Getting Attention and Addressing People

Getting someone's attention is a small social negotiation: you interrupt their current focus and ask them to recognize you. Catalan therefore offers more than one equivalent of English “excuse me.” Perdona or perdoni acknowledges the interruption, escolta or escolti explicitly asks for attention, and ei creates informal contact. The right choice depends on the relationship, the setting, and how urgent the interruption is.

Central Catalan provides the baseline here. The forms themselves are widespread, but frequency, intonation, titles, and expectations about directness vary across Catalan-speaking communities. A phrase that is grammatically correct can still feel distant, abrupt, affectionate, or impatient because communicative force comes from the whole turn.

A practical formality ladder

The first turn presupposes familiarity; using ei with an unknown official would normally be too casual. The second combines perdoni with the third-person agreement required by vostè. Review that agreement on the vostè page.

Perdona and perdoni: acknowledging the interruption

Perdona is the tu imperative of perdonar; perdoni is the form used with vostè. As attention-getters they are not full apologies for wrongdoing. They mean roughly “excuse the interruption.” Put one at the start, pause briefly, and then state the reason for approaching.

These openings do not guarantee politeness by themselves. Perdoni! with a sharp fall and no explanation can sound like a reprimand. With a gentle rise, eye contact, and a short pause, it invites the listener to turn toward you. If you actually caused harm, choose an apology scaled to the offence; apologizing explains the difference between perdó, ho sento, and em sap greu.

English “pardon?” also asks for repetition. Catalan can use perdó? with rising intonation in that function, but perdona/perdoni normally opens a fuller turn.

Escolta and escolti: directing attention to what follows

Escolta and escolti literally mean “listen,” yet they often function as discourse openers rather than commands to process sound. They announce that the next point matters. Among friends, escolta can introduce a favor, a change of topic, or a delicate question. Escolti maintains vostè agreement, but can feel more insistent than perdoni because it explicitly claims the listener's attention.

Compare a direct and a softened approach to a busy receptionist:

The softened turn does three things: it recognizes the interruption, respects the listener's timing with quan pugui, and frames the request as a question. Stacking more honorifics would not necessarily improve it. See making requests for the full mitigation ladder.

Ei, names, and titles

Ei is a highly useful informal attention signal. With a light rise it is friendly; repeated loudly, it signals urgency or protest. It should not be treated as a universal translation of English “hey,” whose uses range from affectionate greeting to angry challenge.

A first name can summon someone, soften a transition, or identify who should answer. A name at the beginning selects the addressee; in the middle it can add warmth or emphasis. Do not repeat the person's name in every turn: that pattern, common in some English customer-service scripts, may sound sales-like in Catalan.

Titles such as senyor, senyora, doctora, professor or an institutional role are useful where roles genuinely matter. Senyor/senyora + surname is formal. A bare senyora! can call an unknown woman, but tone is decisive and a neutral perdoni is often safer. Academic and workplace conventions vary: not every lecturer expects professor, and professional titles are not decorative honorifics.

The second example performs a natural repair: the speaker stops claiming the floor and returns it with Què deies? Repair is often more courteous than adding another formula while continuing to speak.

Formal and informal exchanges

An informal exchange can move quickly once contact is established:

In a formal exchange, allow the addressee to recognize you before launching into a long request:

Here digui'm is third-person singular, consistent with vostè and li. Learn more about the social choice itself under vostè and vós.

Regional and multilingual context

Across Central, Valencian, Balearic, Northwestern, Northern, and Alguerese Catalan, the forms on this page are understandable, but the normal distance between strangers differs. (regional: Valencian) disculpe is also a natural formal attention-getter, alongside perdone; the corresponding familiar forms are disculpa and perdona. In contact settings, speakers may also alternate Catalan formulas with Spanish, French, or Italian ones. That multilingual reality does not make a calque automatically idiomatic Catalan.

No single regional interactional style is “the Catalan way.” Observe local timing and prosody while maintaining correct person agreement.

Common Mistakes

Correction practice

Repair each turn by choosing one relationship frame.

1. A receptionist addressed as vostè: Perdona, tens la meva cita apuntada?
2. A close friend: Escolti, Júlia, em deixa el carregador?
3. A stranger you accidentally interrupt: Ei, necessito saber l'hora.

Possible repairs are Perdoni, té la meva cita apuntada?; Escolta, Júlia, em deixes el carregador?; and Perdoni, em podria dir quina hora és? The exact formula may vary, but person agreement and the social stance must stay coherent.

Key Takeaways

• Use perdona with tu and perdoni with vostè to acknowledge an interruption.
• Escolta/escolti directs attention more explicitly and can therefore sound firmer.
• Ei belongs mainly to informal contact or urgent warnings; intonation determines warmth or alarm.
• A title or name identifies the addressee, but piling it onto several courtesy formulas is not more polite.
• Repair a bad interruption by yielding the turn: Perdona, t'he interromput. Què deies?