menjar
“menjar” — to eat in Catalan. Verb, level A1, topic — verbs. 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. In a live sentence: “Menjem pa i formatge” — We eat bread and cheese. One of 13 words in the set “verbs” in the Catalan course.
In short
| Written in Catalan | menjar |
| Translation | to eat |
| Part of speech | verb |
| Level | A1 |
Why it looks that way
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
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.
- Menjem pa i formatgeWe eat bread and cheese
Nearby words: verbs
I want, I can, I am going, I know. Twenty verbs cover more everyday sentences than two hundred nouns.
- 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
- 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
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “verbs”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “to eat” in Catalan?
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
- 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 “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 do you say “there is” in Catalan?
An 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
- How do you say “to speak” in Catalan?
To speak and to talk. To say something concrete is another verb, dir: diu que sí — he says yes
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 eat” in Catalan?
«menjar». In a live sentence: “Menjem pa i formatge” — We eat bread and cheese. Verb, level A1, from the set “verbs”.
Why does this word look the way it does?
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. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.