al principi
“al principi” — at first in Catalan. Adverb, level A2, topic — time, days and hours. Literally "at the beginning": el principi — the beginning from unit one. Do not mix it up with primer de tot — that one counts arguments, this one events. In a live sentence: “Al principi vivíem a Girona” — At first we lived in Girona. One of 160 words in the set “time, days and hours” in the Catalan course.
In short
| Written in Catalan | al principi |
| Translation | at first |
| Part of speech | adverb |
| Level | A2 |
Why it looks that way
Literally "at the beginning": el principi — the beginning from unit one. Do not mix it up with primer de tot — that one counts arguments, this one events
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.
- Al principi vivíem a GironaAt first we lived in Girona
Nearby words: time, days and hours
Today, tomorrow, in the morning, at six. You cannot arrange to meet without these — let alone understand the answer.
- el matímorningIts own word — unlike Spanish, where the morning hides inside mañana. Al matí — in the mornings: this is how any day's story begins
- el diadayMasculine despite the -a: el dia, bon dia. One of the main gender exceptions
- avuitodayStress at the end: uh-BOO-ee. Avui en dia is "these days", not "today at noon"
- demàtomorrowFrom the Latin de mane, 'from morning': tomorrow is what arrives with the new morning. The morning itself is el matí, a word of its own
- ahiryesterdayStress at the end: uh-EER. Abans-d'ahir — the day before yesterday, literally 'before yesterday'
- la tardaafternoonTarda stretches from lunch to dark: the second half of the day and the early evening. After dark, la nit begins
- la nitnightIt starts at dark, so a ten o'clock dinner is already a la nit. Hence bona nit too
- l'horahourBoth the hour as a measure and the time on the clock: quina hora és? And 'one o'clock' is already la una, feminine
- primer de totfirst of allLiterally "first of everything": the counting of thoughts begins. Second of all is already near — en segon lloc
- en segon llocsecondlyLiterally "in second place": thoughts line up by places, as on a podium. Next: en tercer lloc — if the arguments last
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “time, days and hours”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “at first” in Catalan?
Literally "at the beginning": el principi — the beginning from unit one. Do not mix it up with primer de tot — that one counts arguments, this one events
- How do you say “night” in Catalan?
It starts at dark, so a ten o'clock dinner is already a la nit. Hence bona nit too
- How do you say “today” in Catalan?
Stress at the end: uh-BOO-ee. Avui en dia is "these days", not "today at noon"
- How do you say “secondly” in Catalan?
Literally "in second place": thoughts line up by places, as on a podium. Next: en tercer lloc — if the arguments last
- How do you say “afternoon” in Catalan?
Tarda stretches from lunch to dark: the second half of the day and the early evening. After dark, la nit begins
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 “at first” in Catalan?
«al principi». In a live sentence: “Al principi vivíem a Girona” — At first we lived in Girona. Adverb, level A2, from the set “time, days and hours”.
Why does this word look the way it does?
Literally "at the beginning": el principi — the beginning from unit one. Do not mix it up with primer de tot — that one counts arguments, this one events. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.