Catalan C2: Spanish loans to avoid · Phrases

Catalan speakers live surrounded by Spanish, and some Spanish words slip in. Careful Catalan avoids them. Not bueno but bé or bo; not vale but d’acord; not pues but doncs; not tenir que but haver de; not antes but abans; not sobre todo but sobretot; not después but després; not tonteria but bestiesa or ximpleria. They are very common in speech, but marked as mistakes in writing and exams.

• d’acord — OK (not vale)
• doncs — so, well (not pues)
• haver de — to have to (not tenir que)
• abans — before (not antes)
• després — after, later (not después)
• bé — well, fine (not bueno)
• ximpleria — silly thing (not tonteria)
• sobretot — above all

• Doncs no ho sabia. — Well, I didn’t know.
• Ho hem de fer abans de dilluns. — We have to do it before Monday.
• D’acord, ens veiem després. — OK, see you later.
• Sobretot, no t’oblidis les claus. — Above all, don’t forget the keys.