és a dir
“és a dir” — that is to say in Catalan. Phrase, level B1, topic — basic words. Literally "it is to say": the reformulation marker. He will come on Tuesday, that is to say the day after tomorrow. In a live sentence: “Vindrà dimarts, és a dir, passat demà” — He will come on Tuesday, that is to say the day after tomorrow. One of 110 words in the set “basic words” in the Catalan course.
In short
| Written in Catalan | és a dir |
| Translation | that is to say |
| Part of speech | phrase |
| Level | B1 |
Why it looks that way
Literally "it is to say": the reformulation marker. He will come on Tuesday, that is to say the day after tomorrow
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.
- Vindrà dimarts, és a dir, passat demàHe will come on Tuesday, that is to say the day after tomorrow
Nearby words: basic words
Yes, no, good, bad, very. The small change of a language — and no sentence assembles without it.
- síyesSí with the accent means 'yes'; si without it means 'if'. Only the written mark separates them
- nonoOne word for 'no' and for negating the verb: no entenc — 'I don't understand'
- béwellAn adverb: it answers 'how?'. The adjective 'good' is another word, bo — and before a noun it shrinks further: bon dia
- malamentbadlyThe partner of bé. For a bad thing the adjective is dolent: el temps és dolent — the weather is foul
- molt bévery wellMolt is 'very' and stands right before the word it boosts
- més o menysso-soLiterally 'more or less'. The same phrase means 'about': més o menys vint — around twenty
- el metremeter (unit)An international word, from the Greek "measure". The jump was two meters, not a centimeter more
- el centímetrecentimeterLiterally "a hundredth of a meter". The child grew three centimeters in a year
- el quilòmetrekilometerLiterally "a thousand meters": theGreek measure with a Greek prefix. From the town to the beach is five kilometers
- el litreliterFrom the Greek litra — a unit of weight, become a measure of volume. Buy a liter of milk, please
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “basic words”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “that is to say” in Catalan?
Literally "it is to say": the reformulation marker. He will come on Tuesday, that is to say the day after tomorrow
- How do you say “meter (unit)” in Catalan?
An international word, from the Greek "measure". The jump was two meters, not a centimeter more
- How do you say “well” in Catalan?
An adverb: it answers 'how?'. The adjective 'good' is another word, bo — and before a noun it shrinks further: bon dia
- How do you say “liter” in Catalan?
From the Greek litra — a unit of weight, become a measure of volume. Buy a liter of milk, please
- How do you say “so-so” in Catalan?
Literally 'more or less'. The same phrase means 'about': més o menys vint — around twenty
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 “that is to say” in Catalan?
«és a dir». In a live sentence: “Vindrà dimarts, és a dir, passat demà” — He will come on Tuesday, that is to say the day after tomorrow. Phrase, level B1, from the set “basic words”.
Why does this word look the way it does?
Literally "it is to say": the reformulation marker. He will come on Tuesday, that is to say the day after tomorrow. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.