Shopping and money in Valencian
85 words Valencian words on the topic “shopping and money”: quant costa? — how much is it?, l'euro — euro, la botiga — shop, el mercat — market.
85 words on the topic
- quant costa?how much is it?One thing: quant costa? Several: quant costen? — the verb agrees with the goods, not the buyer
- l'euroeuroIt changes in the plural: un euro, dos euros. The cents are els cèntims
- la botigashopThe local word — Spanish tienda is not used here. Botiga de tot — a little shop of everything
- el mercatmarketThe indoor city market is el mercat; the street one on set days is el mercadillo, a word borrowed from Spanish
- el taulellcounterThe seller's slab in the market stall: the fish counter sits at the back
- el venedorsellerThe person behind the taulell. Feminine: la venedora
- el compradorbuyerThe mirror of venedor: who pays rather than sells
- la balançascalesThe market scales; every price is per kilo
- el quilokilogramThe unit the whole market trades in: un quilo de taronges, si us plau
- la meitathalfHalf of anything: la meitat del camí — half the way
- frescfreshFresh from the sea or the field; fish is judged by it before anything else
- madurripeReady to eat; a fruit seller's key word. Feminine: madura
- l'etiquetaprice tagThe label on the goods; in shops the label tells the price, at the market the seller does
- carexpensiveShort and blunt: que és car! The opposite is barat
- baratcheapThe word every market haggler owns: bar i barat — a bar that is cheap
- el descomptediscountThe taken-off part of the price: un descompte del deu per cent
- el canvichange (money)The money handed back; quedi-se'l amb el canvi — keep the change
- els efectiuscashLiterally in-effect money: pagar en efectiu — pay cash
- la targetabank cardThe card in your pocket; pagar amb targeta. Also a birthday card in the right context
- el tiquetreceiptThe slip you keep in case of return; note the spelling with q
- Quant és?how much do I owe?Literally how much is it to me — the polite total at the counter
- És car.it's expensiveThe entry is car again, now as the set phrase it is overheard with
- Es pot més barat?can it be cheaper?Literally cheaper? — the two-word heart of haggling
- Els agafo.I'll take themFrom agafar, to take — the decision at the stall
- No el necessito.I don't need itThe polite no with a reason built in
- Un altre, si us plau.one moreAnother one of the same: un altre madur, si us plau
- prouthat's enoughEnough and no more: prou, gràcies. The word also scales: prou prou!
- en totalin totalThe sum at the end of the list: en total, vuit euros
- el supermercatsupermarketThe market's big indoor cousin — mercat with a prefix
- el cistellbasketThe basket you grab at the entrance; at the market the same word serves
- la cuaqueueThe line at the checkout; fer cua — to queue up
- la caixacheckoutThe till and the counter of payment. Same word as the toolbox's caixa — context decides
- la bossabagThe plastic or cloth bag; here you bring your own or pay for one
- obertopenThe state of doors and shops; obre is the verb, obert the state
- tancatclosedThe sign on the door; cousin of tancar, to close
- triarto chooseTo pick out among many: trie les fruites madures
- la midasizeThe size of clothes and boxes alike; quina mida necessita?
- mésmoreMore of anything — més sucre, més temps. Less is menys
- menyslessLess in amount; menys sal, si us plau
- pesatheavyWeighs a lot; from pesar, to weigh
- lleugerlightWeighs little: un paquet lleuger. The pair of pesat
- nounewThe entry is nou again — as the adjective, not the nine. Un cotxe nou
- velloldOld in age of things and people: un rellotge molt vell
- trencatbrokenNot working in two; from trencar, to break
- el paquetpack (of food)The entry is the pack — the food kind; a pack of cookies costs two euros
- el vidreglass (material)The entry is the glass — the material; glass cups go to the upper cupboard
- el metallmetalThe metal; this chair is of metal, not wood
- el plàsticplastic (material)The entry is the plastic — the material; the container is of it and fits the microwave
- el paperpaper (sheet)The paper; he writes the address on a scrap of it
- resistentsturdyThe resistant; this backpack is very sturdy
- de qualitathigh-qualityOf quality; genuine leather is expensive but high-quality
- el centre comercialshopping mallThe commercial center; it's open until ten at night
- l'aparadorshop windowThe showcase; we look at boots without going in
- el caixercashierThe entry is the cashier; he asks for my bonus card
- la comprashopping (a purchase)The buy; we do a month's shopping at the supermarket
- la targeta de fidelitzacióloyalty cardThe fidelity card; with it the prices are lower
- l'embolcall de regalgift wrappingThe wrapping of gift; they want it — it's for a birthday
- el carretshopping trolleyThe little cart of the shop; take it — today's shopping is big
- canviar el producteto exchange goodsChange the product; can I if I don't like it?
