Language Lesson · Thu 06/04 · Lost

Today's dialogue

	ES — Spanish	CA — Catalan	PT — Portuguese
1	You Perdone, me he perdido. ¿Me puede ayudar? pehr-DOH-neh · meh eh pehr-DEE-doh · meh PWEH-deh ah-yoo-DAR Excuse me, I'm lost. Can you help me?	You Perdoni, m'he perdut. Que em pot ajudar? pehr-DOH-nee · meh pehr-DOOT · keh uhm pot ah-zhoo-DAH Excuse me, I'm lost. Can you help me?	You Desculpe, estou perdido. Pode ajudar-me? dush-KOOL-puh · shtoh pehr-DEE-doo · POH-duh ah-zhoo-DAR-muh Excuse me, I'm lost. Can you help me?
	Passerby Claro. ¿Adónde quiere ir? KLAH-roh · ah-DOHN-deh KYEH-reh eer Of course. Where do you want to go?	Passerby És clar. On vol anar? ehs KLAR · on vol ah-NAH Of course. Where do you want to go?	Passerby Com certeza. Aonde quer ir? kong sehr-TEH-zah · ah-ON-duh kehr eer Of course. Where do you want to go?
2	You Busco la catedral. ¿Está lejos? BOOS-koh lah kah-teh-DRAL · ehs-TAH LEH-hohs I'm looking for the cathedral. Is it far?	You Busco la catedral. És lluny? BOOS-koo lah kuh-tuh-DRAL · ehs LYOON-y I'm looking for the cathedral. Is it far?	You Procuro a catedral. É longe? proh-KOO-roo ah kah-tuh-DRAL · eh LON-zhuh I'm looking for the cathedral. Is it far?
	Passerby No, está a cinco minutos a pie. noh · ehs-TAH ah SEEN-koh mee-NOO-tohs ah PYEH No, it's five minutes on foot.	Passerby No, és a cinc minuts a peu. noh · ehs ah seenk mee-NOOTS ah PEH-oo No, it's five minutes on foot.	Passerby Não, fica a cinco minutos a pé. nowng · FEE-kah ah SEEN-koo mee-NOO-toosh ah PEH No, it's five minutes on foot.
3	You ¿Cómo llego hasta allí? KOH-moh YEH-goh AHS-tah ah-YEE How do I get there?	You Com hi arribo? kom ee ah-REE-boo How do I get there?	You Como chego lá? KOH-moo SHEH-goo lah How do I get there?
	Passerby Siga recto y gire a la derecha en la plaza. SEE-gah REHK-toh · ee HEE-reh ah lah deh-REH-chah en lah PLAH-thah Go straight and turn right at the square.	Passerby Vagi tot recte i giri a la dreta a la plaça. VAH-zhee tot REHK-tuh · ee ZHEE-ree ah lah DREH-tuh ah lah PLAH-suh Go straight and turn right at the square.	Passerby Siga em frente e vire à direita na praça. SEE-gah eng FREN-tuh · ee VEE-ruh ah dee-RAY-tah nah PRAH-sah Go straight and turn right at the square.
4	You Perdone, ¿puede repetir más despacio? pehr-DOH-neh · PWEH-deh reh-peh-TEER mahs dehs-PAH-thyoh Sorry, can you repeat that more slowly?	You Perdoni, que ho pot repetir més a poc a poc? pehr-DOH-nee · keh oo pot reh-peh-TEE mehs ah pok ah POK Sorry, can you repeat that more slowly?	You Desculpe, pode repetir mais devagar? dush-KOOL-puh · POH-duh reh-peh-TEER maish duh-vah-GAR Sorry, can you repeat that more slowly?
	Passerby Todo recto, luego a la derecha. No tiene pérdida. TOH-doh REHK-toh · LWEH-goh ah lah deh-REH-chah · noh TYEH-neh PEHR-dee-dah Straight ahead, then right. You can't miss it.	Passerby Tot recte, després a la dreta. No té pèrdua. tot REHK-tuh · dehs-PREHS ah lah DREH-tuh · noh teh PEHR-doo-uh Straight ahead, then right. You can't miss it.	Passerby Sempre em frente, depois à direita. Não tem como errar. SEM-pruh eng FREN-tuh · duh-POYSH ah dee-RAY-tah · nowng teng KOH-moo eh-RAR Straight ahead, then right. You can't miss it.
5	You Muchas gracias. ¡Que tenga un buen día! MOO-chahs GRAH-thyahs · keh TEN-gah oon bwehn DEE-ah Thank you very much. Have a good day!	You Moltes gràcies. Que tingui un bon dia! MOL-tuhs GRAH-syuhs · keh TEEN-gee oon bon DEE-uh Thank you very much. Have a good day!	You Muito obrigado. Tenha um bom dia! MWEEN-too oh-bree-GAH-doo · TEH-nyah oong bong DEE-ah Thank you very much. Have a good day!
	Passerby De nada. ¡Buen viaje! deh NAH-dah · bwehn BYAH-heh You're welcome. Safe travels!	Passerby De res. Bon viatge! deh REHS · bon bee-AHT-juh You're welcome. Safe travels!	Passerby De nada. Boa viagem! duh NAH-dah · BOH-ah vee-AH-zhayng You're welcome. Safe travels!

Asking the way without sounding like a tourist

Spain: open with the formal perdone (not perdona) to a stranger — and don't be surprised if they walk you part of the way rather than just point. Spaniards often treat a lost visitor as a small personal project.

Barcelona: a Catalan opener (perdoni) earns real goodwill even if you switch to Spanish after. The Eixample is a numbered grid, so locals will give you block counts — dues illes més amunt (two blocks up) — rather than landmarks.

Lisbon: Lisboetas are famously helpful, but the city is steep and tram-cut. Fica a cinco minutos can mean five uphill minutes — follow up with é a subir? (is it uphill?) before you commit.

Rule for the trip: open formal, smile, and repeat the key direction-word back (¿a la derecha?) to confirm — it doubles as a free pronunciation check.

Three Latin roots, three sound laws

right ← Latin directus: ES derecha, CA dreta, PT direita are the same word fractured by the medial -ct- cluster. Castilian palatalizes it to -ch-, Catalan collapses it to -t-, and Portuguese vocalizes the c into an i-glide. One etymon, three diagnostic outcomes.

lost ← Latin perditus: ES perdido and PT perdido keep the full -ido ending; CA perdut drops the final Latin vowel and devoices the stop — the loss of final vowels is the single most reliable tell that you're looking at Catalan, not Spanish.

square ← Latin platea: ES plaza and CA plaça preserve the pl- cluster, but Portuguese systematically shifts initial pl- → pr- (hence praça, the same shift that turns pluvia into chuva). The ending splits too: ES -za (with the Castilian theta), CA and PT both land on -ça.

Bonus — on foot ← Latin pedem: ES diphthongizes the stressed e → ie (pie), while CA peu and PT pé keep the simple vowel — Castilian diphthongization is why so many ES words have an ie/ue where its cousins don't.