Lingoflyon és?
- on és?where is it?
“on és?” — where is it? in Valencian. Phrase, level A0, topic — asking the way. Literally where is it — asked through ésser, not estar, which is one more difference from Spanish. No one drops the verb. In a live sentence: “On és el metro?” — Where is the metro? You can hear how it sounds right here. One of 28 words in the set “asking the way” in the Valencian course.
In short
| Written in Valencian | on és? |
| Translation | where is it? |
| Part of speech | phrase |
| Level | A0 |
Why it looks that way
Literally where is it — asked through ésser, not estar, which is one more difference from Spanish. No one drops the verb
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.
- On és el metro?Where is the metro?
Nearby words: asking the way
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.
- la dretarightA la dreta — to the right. The word is feminine: la mà dreta — the right hand
- l'esquerraleftA cousin of Spanish izquierda: both most likely come from a language spoken here before Latin. A l'esquerra — to the left
- tot rectestraight aheadLiterally all straight: recte, the same word as the straight of the final straight. Seguiu tot recte — go straight ahead
- a propcloseA prop de — close to something: a prop de casa. Without de it is simply near
- llunyfarOpens with the double ll — one soft sound, lyoon-y. Lluny de — far from something
- acíhereThe Valencian ací is one of the giveaways of the norm: the central norm says aquí. The scale is the same: ací — here by me, allà — over there
- allàthereThe far there, out of reach. The near there, in your reach, is allí
- per on s'hi vahow do I get thereLiterally by where does one go — the impersonal way of asking for a route
- arribar-hito get thereArrive there: the hi is the there already in the conversation
- a l'altra bandaon the other sideLiterally at the other bank — of the street, of the river alike
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “asking the way”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “where is it?” in Valencian?
Literally where is it — asked through ésser, not estar, which is one more difference from Spanish. No one drops the verb
- How do you say “there” in Valencian?
The far there, out of reach. The near there, in your reach, is allí
- How do you say “straight ahead” in Valencian?
Literally all straight: recte, the same word as the straight of the final straight. Seguiu tot recte — go straight ahead
- How do you say “on the other side” in Valencian?
Literally at the other bank — of the street, of the river alike
- How do you say “here” in Valencian?
The Valencian ací is one of the giveaways of the norm: the central norm says aquí. The scale is the same: ací — here by me, allà — over there
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 “where is it?” in Valencian?
«on és?» In a live sentence: “On és el metro?” — Where is the metro? You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Phrase, level A0, from the set “asking the way”.
Why does this word look the way it does?
Literally where is it — asked through ésser, not estar, which is one more difference from Spanish. No one drops the verb. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
Can I hear how this sounds?
Yes, right on this page: click the word and it will play. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.