Catalan words 1–300: the “First words” band
The 300 most frequent words in Catalan are the backbone of the language. They include the most common articles, pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, and a core set of everyday verbs and nouns — the words that appear on nearly every page of every text you will ever read. Recognising them instantly means your brain has less work to do every time you open a book, a news article, or a subtitled film.
Beeblio ranks every Catalan word by its frequency in the wordfreq corpus and groups them into bands. The First Words band covers ranks 1–300. Texts pinned to this band are chosen or filtered so that the vast majority of their vocabulary sits within those 300 words, giving you reading practice that is genuinely within reach rather than aspirationally hard.
If you are a complete beginner, this is where to start. If you are returning after a break, a session here will rebuild your reading fluency faster than reviewing flashcard lists. Tap any highlighted word while reading to see its rank, its translation, and which band it belongs to.
300 Catalan words ranked 1–300 by frequency — the “First words” band. A learner who knows them can read texts pinned to this band with about 95% of the words already familiar.
- de
- la
- a
- i
- que
- el
- l
- d
- en
- per
- del
- un
- les
- els
- una
- no
- amb
- va
- és
- al
- es
- ha
- com
- més
- dels
- s
- hi
- o
- ser
- aquest
- si
- però
- tot
- fer
- seu
- aquesta
- molt
- als
- ja
- ho
- van
- seva
- també
- ens
- han
- són
- se
- cap
- anys
- això
- estat
- sobre
- quan
- ara
- entre
- fa
- fins
- on
- què
- era
- pel
- perquè
- tots
- des
- després
- està
- dia
- fet
- altres
- gran
- m
- només
- persones
- sense
- pot
- té
- any
- encara
- part
- seus
- hem
- li
- gent
- havia
- dos
- em
- així
- dir
- durant
- t
- qui
- ni
- contra
- veure
- us
- gràcies
- lloc
- jo
- 1
- tant
- primer
- temps
- he
- mateix
- cada
- catalunya
- barcelona
- manera
- món
- vaig
- govern
- pels
- bé
- ciutat
- millor
- sempre
- aquests
- vida
- 2
- nou
- seves
- tenir
- tan
- tres
- nostra
- aquí
- país
- abans
- diu
- et
- nostre
- passat
- segons
- casa
- haver
- nova
- res
- sant
- 3
- estan
- n
- nostres
- qual
- uns
- aquestes
- història
- poder
- dies
- dones
- primera
- altre
- avui
- donar
- grup
- mai
- totes
- bona
- cosa
- tenim
- tota
- anar
- cas
- altra
- dues
- forma
- lo
- partit
- sí
- tenen
- meu
- moment
- poden
- molts
- nosaltres
- president
- 4
- bon
- mort
- serà
- vol
- cal
- davant
- guerra
- poble
- sigui
- tenia
- alguns
- cop
- qualsevol
- som
- suport
- ben
- coses
- ells
- mentre
- nit
- nom
- nos
- punt
- sembla
- català
- dins
- família
- hora
- informació
- projecte
- tu
- vegada
- 5
- espanya
- feina
- moltes
- homes
- acord
- los
- me
- política
- sota
- estar
- fent
- tal
- arribar
- dona
- estem
- final
- poc
- te
- menys
- tothom
- trobar
- vam
- web
- centre
- dades
- equip
- hauria
- mes
- nord
- podem
- posar
- algunes
- començar
- escola
- general
- clar
- ell
- meva
- parlar
- setmana
- fan
- nacional
- social
- unes
- grans
- març
- pas
- tipus
- 6
- estic
- important
- potser
- treball
- doncs
- fora
- hores
- ningú
- programa
- quatre
- setembre
- the
- aigua
- banda
- carrer
- crec
- diferents
- dret
- estava
- internacional
- públic
- quina
- rei
- sistema
- tinc
- cultura
- llengua
- mateixa
- algú
- força
- llibertat
- octubre
- partir
- passar
- problema
- quals
- terra
- través
- vegades
- 7
- 8
- catalana
Other bands
Getting by (800) · Everyday (1,500) · Confident (3,000) · Fluent reader (5,000) · Advanced (8,000) · Near-native (12,000)
Read at this level
Graded Catalan readings for the First words band — every text stays inside these words plus a few new ones.
Questions
How much of a real Catalan text will I understand if I only know these 300 words?
The 300 most frequent words will not cover 80% of everyday text on their own — that threshold sits closer to the 1,500-word mark. However, these words make up the grammatical glue of almost every sentence, so knowing them well means you can already follow the skeleton of what is being said and fill in gaps from context.
What counts as 'knowing' a word at this band?
For reading purposes, knowing a word means you recognise it and understand its meaning without pausing — no looking it up, no sounding it out slowly. Beeblio considers a word known at a band when you can read it in context smoothly, which is different from being able to produce it yourself in speech or writing.
Are the texts in this band too easy to be useful?
Not if you are genuinely a beginner or an early learner. Reading texts where almost every word is familiar lets you focus on sentence rhythm, word order, and how Catalan phrases ideas — skills that disappear when you are constantly stopping to look things up. Think of it as building reading stamina rather than practising vocabulary firefighting.