eee ACH YOURSELE SMPTE i ms eneTEACH YOURSELF BOOKS CATALAN Alan Yates MA., PhD. te NTC Publishing Group LLong-renowned as the authoritative source for self-guided earning — with more than 30 million copies sold worldwide ~ the Teach Yourself series includes over 200 titles in the fields of languages, crafts, hobbies, sports, and other leisure activities This edition was first published in 1993 by NTC Publishing Group, 4255 West Touhy Avenue, Lincolnwood (Chicago), Illinois 60646 ~ 1975 U.S.A. Originally published by Hodder and Stoughton Ltd. Copyright 1975 by Alan Yates Alll rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise, without prior permission of NTC Publishing Group. Library of Congress Catalog Number: 92-82576 Printed in England by Clays Ltd, St Ives ple.Contents Preface Linguistic map of Catalan Introduction Pronunciation: The alphabet, The vowels, Principles of accentuation (Syllabification, Word stress), The consonants, Word liaison, Pronunciation and reading practice, Punctuation Lesson 1 The noun and definite article, The indefinite article, Plurals, Uses of the definite article, Omission of the indefinite article, The verb ésser, Interrogation, Vocabulary, Exercises Lesson 2 Contractions, Uses of de, More plurals, Days of the week, Use of plural nouns, Translating some and any, The verb tenir, Negation, Vocabulary, Exercises Lesson 3 Verb conjugations and the infinitive, The Present tense, The first conjugation, Polite forms, Vocabu- lary, Exercises Lesson 4 The second conjugation, The third conjugation, Reinforcing questions, Vocabulary, Exercises xi xiii 21 33 vi Contents Lesson 5 The adjective, Singular adjectives, Plural adjectives, Notes on the use of adjectives, Word order, The verb fer, Vocabulary, Exercises ‘Lesson 6 The imperfect tense, The verb dir, Use of the im- perfect tense, Idiomatic use of acabar, Another con- traction, Notes on the use of ja, Vocabulary, Exercises Lesson 7 Possessives, Use of the possessives, Possessive pro- nouns, The verbs poder and voler, Partitive de, Vocabulary, Exercises Lesson 8 The preterite tense: Periphrastic form, Imperfect and preterite, Definite article without a noun, Preposi- tions with de, Vocabulary, Exercises Lesson 9 The future tense, Use of the future tense, The con- ditional tense, Use of the verb valer, Probability and obligation, Vocabulary, Exercises ‘Lesson 10 Compound tenses (Perfect tense, Pluperfect tense, Future and conditional perfect tenses, Perfect in- finitive), Notes on the compound tenses, Perfect and preterite tenses, Vocabulary, Exercises 52 67 4 81 87