{"id":84670,"date":"2021-03-30T10:02:12","date_gmt":"2021-03-30T08:02:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/?p=84670"},"modified":"2021-03-30T10:15:28","modified_gmt":"2021-03-30T08:15:28","slug":"difference-spanish-catalan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/difference-spanish-catalan\/","title":{"rendered":"What is the Difference Between Spanish and Catalan?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Whether it\u2019s a short break or a long stay, it\u2019s a good idea to try and pick up a bit of the local <strong>language<\/strong> wherever you are going. Even if it\u2019s just &#8220;please&#8221; and &#8220;thank you&#8221;, a little goes a long way.<\/p>\n<div id=\"metaslider-id-104522\" style=\"max-width: 850px; margin: 0 auto;\" class=\"ml-slider-3-20-3 metaslider metaslider-responsive metaslider-104522 ml-slider\">\n    <div id=\"metaslider_container_104522\">\n        <ul id='metaslider_104522' class='rslides'>\n            <li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/\" target=\"_self\"><img width=\"850\" height=\"182\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/en-1.jpg\" class=\"slider-104522 slide-104523\" alt=\"rental apartments in Barcelona\" rel=\"\" title=\"Banner medio home inquilinos\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n        <\/ul>\n        \n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">A long term move, however, does require more serious thought into <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.caminobarcelona.com\/?utm_source=shbarcelona&amp;utm_medium=article&amp;utm_campaign=differences\" target=\"_blank\">learning the language of your new home<\/a><\/strong>. Coming to Barcelona, or anywhere in Catalonia provides an extra complication; which language do you choose?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/spain-catalonia\/\"><strong>Spanish or Catalan<\/strong>?<\/a> Is one more spoken that the other? Is one easier to learn? If you learn one, will it be easier to learn the other? How similar are they? Let\u2019s take a look.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_17 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-grey\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class=\"ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1\"><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/difference-spanish-catalan\/#What_you_need_to_know_about_the_Catalan_language\" title=\"What you need to know about the Catalan language\">What you need to know about the Catalan language<\/a><ul class=\"ez-toc-list-level-3\"><li class=\"ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/difference-spanish-catalan\/#Similarities_between_Spanish_and_Catalan\" title=\"Similarities between Spanish and Catalan\">Similarities between Spanish and Catalan<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/difference-spanish-catalan\/#Mutually_intelligible_languages\" title=\"Mutually intelligible languages?\">Mutually intelligible languages?<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/difference-spanish-catalan\/#Differences_Catalan_vs_Spanish\" title=\"Differences: Catalan vs Spanish&nbsp;\">Differences: Catalan vs Spanish&nbsp;<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/difference-spanish-catalan\/#Examples_-_what_is_Catalan\" title=\"Examples &#8211; what is Catalan?\">Examples &#8211; what is Catalan?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/difference-spanish-catalan\/#In_what_areas_of_Spain_is_the_Catalan_language_spoken\" title=\"In what areas of Spain is the Catalan language spoken?\">In what areas of Spain is the Catalan language spoken?<\/a><ul class=\"ez-toc-list-level-3\"><li class=\"ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/difference-spanish-catalan\/#What_other_languages_are_spoken_in_Spain\" title=\"What other languages are spoken in Spain?\">What other languages are spoken in Spain?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_you_need_to_know_about_the_Catalan_language\"><\/span>What you need to know about the Catalan language<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Similarities_between_Spanish_and_Catalan\"><\/span>Similarities between Spanish and Catalan<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Spanish and Catalan<\/strong> are both <strong>Romance languages<\/strong>. This means that, as is the case across the linguistic group, the two <strong>languages<\/strong> share many similarities.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_105685\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-105685\" class=\"size-full wp-image-105685\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/grammar-389907_640.jpg\" alt=\"grammar\" width=\"640\" height=\"423\"><p id=\"caption-attachment-105685\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Photo via Pixabay<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Spanish and Catalan<\/strong> <strong>grammar <\/strong>share many features:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">both <strong>languages<\/strong> are highly inflected (the verb is changed according to grammatical categories such as tense, person, gender, number, etc.)<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">in each language nouns have two genders (male and female)<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">two numbers (singular and plural); the pronouns of each language also use a neuter gender<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Beyond common grammatical elements, the two languages have a lexical similarity of 85%, meaning that there is considerable overlap between vocabularies.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a class=\"fasc-button fasc-size-large fasc-type-flat fasc-rounded-medium ico-fa fasc-ico-before fa-chevron-circle-right broken_link\" style=\"background-color: #850909; color: #ffffff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/long-term-rental\" rel=\"nofollow\">Looking for a monthly rental?