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Exam Review

Key Facts: PAU Catalan Language and Literature (Catalonia) Exam

Exam Administrator: Consell Interuniversitari de Catalunya (CIC) / Generalitat de Catalunya

Target Audience: 2n Batxillerat students in Catalonia taking the PAU university entrance exam

PAU access-phase fee (EUR 41.30 examination right + EUR 68.70 access phase; +EUR 13.80 per admission exercise, Generalitat de Catalunya 2026)

Exam Duration: 90 minutes

Passing Score: 0-10 scale (minimum 4.0 in Access Phase to average with Bachillerato GPA)

Practice Bank Size: 100 high-yield multiple-choice questions (English stem adaptation with Catalan linguistic & literary passages)

Catalonia PAU Catalan Language and Literature is a compulsory 90-minute Access Phase exam evaluating Catalan grammar, syntax, weak pronouns, pragmatics, sociolinguistics, and mandatory literary texts.

Sample PAU Catalan Language and Literature (Catalonia) Practice Questions

Try these sample questions to review concepts for the PAU Catalan Language and Literature (Catalonia) exam. Each question includes a detailed explanation. Start the interactive quiz above for the full 100+ question experience with AI tutoring.

1In Catalan sociolinguistics, what is the key distinction between normativització (codification) and normalització (normalization)?
A.Codification refers to establishing grammatical and orthographic rules, whereas normalization refers to restoring the language to normal social, administrative, and public use.
B.Codification refers to political legislation, whereas normalization refers strictly to dictionary publication.
C.Codification applies only to spoken dialects, whereas normalization applies exclusively to written literary texts.
D.Codification describes language loss across generations, whereas normalization describes dialectal fragmentation.
Explanation: Normativització involves establishing standard grammatical, orthographic, and lexical norms (such as Pompeu Fabra's codification), whereas normalització is the social process of extending the use of the language to all public, educational, administrative, and media spheres.
2How is diglossia (diglòssia) distinguished from individual bilingualism (bilingüisme) in sociolinguistic analysis?
A.Diglossia is a social situation where two languages have distinct functional distributions (high vs low status), whereas bilingualism is an individual's ability to speak two languages.
B.Diglossia is the ability to write in two scripts, whereas bilingualism is the coexistence of two regional accents.
C.Diglossia refers to official language policy in schools, whereas bilingualism refers to informal street slang.
D.Diglossia means speaking a language without an accent, whereas bilingualism means learning a foreign language in adulthood.
Explanation: Diglossia describes a societal phenomenon where two linguistic varieties coexist with institutionalized functional specialization (one used for formal/high functions, the other for informal/low functions), whereas bilingualism refers to an individual speaker's communicative competence in two languages.
3What primary phonetic criterion divides the Catalan language domain into two major dialectal blocks (Eastern and Western Catalan)?
A.The treatment of unstressed vowels, specifically whether unstressed /e, a/ and /o, u/ merge into neutral vowels or remain distinct.
B.The presence or absence of Latin root words in everyday vocabulary.
C.Whether speakers pronounce the letter 'h' with glottal friction.
D.The usage of Arabic loanwords in agricultural terminology.
Explanation: The fundamental division between Eastern Catalan (Bloc Oriental) and Western Catalan (Bloc Occidental) rests on the unstressed vocalic system: Eastern dialects neutralize unstressed /e, a/ into the neutral vowel [ə] and /o, u/ into [u], whereas Western dialects maintain phonetic distinction between unstressed /e/ and /a/ as well as /o/ and /u/.
4Which historical figure led the early 20th-century codification of modern Catalan orthography, grammar, and vocabulary for the Institut d'Estudis Catalans?
A.Pompeu Fabra
B.Joanot Martorell
C.Jacint Verdaguer
D.Ramon Llull
Explanation: Pompeu Fabra (1868–1948) was the grammarian who directed the standardization of modern Catalan, publishing the Normes ortogràfiques (1913), Gramàtica catalana (1918), and the Diccionari general de la llengua catalana (1932).
5What is meant by the sociolinguistic term 'domini lingüístic' in the context of Catalan?
A.The entire geographic territory where Catalan is historically and natively spoken across four European states.
B.The percentage of speakers who achieve native fluency in academic Catalan.
C.The political jurisdiction of the Generalitat de Catalunya over local media outlets.
D.The linguistic dominance of written prose over spoken theatrical dialogues.
Explanation: The 'domini lingüístic' (linguistic domain) denotes the geographical area where Catalan is natively spoken, encompassing Catalonia, Valencia, the Balearic Islands, Andorra, La Franja in Aragon, Northern Catalonia (Roussillon in France), and the city of L'Alguer in Sardinia (Italy).
6Which landmark legislation passed by the Parliament of Catalonia in 1983 established the legal framework for Catalan language immersion in schools and public administration?
A.Llei de Normalització Lingüística
B.Llei de Decrets de Nova Planta
C.Consell de Cent Edict
D.Tractat dels Pirineus
Explanation: The Llei de Normalització Lingüística of 1983 was a crucial law passed after the restoration of Spanish democracy, guaranteeing the recovery, official status, and educational integration of Catalan in Catalonia.
7Following the 2016 Institut d'Estudis Catalans (IEC) orthographic reform, how many diacritic accents (accents diacrítics) were retained in standard Catalan?
A.15
B.150
C.0
D.42
Explanation: The 2016 IEC orthographic reform reduced the list of diacritic accents from over 100 down to exactly 15 monosyllabic words (such as bé/be, déu/deu, és/es, mà/ma, més/mes, món/mon, pèl/pel, què/que, sòl/sol, són/son, ús/us, etc.).
8Which of the following feminine singular noun phrases correctly avoids an apostrophe according to standard Catalan orthographic rules?
A.la universitat
B.l'universitat
C.l'hora
D.l'escola
Explanation: The definite article 'la' does not apostrophize before feminine singular words beginning with an unstressed 'i' or 'u' (e.g., 'la universitat', 'la indústria', 'la una').
9What is the primary function of the diaeresis (dieresi: ¨) when placed over an 'i' or 'u' in Catalan orthography?
A.To indicate that the vowel does not form a diphthong with the preceding vowel, or that 'u' is pronounced after 'g' or 'q' before 'e' or 'i'.
B.To show that the syllable carries the main stress of the sentence.
C.To signal that the preceding consonant is pronounced twice.
D.To mark silent letters at the end of a word.
Explanation: The diaeresis breaks a potential diphthong (creating a hiatus, e.g., 'veïna', 'país') or indicates that 'u' is sounded in combinations like 'qüestió' or 'pingüí'.
10In Central Catalan vocalism, what happens to the unstressed vowels 'a' and 'e'?
A.They neutralize into the neutral vowel sound [ə] (vocal neutra).
B.They both shift to a closed [u] sound.
C.They are always silent in word-final position.
D.They lengthen into long double vowels.
Explanation: In Central (Eastern) Catalan, unstressed 'a' and 'e' undergo neutralization, converging into the neutral vowel sound [ə] ('vocal neutra').

