Day 24 of 46 · 23 days to departure (July 1)
Today's phrases
English ES — Spanish CA — Catalan PT — Portuguese
I have a reservation under Zorc. Tengo una reserva a nombre de Zorc.
TEN-goh · OO-nah reh-SEHR-bah · ah NOM-breh deh
Tinc una reserva a nom de Zorc.
teenk · OO-nuh reh-ZEHR-vuh · ah nom duh
Tenho uma reserva em nome de Zorc.
TEH-nyoo · OO-muh reh-ZEHR-vuh · eng NOH-muh duh
What time do we have to check out? ¿A qué hora hay que dejar la habitación?
ah keh OH-rah · eye keh deh-HAR · lah ah-bee-tah-see-ON
A quina hora s'ha de deixar l'habitació?
ah KEE-nuh OH-ruh · sah deh day-SHAR · lah-bee-tah-see-OH
A que horas temos de fazer o check-out?
ah keh OH-rahsh · TEH-moosh deh fah-ZEHR · oo check-out
Is breakfast included? ¿El desayuno está incluido?
el deh-sah-YOO-noh · eh-STAH een-kloo-EE-doh
L'esmorzar està inclòs?
les-moor-ZAR · eh-STAH een-KLOZ
O pequeno-almoço está incluído?
oo peh-KEH-noo al-MOH-soo · shtah een-kloo-EE-doo
Could I have a quieter room? ¿Podría darme una habitación más tranquila?
poh-DREE-ah DAR-meh · OO-nah ah-bee-tah-see-ON · mahs trahn-KEE-lah
Em podria donar una habitació més tranquil·la?
em poo-DREE-uh doo-NAR · OO-nuh ah-bee-tah-see-OH · mes trahn-KEE-luh
Podia dar-me um quarto mais sossegado?
poo-DEE-ah DAR-muh · oong KWAR-too · mighsh soo-suh-GAH-doo
Can you store my luggage until check-in? ¿Pueden guardarme las maletas hasta la entrada?
PWEH-den gwar-DAR-meh · lahs mah-LEH-tahs · AHS-tah lah en-TRAH-dah
Em poden guardar les maletes fins a l'entrada?
em POH-den gwar-DAR · les mah-LEH-tes · feenz ah len-TRAH-duh
Podem guardar-me as malas até ao check-in?
POH-deng gwar-DAR-muh · ahzh MAH-lahsh · ah-TEH ow check-in
Does the room have air conditioning? ¿La habitación tiene aire acondicionado?
lah ah-bee-tah-see-ON · tee-EH-neh · EYE-reh ah-kon-dee-see-oh-NAH-doh
L'habitació té aire condicionat?
lah-bee-tah-see-OH · teh · EYE-reh kon-dee-see-oo-NAT
O quarto tem ar condicionado?
oo KWAR-too · teng · ar kon-dee-see-oo-NAH-doo
Key vocabulary from today
reception desk
ESla recepción · reh-thep-see-ON
CAla recepció · reh-sep-see-OH
PTa receção · reh-seh-SOW
key card
ESla tarjeta · tar-HEH-tah
CAla targeta · tar-JEH-tuh
PTo cartão · kar-TOW
room
ESla habitación · ah-bee-tah-see-ON
CAl'habitació · lah-bee-tah-see-OH
PTo quarto · KWAR-too
lift / elevator
ESel ascensor · ah-sen-SOR
CAl'ascensor · lah-sen-SOR
PTo elevador · eh-leh-vah-DOR
floor (storey)
ESla planta · PLAN-tah
CAla planta · PLAN-tuh
PTo andar · ahn-DAR
luggage
ESel equipaje · eh-kee-PAH-heh
CAl'equipatge · leh-kee-PAT-juh
PTa bagagem · bah-GAH-zheng
The passport-and-tax ritual nobody warns you about

Spain (Madrid): every hotel is legally required to register you with the police at check-in — they'll photograph or scan your passport for the parte de viajero. It's routine, not suspicion; hand it over without worry.

Catalonia (Barcelona): same passport registration, plus a city tourist tax (taxa turística) of a few euros per night that is usually not in your booking price — you settle it at checkout.

Portugal (Lisbon): Lisbon levies a municipal tax (taxa municipal turística, ~€4/night) collected at check-in or checkout; smaller guesthouses often prefer it in cash.

Rule for the trip: always have your physical passport out for check-in, and keep €15–20 in cash on arrival for the city tourist tax — it's charged in all three cities and rarely prepaid.

Why 'room' and 'breakfast' split three ways

habitación / habitació vs quarto. ES and CA both descend from Latin habitationem ('a dwelling'), so they stay near-identical. PT went its own way: quarto comes from Latin quartus, 'fourth' — a room being literally one quarter of a divided space. Same idea, two unrelated Latin roots.

desayuno / esmorzar / pequeno-almoço. Three completely different words for breakfast. ES desayuno = des- (undo) + ayuno (fast), 'to break the fast'; CA esmorzar traces to Latin admordere, 'to bite into'; PT pequeno-almoço is just 'small lunch.' The clearest case this week of three languages coining the same meal independently.

más / més / mais. All three 'more' words come from Latin magis. Watch the vowel walk: ES keeps the open -a- (más), CA raises it toward a closed e (més), and PT diphthongizes it to -ai- (mais) — one Latin word, three predictable sound shifts.

Bonus — reserva is a clean three-way cognate (Latin reservare, 'to keep back'). Travel-and-commerce vocabulary tends to stay uniform across the three; it's the everyday domestic words like 'breakfast' that fracture.

Mark what's sticky vs. slippery

Tap to mark. State persists to localStorage. (Server-side persistence and SRS resurfacing will land via the C3 SRS skill in Sprint 4.)

Tengo una reserva
I have a reservation
¿Desayuno incluido?
Breakfast included?
¿A qué hora dejar la habitación?
What time is checkout?
Habitación más tranquila
A quieter room
¿Aire acondicionado?
Air conditioning?