<\/a><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Mutually_intelligible_languages\"><\/span>Mutually intelligible languages?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In the bustling metropolis of <strong>Barcelona,<\/strong> the <strong>languages<\/strong> live side by side as <strong>co-official languages.<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Here, it\u2019s unlikely you\u2019ll find anyone who speaks only <strong>Catalan<\/strong> and it\u2019s common to see two people conversing with one speaking <strong>Spanish<\/strong> and the other <strong>Catalan,<\/strong> with no problems of comprehension.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">We know that the grammar and vocabulary are similar: ipso facto <strong>Spanish<\/strong> and <strong>Catalan<\/strong> are mutually intelligible, right?&nbsp;It\u2019s not quite that simple. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/catalonia\/\"><strong>The further you travel from Barcelona<\/strong><\/a>, the harder it will be to find people who speak both languages.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_9435\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9435\" class=\"wp-image-9435\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/catalan-flag-1024x678.jpg\" alt=\"Catalan flag\" width=\"640\" height=\"424\"><p id=\"caption-attachment-9435\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Photo via Pixabay<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Though most <strong>Catalans<\/strong> probably know <strong>Spanish,<\/strong> it may be in the way that they once learned a <strong>language<\/strong> in school but they never used it after they left. Classes are taught in <strong>Catalan<\/strong>; <strong>Spanish<\/strong> is learned as a subject.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Many <strong>Spanish speakers<\/strong> from the rest of Spain or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/latin-supermarkets-in-barcelona\/\"><strong>Latin America<\/strong><\/a> coming to the region say they can\u2019t understand the <strong>language<\/strong> before you\u2019ve spent some time around it or made an effort to learn it.&nbsp;So, in fact, the two may not be as similar as it first appears.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">While they are both <strong>Romance Languages<\/strong>, this is quite a broad umbrella term which includes French, Italian, and Portuguese.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Linguists disagree on whether <strong>Catalan<\/strong> should be categorized as<strong> Iberian Romance Language<\/strong>, like Spanish; Gallo-Romance, or Occitan Romance, and in fact, many people say that <strong>Spanish<\/strong> is much more similar to Portuguese than to <strong>Catalan<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Related article: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/catalan-language\/\">An introduction to the Catalan language<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Differences_Catalan_vs_Spanish\"><\/span>Differences: Catalan vs Spanish&nbsp;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">A few key <strong>differences between Catalan and Spanish<\/strong> for keen linguists;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_84711\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-84711\" class=\"wp-image-84711\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/books-690219_960_720.jpg\" alt=\"books on table\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\"><p id=\"caption-attachment-84711\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Photo via Pixabay<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Written Spanish<\/strong> is entirely phonetic, each letter you read has a sound. <strong>Catalan<\/strong> (like English), is not.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Spanish<\/strong> has five <strong>vowel sounds<\/strong>.&nbsp;<strong>Catalan<\/strong> has eight which&nbsp;may be open, closed or neutral, depending on if they are stressed, unstressed or neutral.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Catalan<\/strong> uses consonant clusters whereas <strong>Spanish<\/strong> requires a <strong>vowel sound<\/strong> between consonant sounds (most of the time).<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">Catalan uses linkage. <strong>Pronunciation<\/strong> of a word depending on what comes after it<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Catalan<\/strong> uses voiced and unvoiced vowels.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Catalan<\/strong> shares the Portuguese L, Spanish does not.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div id=\"attachment_105686\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-105686\" class=\"size-full wp-image-105686\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/libro-6041241_640.jpg\" alt=\"spanish book\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\"><p id=\"caption-attachment-105686\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Photo via Pixabay<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Examples_-_what_is_Catalan\"><\/span>Examples &#8211; what is Catalan?