Introduction

• Catalan is the native language to some 6 million people in Eastern Spain and coofficial with Spanish in the autonomous regions of Catalonia (Catalunya), Valencia (Comunitat Valenciana) and the Balearic Islands (Illes Balears - including Mallorca)

• Catalan is derived from Latin, thus it's a Romance language like Spanish, Portuguese, Galician, French, Italian or Rumanian. So, if you know one of these you might find it easier to understand at least written Catalan. Very important information is usually displayed both in Catalan and in Spanish.

What you can read on the metro:

• Fora de servei - Out of order

• Sortida - Exit

• No entreu ni sortiu després que soni el senyal! - Don't get on or off after you hear the acoustic signal!

• Deixeu sortir! - Let people get off first!

• Conservi el seu bitllet fins a la sortida! - Keep your ticket until you leave the metro area!

• Viatjar sense bitllet és penalitzat amb una multa de 5000 Pts. - Travelling without a ticket will be fined with 5000 Pts.

• És perillós abocar-se. - It's dangerous to lean out.

• No subjecteu les portes. - Don't obstruct the doors.

What you might hear on the metro:

• Pròxima estació: Catalunya - Correspondència amb línia tres. --- Next stop: Catalunya - Transfer to line 3.

• Per causes tècniques alienes a l'empresa el servei d'aquesta línia queda interromput. - For technical reasons for which the company is not responsable, service on this line is interrupted.

• En aquests moments s'ha restablert el servei a la línia 1. - In this moment service has been re-established on line 1.

• Per causes tècniques, en algunes estacions d'aquesta línia el temps d'espera pot ser superior a l'habitual. --- Due to technical problems waiting time in some stations of this line might be longer than usual.

A quick guide to Catalan pronuciation

This is only a brief introduction to pronounce station names in a way locals can understand them if you ask for any direction:

Stress

• In Catalan words, like in Spanish, stress is usually on the last syllable, if the word ends in a consonant other than -s. If the word ends in a vowel or -s, the penultimate syllable is stressed. If you find an accent written on top of a vowel, then this syllable is stressed.

Spelling

• "ix" is pronounced sh (as in English push) > Feixa Llarga, Can Boixeres

• "ll" is spoken like 'lj' in English "will you" > Feixa Llarga, Urgell, Cornellà

• "h" is always mute > Horta, Vall d'Hebron

• "ig" and "tx" sound like 'tch' in English 'fetch' > Passeig (passetch) de Gràcia, Putxet

• "gui" and "gui": the 'u' is not pronounced (like English 'give' or 'get') > Guinardó

• "ç" and "ce/ci" is like 'ss' > Plaça del Centre, Entença, Liceu

• If you pronounce the rest as if it were English, erveyone will understand where you want to go! I hope they will!

• Back to Using the Metro

• Directly back to Welcome Page