Lingoflysoc
- socto be (by essence)
“soc” — to be (by essence) in Valencian. Verb, level A0, topic — verbs. The I-form of ésser — to be by essence: origin, profession, character. For states and places there is the second link, estar: estic bé, estic a casa. In a live sentence: “Sóc de Rússia” — I'm from Russia. You can hear how it sounds right here. One of 13 words in the set “verbs” in the Valencian course.
In short
| Written in Valencian | soc |
| Translation | to be (by essence) |
| Part of speech | verb |
| Level | A0 |
Why it looks that way
The I-form of ésser — to be by essence: origin, profession, character. For states and places there is the second link, estar: estic bé, estic a casa
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.
- Sóc de RússiaI'm from Russia
Nearby words: verbs
I want, I can, I am going, I know. The verb holds a sentence together: a few of the most frequent ones cover more everyday talk than a long list of nouns.
- vullI wantFrom voler, to want. A bare vull sounds blunt; people soften it to volia — I would like
- anarto goThe most irregular verb of them all: vaig, vas, va, anem. And it builds the future too: demà vaig — tomorrow I'll go
- menjarto eatBoth to eat and to have lunch: mengem a les dos? — lunch at two? Before e the j turns into g: mengem, mengeu. The noun for food is the same word
- beureto drinkDrinking plain and simple. Softer and wider is prendre: prenguem alguna cosa? — shall we have something?
- llegirto readThe I-form is llig, one syllable: a Valencian hallmark where the central norm says llegeixo. Same letters, different syllables — the norms differ at once by ear
- parlarto speakTo speak and to talk. I speak is parle, through e: the Valencian hallmark instead of the central parlo. Saying something concrete is dir: diu que sí
- treballarto workTo work on something is treballar en; to work as someone is treballar de
- viureto liveTo live somewhere and to be alive. Viure a — live in a place, viure de — live on something
- tenirto haveThe I-form is tinc. Age, hunger and cold are had with it: tinc trenta anys, tinc gana, tinc fred
- hi hathere is (there are)Impersonal: it never changes for person or number — hi ha un cafè, hi ha dos cafès. The same word lives in no hi ha de què — don't mention it
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “verbs”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “to be (by essence)” in Valencian?
The I-form of ésser — to be by essence: origin, profession, character. For states and places there is the second link, estar: estic bé, estic a casa
- How do you say “to work” in Valencian?
To work on something is treballar en; to work as someone is treballar de
- How do you say “to eat” in Valencian?
Both to eat and to have lunch: mengem a les dos? — lunch at two? Before e the j turns into g: mengem, mengeu. The noun for food is the same word
- How do you say “there is (there are)” in Valencian?
Impersonal: it never changes for person or number — hi ha un cafè, hi ha dos cafès. The same word lives in no hi ha de què — don't mention it
- How do you say “to speak” in Valencian?
To speak and to talk. I speak is parle, through e: the Valencian hallmark instead of the central parlo. Saying something concrete is dir: diu que sí
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 be (by essence)” in Valencian?
«soc». In a live sentence: “Sóc de Rússia” — I'm from Russia. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Verb, level A0, from the set “verbs”.
Why does this word look the way it does?
The I-form of ésser — to be by essence: origin, profession, character. For states and places there is the second link, estar: estic bé, estic a casa. 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.