despertar-se
“despertar-se” — to wake up in Valencian. Verb, level A1, topic — everyday life and routine. Reflexive — you wake yourself: em desperte a les set. In a live sentence: “Em desperto a les set cada dia” — I wake up at seven every day. One of 14 words in the set “everyday life and routine” in the Valencian course.
In short
| Written in Valencian | despertar-se |
| Translation | to wake up |
| Part of speech | verb |
| Level | A1 |
Why it looks that way
Reflexive — you wake yourself: em desperte a les set
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.
- Em desperto a les set cada diaI wake up at seven every day
Nearby words: everyday life and routine
Work, home, rest, errands. The words the answer to “how are things?” is made of.
- el treballworkThe double ll is one soft ly sound: trebáY. Both the job as a place and tinc treball — I'm busy
- treballarto workTo work on something is treballar en; to work as someone is treballar de
- aixecar-seto get upLiterally to raise oneself out of bed: m'aixeque a mitges vuit
- rentar-seto wash upWash oneself — or a part: em rente les mans — I wash my hands
- pentinar-seto comb one's hairFrom la pentinadora's world: the hairdo is el pentinat
- afaitar-seto shaveReflexive again: s'afaita abans de eixir — he shaves before going out
- vestir-seto get dressedDress oneself; the clothes themselves are la roba
- despullar-seto undressLiterally to un-skin oneself: pell is the skin
- seureto sit downThe chair is la cadira and it is where seure sends you
- ficar-se al llitto go to bedLiterally to tuck oneself into the bed: el llit is the bed
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “everyday life and routine”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “to wake up” in Valencian?
Reflexive — you wake yourself: em desperte a les set
- How do you say “to get dressed” in Valencian?
Dress oneself; the clothes themselves are la roba
- How do you say “to get up” in Valencian?
Literally to raise oneself out of bed: m'aixeque a mitges vuit
- How do you say “to go to bed” in Valencian?
Literally to tuck oneself into the bed: el llit is the bed
- How do you say “to shave” in Valencian?
Reflexive again: s'afaita abans de eixir — he shaves before going out
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 “to wake up” in Valencian?
«despertar-se». In a live sentence: “Em desperto a les set cada dia” — I wake up at seven every day. Verb, level A1, from the set “everyday life and routine”.
Why does this word look the way it does?
Reflexive — you wake yourself: em desperte a les set. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.