a la vesprada
“a la vesprada” — in the afternoon in Valencian. Phrase, level B1, topic — time, days and hours. Literally in the vesprada: the day here splits into matí and vesprada, with lunch as the border. Tinc hora a la vesprada — my appointment is after lunch. And the afternoon here is vesprada: the Valencian giveaway; the central norm says tarda. In a live sentence: “El metge només té hora a la vesprada” — The doctor has time only in the afternoon.
In short
| Written in Valencian | a la vesprada |
| Translation | in the afternoon |
| Part of speech | phrase |
| Level | B1 |
Why it looks that way
Literally in the vesprada: the day here splits into matí and vesprada, with lunch as the border. Tinc hora a la vesprada — my appointment is after lunch. And the afternoon here is vesprada: the Valencian giveaway; the central norm says tarda
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.
- El metge només té hora a la vespradaThe doctor has time only in the afternoon
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 matímorningThe word of its own — and in Valencia it lives loudest of all: Mercat del Matí, the morning markets on every corner
- el diadayMasculine despite the -a: el dia, bon dia — one of the main exceptions of gender
- huitodayStarts with an h — a Valencian hallmark: central Catalan says avui. The h is obligatory in writing though the ear hears only a y
- demàtomorrowFrom Latin de mane — with the morning: tomorrow is what comes with a new morning. The morning itself is el matí
- ahiryesterdayStress at the end: a-HEER. The day before yesterday is abans-d'ahir — literally before yesterday
- la vespradaafternoonThe vesprada stretches from lunch to dark — the second half of the day and the early evening in one. The central norm says tarda here; after dark the nit begins
- la nitnightBegins with the dark, so a ten-o'clock supper is already a la nit. Hence bona nit
- l'horahourBoth the measure and the time of day: Quina hora és? The hour on the clock face is la una — feminine
- primer de totfirst of allLiterally first of all; turn off the phone
- en segon llocsecondlyLiterally second place — secondly; and close the door
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 “in the afternoon” in Valencian?
Literally in the vesprada: the day here splits into matí and vesprada, with lunch as the border. Tinc hora a la vesprada — my appointment is after lunch. And the afternoon here is vesprada: the Valencian giveaway; the central norm says tarda
- How do you say “night” in Valencian?
Begins with the dark, so a ten-o'clock supper is already a la nit. Hence bona nit
- How do you say “today” in Valencian?
Starts with an h — a Valencian hallmark: central Catalan says avui. The h is obligatory in writing though the ear hears only a y
- How do you say “secondly” in Valencian?
Literally second place — secondly; and close the door
- How do you say “afternoon” in Valencian?
The vesprada stretches from lunch to dark — the second half of the day and the early evening in one. The central norm says tarda here; after dark the 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 “in the afternoon” in Valencian?
«a la vesprada». In a live sentence: “El metge només té hora a la vesprada” — The doctor has time only in the afternoon. Phrase, level B1, from the set “time, days and hours”.
Why does this word look the way it does?
Literally in the vesprada: the day here splits into matí and vesprada, with lunch as the border. Tinc hora a la vesprada — my appointment is after lunch. And the afternoon here is vesprada: the Valencian giveaway; the central norm says tarda. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.