LingoflyAt a café and a restaurant in Catalan
18 words in Catalan on the topic “at a café and a restaurant”: el cafè — coffee, el te — tea, l'amanida — salad, la sopa — soup. 18 words can be played from recordings.
18 words on the topic
- el cafècoffeeThe drink and the place in one. The el is the masculine article — and a gender hint
- el teteaEl te with the accent is 'tea'; te without it is 'to you'. The pair works like sí and si
- l'amanidasaladFrom amanir, to dress. In Catalonia it is vegetables with oil and vinegar, not anything under mayonnaise
- la sopasoupAnd 'to have dinner' is sopar: the Catalan evening meal is named after a spoonful of soup
- vullI wantFrom voler, to want. Asking with a bare vull is blunt; volia — 'I would like' — is softer
- el compte, si us plauthe bill, pleaseThe bill is masculine — el compte — unlike Spanish. And there, too, it does not arrive until you ask
- el restaurantrestaurantMasculine. As in Spain, people more often go to el bar: morning coffee, lunch and an evening beer all happen there
- el cafè solubleinstant coffeeMasculine: so-LOOB-bleh — Latin "dissolvable". Quick coffee for rushed mornings
- em pot portar la carta?could I see the menu?Literally 'can you bring me the menu?'. La carta is the menu — the neighbors' word too
- què em recomana?what do you recommend?Literally 'what do you recommend to me?'. Recomanar — to recommend: the polite word for the waiter
- el mateix per a miI'll have the sameLiterally 'the same for me'. El mateix — the same: you took it today already
- dos cafès, si us plautwo coffees, pleaseReads as it says: doos kuh-FES, see oos PLYOW. Dos cafès — the stress survives into the plural
- em porta més aigua?more water, pleaseLiterally 'do you bring me more water?': the present tense does the job of 'may I' — that is how people ask
- jo no ho he demanatI didn't order thisLiterally 'I have not ordered it': ho is 'it' — the ordered thing
- aquí o per emportar?for here or to go?Literally 'here or for carrying away?'. Emportar — to take away: from portar, to carry, with en-
- sense gelno iceLiterally «without ice»: «el gel» is ice, «g» before «e» sounds like the «s» in «measure». In summer it’s asked for more than you’d think
- amb lletwith milkLiterally 'with milk'. Cafè amb llet — the morning drink here: half coffee, half milk
- reservar taulato book a tableLiterally 'to reserve a table'. La reserva — the booking; the verb is reservar
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How it sounds in a sentence
A word list is a blank. Conversation is made of sentences, and these are the ones the words fit into most often.
What is worth knowing about these words
el cafè — coffee. The drink and the place in one. The el is the masculine article — and a gender hint.
el te — tea. El te with the accent is 'tea'; te without it is 'to you'. The pair works like sí and si.
l'amanida — salad. From amanir, to dress. In Catalonia it is vegetables with oil and vinegar, not anything under mayonnaise.
la sopa — soup. And 'to have dinner' is sopar: the Catalan evening meal is named after a spoonful of soup.
Test yourself
First by ear — the way you will meet the word in conversation. Click the speaker and pick the translation.
- What is this word?
It is el cafè — coffee.
- What is this word?
It is el cafè soluble — instant coffee.
- What is this word?
It is aquí o per emportar? — for here or to go?
- What is this word?
It is la sopa — soup.
- What is this word?
It is el mateix per a mi — I'll have the same.
Now the other way around: recall the spelling from the meaning. That is harder, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “coffee” in Catalan?
The drink and the place in one. The el is the masculine article — and a gender hint
- How do you say “instant coffee” in Catalan?
Masculine: so-LOOB-bleh — Latin "dissolvable". Quick coffee for rushed mornings
- How do you say “for here or to go?” in Catalan?
Literally 'here or for carrying away?'. Emportar — to take away: from portar, to carry, with en-
- How do you say “soup” in Catalan?
And 'to have dinner' is sopar: the Catalan evening meal is named after a spoonful of soup
- How do you say “I'll have the same” in Catalan?
Literally 'the same for me'. El mateix — the same: you took it today already
How to learn the set instead of just reading it
Order, ask the price, ask for the bill. A short and entirely predictable conversation — a convenient place to test yourself for the first time.
A list is read in a minute and forgotten in a day. What works: hide the translation, try to recall, get it wrong — and come back to the same words tomorrow.
- 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.
- Study spread over days wins not only in experiments but in ordinary classrooms, with real students.checked many timesMawson & Kang, 2025, Behavioral Sciences 15(6):771 · 22 studies, d = 0.54 (confidence interval 0.31–0.77). The authors warn that individual studies disagree widely.
Frequently asked
How do you say “coffee” in Catalan?
«el cafè». The drink and the place in one. The el is the masculine article — and a gender hint. It is one of 18 words in the set “at a café and a restaurant” — the rest are in the table above.
How many café phrases do you need to start?
The whole set on this page is 18 words, but there is no need to start with all of it: the words you will need in the next few days are enough. Take them a few at a time — five to seven new ones per session.
Is there audio?
Yes, 18 words on this page can be played — click the speaker next to the word. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.