About the PAU Catalan Language and Literature (Catalonia) Exam

The Catalonia PAU Catalan Language and Literature examination (Llengua Catalana i Literatura, 2n Batxillerat) evaluates high school graduates on Catalan grammar, morphosyntax, weak pronoun combinations, text typology, pragmatics, sociolinguistic concepts (normalization, diglossia, dialectology), and mandatory prescribed literary works.

Exam sponsor: Consell Interuniversitari de Catalunya (CIC) / Generalitat de Catalunya. The requirements and fees below concern the certification or admission exam, separate from our free practice resources.

Assessment

Official exam is four parts totaling 10 points: reading comprehension (2 pts), literary study (2 pts), linguistic reflection (3 pts), and written expression (3 pts). Under Decret 171/2022 the common Catalan language exam sets no mandatory prescribed readings; literary competence is assessed via fragments. Administered in Catalan; this bank is an English-language MCQ study adaptation.

Time Limit

90 minutes

Passing Score

Marked on a 0–10 scale. Minimum score of 4.0 required in the Access Phase (Fase General) to average with Bachillerato GPA (60% Bachillerato + 40% PAU >= 5.0).

Exam / Certification Fees

EUR 41.30 examination right + EUR 68.70 access phase + EUR 13.80 per admission-phase exercise (Generalitat de Catalunya, PAU 2026); 50% reduction and full exemption available for eligible groups

Exam sponsor website

Fees, eligibility, and exam policies can change. Confirm them with the exam sponsor before applying or paying.

