més o menys
“més o menys” — so-so in Catalan. Adverb, level A1, topic — basic words. Literally 'more or less'. The same phrase means 'about': més o menys vint — around twenty. In a live sentence: “Què tal l'examen? — Més o menys” — How was the exam? — So-so. One of 110 words in the set “basic words” in the Catalan course.
In short
| Written in Catalan | més o menys |
| Translation | so-so |
| Part of speech | adverb |
| Level | A1 |
Why it looks that way
Literally 'more or less'. The same phrase means 'about': més o menys vint — around twenty
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.
- Què tal l'examen? — Més o menysHow was the exam? — So-so
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
- 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
- el gramgramFrom the Greek gramma — a small weight. Put a hundred grams of sugar in the dough
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 “so-so” in Catalan?
Literally 'more or less'. The same phrase means 'about': més o menys vint — around twenty
- How do you say “centimeter” in Catalan?
Literally "a hundredth of a meter". The child grew three centimeters in a year
- 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 “gram” in Catalan?
From the Greek gramma — a small weight. Put a hundred grams of sugar in the dough
- 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 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 “so-so” in Catalan?
«més o menys». In a live sentence: “Què tal l'examen? — Més o menys” — How was the exam? — So-so. Adverb, level A1, from the set “basic words”.
Why does this word look the way it does?
Literally 'more or less'. The same phrase means 'about': més o menys vint — around twenty. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.