and a teenage girl at once. Noia is the ordinary word, like Spanish chica
- How do you say “person” in Catalan?
The counting unit of people: dues persones — two people, not dues homes. The neutral word instead of 'men and women'
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 “to hold oneself back” in Catalan?
«contenir-se». In a live sentence: “Es va contenir i no va dir el que pensava de l'informe” — He held himself back and did not say what he thought of the report. Verb, level B1, from the set “people and family”.
Why does this word look the way it does?
The reflexive of contenir — to contain: to hold oneself in. He held himself back and did not say what he thought of the report. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.