| English | ES — Spanish | CA — Catalan | PT — Portuguese |
|---|---|---|---|
| We've just arrived — where do we pick up the keys? | Acabamos de llegar — ¿dónde recogemos las llaves? ah-kah-BAH-mohs deh yeh-GAR · DON-deh reh-koh-HEH-mohs lahs YAH-vehs |
Acabem d'arribar — on recollim les claus? uh-kuh-BEM duh-rree-BAR · on ruh-koo-YEEM luhs KLOWS |
Acabámos de chegar — onde levantamos as chaves? ah-kah-BAH-moosh deh shuh-GAR · ON-deh luh-vahn-TAH-moosh ush SHAH-vush |
| What's the wi-fi password? | ¿Cuál es la contraseña del wifi? kwahl ess lah kon-trah-SEH-nyah del WEE-fee |
Quina és la contrasenya del wifi? KEE-nuh ess luh kon-truh-SEH-nyuh duhl WEE-fee |
Qual é a palavra-passe do wi-fi? kwahl eh ah pah-LAH-vrah-PAHS-suh doo WEE-fee |
| How does the air conditioning work? | ¿Cómo funciona el aire acondicionado? KOH-moh foon-THYOH-nah el AH-ee-reh ah-kon-dee-thyoh-NAH-doh |
Com funciona l'aire condicionat? kom foon-see-OH-nuh LAH-ee-ruh kon-dee-see-oo-NAT |
Como funciona o ar condicionado? KOH-moo foon-see-OH-nah oo AR kon-dee-see-oo-NAH-doo |
| Is there a washing machine we can use? | ¿Hay lavadora que podamos usar? eye lah-vah-DOH-rah keh poh-DAH-mohs oo-SAR |
Hi ha rentadora que puguem fer servir? ee AH ren-tuh-DOH-ruh keh poo-GEM fehr sehr-VEER |
Há máquina de lavar que possamos usar? ah MAH-kee-nah deh lah-VAR keh poo-SAH-moosh oo-ZAR |
| What time is checkout, and where do we leave the keys? | ¿A qué hora es la salida y dónde dejamos las llaves? ah keh OH-rah ess lah sah-LEE-dah · ee DON-deh deh-HAH-mohs lahs YAH-vehs |
A quina hora és la sortida i on deixem les claus? ah KEE-nuh OH-ruh ess luh soor-TEE-duh · ee on duh-SHEM luhs KLOWS |
A que horas é o checkout e onde deixamos as chaves? ah keh OH-rush eh oo check-out · ee ON-deh day-SHAH-moosh ush SHAH-vush |
| The hot water isn't working — could you take a look? | El agua caliente no funciona — ¿puede echarle un vistazo? el AH-gwah kah-LYEN-teh noh foon-THYOH-nah · PWEH-deh eh-CHAR-leh oon vees-TAH-thoh |
L'aigua calenta no funciona — pot fer-hi una ullada? LAH-ee-gwuh kuh-LEN-tuh noh foon-see-OH-nuh · pot FEHR-ee OO-nuh oo-YAH-duh |
A água quente não funciona — pode dar uma vista de olhos? ah AH-gwah KEN-tuh now foon-see-OH-nah · POH-deh dar OO-mah VEESH-tah deh OH-lyoosh |
In Spain, legitimate short-term rentals display a tourist-license code on the listing (formats vary by region, e.g. VUT-xxxx in Madrid). Hosts very often prefer to meet you in person with the keys rather than use a lockbox — expect a WhatsApp message asking for your arrival time, and reply with a real time, not a range.
In Barcelona, the license is called an HUT (Habitatge d'Ús Turístic) and the city has stopped issuing new ones — a listing with no HUT number in the description is operating illegally, and complaints from neighbors are common. Quiet hours (descans nocturn, roughly 10pm–8am) are taken seriously in apartment blocks: suitcase wheels on tile at midnight is the classic tourist offense.
In Portugal, look for the AL (Alojamento Local) registration number — it's legally required on every listing and usually posted on a plaque by the front door. Lisbon checkouts tend to be strict (cleaners are booked back-to-back), so the 11am in the house rules really means 11am.
Rule for the trip: before booking, confirm the listing shows its license code (HUT in Barcelona, VUT in Madrid, AL in Portugal) — and message the host in their own language; replies come faster and the relationship starts warm.
Today's anchor word is the key itself. Latin clāvem split three ways along each language's signature treatment of the cl- cluster: Spanish palatalized it to ll- (llave), Portuguese turned it into the ch- sound written 'ch' but pronounced 'sh' (chave), and Catalan — the conservative middle child — kept the Latin cluster intact (clau). The same three-way split repeats all over the lexicon: clamāre → ES llamar, CA clamar, PT chamar. Spot the pattern once and you can decode dozens of words on sight.
The washing machine shows a lexical split rather than a sound shift: Spanish lavadora and Portuguese máquina de lavar both build on Latin lavāre ('to wash'), but everyday Catalan prefers rentar (from Latin recentāre, 'to rinse, to freshen') — so the machine is a rentadora. Same appliance, different Latin verb surviving in daily speech.
And the password: Spanish contraseña and Catalan contrasenya are the same word — Latin contra + signa, the military 'counter-sign' a sentry demanded at the gate. European Portuguese has the cognate (contrassenha) but it sounds bureaucratic; daily speech uses palavra-passe, a calque of 'pass-word'. Asking for a senha works too, but that's the word Brazilians lead with — palavra-passe marks you as Lisbon-calibrated.
Tap to mark. State persists to localStorage. (Server-side persistence and SRS resurfacing will land via the C3 SRS skill in Sprint 4.)