Asking the way in Catalan
28 words Catalan words on the topic “asking the way”: on és? — where is it?, la dreta — right, l'esquerra — left, tot rect — straight ahead. 28 words can be played from recordings.
28 words on the topic
- on és?where is it?Literally 'where is?': the question goes through ésser, not through estar — a difference from Spanish. The verb is never dropped
- la dretarightA la dreta — to the right. The word itself is feminine: la mà dreta — the right hand
- l'esquerraleftA word of its own, from Latin — not the Basque izquierda of Spanish. A l'esquerra — to the left
- tot rectstraight aheadLiterally 'all straight'. Recte is the same word as 'straight' in recta final, the final straight
- a propnearA prop de — close to something: a prop de casa. Without de it is simply 'near'
- llunyfarOpens with the double ll — one fused ly sound: lyoon. Lluny de — far from something
- aquíhereCatalan splits space three ways: aquí is here by me, allí is there by you, allà is out there in the distance
- allàthereThe far 'there', out of reach. The nearer 'over there, by you' is allí
- per on s'hi vahow do I get there?Literally 'through where does one go there': an impersonal — the road is not yours or mine, it simply is
- arribar-hito get thereArribar + hi: to arrive there — hi stands for the place. S'hi arriba en bus — you can get there by bus
- a l'altra bandaon the other sideLiterally 'on the other side', as it reads. La banda — the side: you knew it
- a dos passostwo steps awayLiterally 'at two steps'. El pas — a step: the measuring unit of closeness
- després del giraround the cornerLiterally 'after the turn'. El gir — the turn: girar is 'to turn', you knew it
- a l'esquerra deto the left ofLiterally 'to the left of', as it reads. On its own, 'to the left' says itself without the de: take both today
- a la dreta deto the right ofLiterally 'to the right of'. You knew la dreta — the right hand leads
- al migin the middleLiterally 'in the middle'. El mig — the middle: you know it from la mitja hora
- el següent girthe next turnLiterally 'the following turn'. El següent you took today — this is it at work. Gira al següent carrer — turn onto the next street
- de camíon the wayLiterally 'of the road'. De camí a casa — on the way home: you slot the place in between
- cap amuntupwardLiterally 'toward the top'. Amunt! — up! — shouted at children and at teams
- endavantforwardLiterally 'into front'. Endavant! — forward! — and 'come in!': one word, two encouragements
- cap allàthat wayLiterally 'toward there': the hand points it, the word confirms it. Allà — out there: you knew it
- a algun llocto some placeLiterally 'to some place'. The partner of en algun lloc — somewhere: direction instead of location
- a peuon footLiterally 'on the foot'. Anar a peu — to go on foot: the words travel as a pair
- a partseparatelyLiterally 'in a part', an international word. Servir-ho a part — to serve it on the side: about sauce and garnish
- amb atencióattentivelyLiterally 'with attention'. L'atenció — attention: a word of letters and pharmacy counters
- fluixquietlyThe 'weak' word about sound: parla fluix — speak softly. The same scale of strength: fort is loud
- fortloudlyYou knew fort, 'strong': loudly is the same word — the strength of a sound. No parlis tant fort — don't speak so loudly
- en silenciin silenceLiterally 'in silence'. El silenci you took today: this is its preposition
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.
- On és el metro?Where is the subway?
- La farmàcia queda a la dretaThe pharmacy is on the right
- Gireu a l'esquerra al semàforTurn left at the traffic light
- Seguiu tot rectGo straight ahead
- El mercat és a prop de casaThe market is near the house
- No és lluny, són deu minuts a peuIt isn't far, ten minutes on foot
What is worth knowing about these words
on és? — where is it?. Literally 'where is?': the question goes through ésser, not through estar — a difference from Spanish. The verb is never dropped
la dreta — right. A la dreta — to the right. The word itself is feminine: la mà dreta — the right hand
l'esquerra — left. A word of its own, from Latin — not the Basque izquierda of Spanish. A l'esquerra — to the left
tot rect — straight ahead. Literally 'all straight'. Recte is the same word as 'straight' in recta final, the final straight
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 on és? — where is it?.
- What is this word?
It is lluny — far.
- What is this word?
It is a l'altra banda — on the other side.
- What is this word?
It is al mig — in the middle.
- What is this word?
It is cap allà — that way.
Now the other way around: recall the spelling from the meaning. That is harder, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “where is it?” in Catalan?
Literally 'where is?': the question goes through ésser, not through estar — a difference from Spanish. The verb is never dropped
- How do you say “far” in Catalan?
Opens with the double ll — one fused ly sound: lyoon. Lluny de — far from something
- How do you say “on the other side” in Catalan?
Literally 'on the other side', as it reads. La banda — the side: you knew it
- How do you say “in the middle” in Catalan?
Literally 'in the middle'. El mig — the middle: you know it from la mitja hora
- How do you say “that way” in Catalan?
Literally 'toward there': the hand points it, the word confirms it. Allà — out there: you knew it
How to learn the set instead of just reading it
Right, left, straight on, how far. You ask the way rarely — and always at the moment when there is no time to work it out.
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.
- This holds 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 “where is it?” in Catalan?
«on és?» Literally 'where is?': the question goes through ésser, not through estar — a difference from Spanish. The verb is never dropped. It is one of 28 words in the set “asking the way” — the rest are in the table above.
How many direction words do you need to start?
A dozen is enough. The set of 28 words on this page covers nearly every everyday case on the topic — but it is best taken a few at a time, not all at once.
Is there audio?
Yes, 28 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.