s'ha anat la llum
“s'ha anat la llum” — the power is out in Catalan. Phrase, level A1, topic — home and things. Literally 'the light has gone away': s'ha anat la llum — from anar-se'n, you knew it. The light comes back by itself: ha tornat la llum. In a live sentence: “Ahir s'ha anat la llum al barri sencer” — Yesterday the power was out in the whole block. One of 230 words in the set “home and things” in the Catalan course.
In short
| Written in Catalan | s'ha anat la llum |
| Translation | the power is out |
| Part of speech | phrase |
| Level | A1 |
Why it looks that way
Literally 'the light has gone away': s'ha anat la llum — from anar-se'n, you knew it. The light comes back by itself: ha tornat la llum
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.
- Ahir s'ha anat la llum al barri sencerYesterday the power was out in the whole block
Nearby words: home and things
Room, key, water, electricity. You will need them on your first day in a rented flat.
- la casahouseA casa without the article means 'at home'; a la casa — inside the specific building. The ear hears the difference
- l'habitatgehousingThe bookish 'housing in general': ads say habitatges de lloguer — housing for rent. The specific flat is el pis
- l'habitacióroomDo not mix up with l'habitatge, housing as a whole. Habitació doble — a room for two: that is how hotels write it
- la cuinakitchenBoth the room and the cooking: la cuina catalana — Catalan cuisine. The cook is el cuiner, he is in this unit too
- el banybathroomBoth the bathroom and the bath: prendre un bany — to take a bath. In ads: pis amb dos banys
- el balcóbalconyWith the accent: buhl-KOH. Al balcó hi ha flors — flowers on the balcony, a classic of Catalan streets
- la plantafloor (story)The same word is 'plant': context divides. Planta baixa — the ground floor, quarta planta — the fourth
- l'ascensorliftA relative of French ascenseur. Old houses lack it — sense ascensor is written large and honestly
- l'escalastaircaseAlso a 'scale' and a 'scope'. The entrance stairwell is l'escala: 'Scale A' on the plate by the door
- la taulatableA taula! — to the table! — the call to lunch. Taula rodona — a round table, and negotiations
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “home and things”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “the power is out” in Catalan?
Literally 'the light has gone away': s'ha anat la llum — from anar-se'n, you knew it. The light comes back by itself: ha tornat la llum
- How do you say “floor (story)” in Catalan?
The same word is 'plant': context divides. Planta baixa — the ground floor, quarta planta — the fourth
- How do you say “room” in Catalan?
Do not mix up with l'habitatge, housing as a whole. Habitació doble — a room for two: that is how hotels write it
- How do you say “table” in Catalan?
A taula! — to the table! — the call to lunch. Taula rodona — a round table, and negotiations
- How do you say “balcony” in Catalan?
With the accent: buhl-KOH. Al balcó hi ha flors — flowers on the balcony, a classic of Catalan streets
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 power is out” in Catalan?
«s'ha anat la llum». In a live sentence: “Ahir s'ha anat la llum al barri sencer” — Yesterday the power was out in the whole block. Phrase, level A1, from the set “home and things”.
Why does this word look the way it does?
Literally 'the light has gone away': s'ha anat la llum — from anar-se'n, you knew it. The light comes back by itself: ha tornat la llum. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.