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"101\"><strong>English<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"94\"><strong>Spanish<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"88\"><strong>Catalan<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"101\">house<\/td>\n<td width=\"94\">casa<\/td>\n<td width=\"88\">casa<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"101\">brother<\/td>\n<td width=\"94\">hermano<\/td>\n<td width=\"88\">german<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"101\">To go<\/td>\n<td width=\"94\">Voy<\/td>\n<td width=\"88\">anar<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"101\">I went<\/td>\n<td width=\"94\">Fui<\/td>\n<td width=\"88\">Vaig anar<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Related article: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/a-taste-of-catalan\/\">A taste of Catalan<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: left;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"In_what_areas_of_Spain_is_the_Catalan_language_spoken\"><\/span>In what areas of Spain is the Catalan language spoken?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Where is Catalan spoken<\/strong>? Well, beyond Catalonia, <strong>Catalan <\/strong>is spoken, and holds official status, in the Balearic Islands, and Valencia (as a distinct variant known as Valencian).<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">It is spoken but without holding official status in Aragon (La Franja), and Murcia (Carche). It is also spoken in southern France, Sardinia, and it is the<strong> official language<\/strong> of Andorra.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a class=\"fasc-button fasc-size-large fasc-type-flat fasc-rounded-medium ico-fa fasc-ico-before fa-chevron-circle-right broken_link\" style=\"background-color: #850909; color: #ffffff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/yearly-rental\" rel=\"nofollow\">Move to Barcelona permanently<\/a><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_other_languages_are_spoken_in_Spain\"><\/span>What other languages are spoken in Spain?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">While <strong>Spanish<\/strong> (or Castilian) is the <strong>official national language<\/strong> of Spain, there are four <strong>co-official languages<\/strong>, and numerous non-official <strong>languages and dialects<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_84686\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-84686\" class=\"wp-image-84686\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/spain-63135_1920-1024x830.jpg\" alt=\"map of spain and portugal\" width=\"640\" height=\"519\"><p id=\"caption-attachment-84686\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Photo via Pixabay<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Catalan<\/strong> is one of these four, the other three being:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">Aranese, co-official in Catalonia, spoken mainly in the Pyrenean county of the Aran Valley in north western Catalonia<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">Basque, spoken in the Basque Country and northern Navarre (this is the only non-Romance language spoken in Spain)<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">Galician, which is spoken in Galicia, and without official recognition in western parts of Asturias and Castille and Leon<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Minority, non-official <strong>languages<\/strong> spoken in Spain are Aragonese, spoken in Aragon; Asturian, spoken in Asturias; and Leonese, spoken in Castille and Leon.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Aside from this wealth of languages, a number of dialects can be found in Spain including Andalusian, and Canarian.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>What do you think of the differences between Catalan and Spanish?<br \/>\nShare your thoughts!<\/strong><\/p>\n<div style=\"display: none;\"\n    class=\"kk-star-ratings kksr-valign-bottom kksr-align-left \"\n    data-id=\"84670\"\n    data-slug=\"\">\n    <div class=\"kksr-stars\">\n    <div class=\"kksr-stars-inactive\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"1\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"2\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"3\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"4\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\" data-star=\"5\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    <div class=\"kksr-stars-active\" style=\"width: 140px;\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n            <div class=\"kksr-star\">\n            <div class=\"kksr-icon\" style=\"width: 25px; height: 25px;\"><\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n    <div class=\"kksr-legend\">\n            <strong class=\"kksr-score\">4.8<\/strong>\n        <span class=\"kksr-muted\">\/<\/span>\n        <strong>5<\/strong>\n        <span class=\"kksr-muted\">(<\/span>\n        <strong class=\"kksr-count\">72<\/strong>\n        <span class=\"kksr-muted\">\n            votes        <\/span>\n        <span class=\"kksr-muted\">)<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Whether it\u2019s a short break or a long stay, it\u2019s a good idea to try and pick up a bit of the local language wherever you are going. Even if it\u2019s just &#8220;please&#8221; and &#8220;thank you&#8221;, a little goes a long way. &nbsp; A long term move, however, does require more serious thought into learning [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":115,"featured_media":84712,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4599],"tags":[7039,4230,7037,7038,7041,7036,3449,7040],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84670"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/115"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84670"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84670\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":109594,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84670\/revisions\/109594"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/84712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shbarcelona.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}