la primera vegada
“la primera vegada” — the first time in Catalan. Phrase, level A2, topic — people and family. Literally "the first time": la vegada — a time, a repeat of an event. Vaig volar per primera vegada — an event remembered in details. In a live sentence: “Vaig volar per primera vegada el 2019” — I flew on a plane for the first time in 2019. One of 129 words in the set “people and family” in the Catalan course.
In short
| Written in Catalan | la primera vegada |
| Translation | the first time |
| Part of speech | phrase |
| Level | A2 |
Why it looks that way
Literally "the first time": la vegada — a time, a repeat of an event. Vaig volar per primera vegada — an event remembered in details
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.
- Vaig volar per primera vegada el 2019I flew on a plane for the first time in 2019
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 “the first time” in Catalan?
Literally "the first time": la vegada — a time, a repeat of an event. Vaig volar per primera vegada — an event remembered in details
- 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 “the first time” in Catalan?
«la primera vegada». In a live sentence: “Vaig volar per primera vegada el 2019” — I flew on a plane for the first time in 2019. Phrase, level A2, from the set “people and family”.
Why does this word look the way it does?
Literally "the first time": la vegada — a time, a repeat of an event. Vaig volar per primera vegada — an event remembered in details. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.