- tramitar la devolucióto process a returnProcess the return; I want to for this sweater
- defectuósdefectiveThe defective; the device was — they gave me a new one
- no anava bé la midathe size didn't fitLiterally the size didn't go; I returned the jacket because of it
- guardar el tiquetto keep the receiptKeep the ticket; do it in case of return
- és una falsificacióit's a fakeThe falsification; these watches are one — look at the price
- el producte està en estocin stockLiterally in stock; the size I'm looking for is not
- canviar de colorto exchange for another colorChange the color; I want to — black doesn't suit me
- el rellotge de màwristwatchLiterally the clock of hand; his is a gift from his father
- el perfumperfumeThe perfume; new ones for mum's birthday
- els cosmèticscosmeticsAlways plural; his sister spends a lot on them
- de segona màsecond-handLiterally of second hand; I bought the bike that way and it works great
- regatejarto haggleRe-bargain; at the market you can haggle over the price
- la llibreriabookshopThe library-word that means book shop; the village one closes at eight
- a l'engròswholesaleAt the big; the restaurant buys oil wholesale once every three months and saves a lot
- el termini de garantiawarranty periodThe warranty term; it starts on the day of the receipt, not of first use
- per encàrrecmade to orderBy commission; this cake is made to order: grandma orders it for every birthday
- prendreto takeTake in the wide sense: take coffee, take a decision. At the counter people say prenc — I'll take
- donarto giveGive and hand over. Dona'm pa — give me bread, the pronoun glued on with an apostrophe
- comprarto buyA plain look-alike of English buy in meaning and of Spanish comprar in shape
- pagarto payPay for something takes per: pagar per l'entrada
- posarto putPut, place, set. Also what Spanish does with poner — a close cousin
- buscarto look forHunt for a thing or a person: busque pis — I'm looking for a flat
- trobarto findFind a thing — and find something good: aquest formatge està bo, trobo
- mostrarto showShow and demonstrate: mostra'm — show me
- volerto wantThe dictionary form; the everyday form is vull. Voler bé algú means to love someone
- podercanTo be able to. The suffix -modal marks it as the modal verb: puc, pots, pot
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.
- Quant costa el cafè?How much is the coffee?
- El cafè costa un euro vintThe coffee costs one twenty
- La botiga de l'angle obre els diumengesThe shop on the corner opens on Sundays
- Els dissabtes vaig al mercat a comprar fruitaOn Saturdays I go to the market for fruit
- El taulell de peix és al fonsThe counter with the fish is at the back
- El venedor pesa els tomàquetsThe seller weighs the tomatoes
What is worth knowing about these words
quant costa? — how much is it?. One thing: quant costa? Several: quant costen? — the verb agrees with the goods, not the buyer
l'euro — euro. It changes in the plural: un euro, dos euros. The cents are els cèntims
la botiga — shop. The local word — Spanish tienda is not used here. Botiga de tot — a little shop of everything
el mercat — market. The indoor city market is el mercat; the street one on set days is el mercadillo, a word borrowed from Spanish
Test yourself
Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than recognizing a familiar word — and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “how much is it?” in Valencian?
One thing: quant costa? Several: quant costen? — the verb agrees with the goods, not the buyer
- How do you say “scales” in Valencian?
The market scales; every price is per kilo
- How do you say “cheap” in Valencian?
The word every market haggler owns: bar i barat — a bar that is cheap
- How do you say “it's expensive” in Valencian?
The entry is car again, now as the set phrase it is overheard with
- How do you say “supermarket” in Valencian?
The market's big indoor cousin — mercat with a prefix
How to learn the set instead of just reading it
How much it costs, whether there is a smaller one, whether cards are accepted. A shop forgives mistakes: miss a word and they will show you the thing with their hands anyway.
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 “how much is it?” in Valencian?
«quant costa?» One thing: quant costa? Several: quant costen? — the verb agrees with the goods, not the buyer. It is one of 85 words in the set “shopping and money” — the rest are in the table above.
How many shopping words do you need to start?
A dozen is enough. The set of 85 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.