Our practice resources: topics covered

We aim to reflect publicly available exam outlines and topic information in our study resources. Coverage, format, and difficulty may differ from the actual exam, and we cannot guarantee that every detail is accurate or current. Confirm exam requirements, fees, and policies with the official exam sponsor.

20%

Sociolinguistics & Dialectology

Catalan language history and normalization, sociolinguistic concepts (diglossia, bilingualism, normalization, normativization, language shift, domain), legal frameworks (Llei de Normalització Lingüística, Estatut d'Autonomia), and Catalan dialectology (Eastern variants: Central, Balearic, Northern, Alguerese; Western variants: North-Western, Valencian; phonetic, morphological, and lexical isoglosses).

20%

Phonetics & Orthography

Vocalic system (stressed/unstressed e/o, neutral vowel /ə/), vocalic phenomena (elision, synalepha, hiatus), consonantal processes (assimilation, silent consonants), orthographic accentuation and diacritics (IEC 2016 reform), diaeresis rules, apostrophe rules, and hyphenation.

20%

Morphosyntax & Grammar

Weak pronouns (pronoms febles: simple, substitution, and combinations like li ho, se me'n, la-hi, n'hi, order and placement), irregular verb morphology, verbal aspect and periphrases, preposition drop (caiguda de preposició) and preposition change (canvi de preposició) before 'que' and infinitives, relative pronouns, and nominal agreement.

20%

Text Typology & Pragmatics

Textual typologies (argumentative, expository, narrative, descriptive, directive), textual cohesion (connectors, anaphora, deixis), text coherence, modalization markers (subjectivity, interjections, register), speech acts, pragmatic implicatures, and registers (formal, informal, academic, literary).

20%

Prescribed Catalan Literature

In-depth analysis of mandatory 2n Batxillerat literary texts: Mercè Rodoreda's 'Mirall trencat' (themes, structure, symbolism, character network) and Joan Fuster's 'Diccionari per a ociosos' (essay genre, irony, humanism, thematic analysis), alongside broader Catalan movements (Modernisme, Noucentisme, Avant-garde, Post-war literature).

Preparing for the PAU Catalan Language and Literature (Catalonia) Exam

What You Need to Know

  • Passing score: Marked on a 0–10 scale. Minimum score of 4.0 required in the Access Phase (Fase General) to average with Bachillerato GPA (60% Bachillerato + 40% PAU >= 5.0).
  • Assessment: Official exam is four parts totaling 10 points: reading comprehension (2 pts), literary study (2 pts), linguistic reflection (3 pts), and written expression (3 pts). Under Decret 171/2022 the common Catalan language exam sets no mandatory prescribed readings; literary competence is assessed via fragments. Administered in Catalan; this bank is an English-language MCQ study adaptation.
  • Time limit: 90 minutes
  • Exam / certification fees: EUR 41.30 examination right + EUR 68.70 access phase + EUR 13.80 per admission-phase exercise (Generalitat de Catalunya, PAU 2026); 50% reduction and full exemption available for eligible groups Official sources

Using Our Practice Resources

  • Work through all 100 available questions
  • Review every answer and explanation
  • Track weak areas and revisit them
  • Use our AI tutor for tough concepts

PAU Catalan Language and Literature (Catalonia): Suggested Study Strategy

1Master weak pronoun combinations (pronoms febles), paying close attention to elision/apostrophe rules, relative position (before indicative/subjunctive, after infinitive/gerund/imperative), and ordering rules (indirect before direct, 3rd person reflexives).
2Review preposition rules rigorously: practice caiguda de preposició (dropping 'de', 'a', 'en', 'amb' before 'que') and canvi de preposició (changing 'en' or 'amb' to 'a' or 'de' before infinitives).
3For prescribed literature, study Mercè Rodoreda's 'Mirall trencat' (symbolism of the mirror, rat, laurel tree, water; character developments of Teresa, Sofia, Maria, Armanda) and Joan Fuster's 'Diccionari per a ociosos' (essay structure, irony, central themes like reading, language, and human nature).
4Memorize the key sociolinguistic distinctions: normativization (codification by Pompeu Fabra/IEC) vs normalization (social recovery of language use across administrative and public spheres).

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the official format of the PAU Catalan Language and Literature exam?

The official exam is a 90-minute written examination conducted in Catalan. It comprises text comprehension and commentary, questions on mandatory literary works (such as Rodoreda and Fuster), and explicit linguistic/grammatical exercises (syntax, weak pronouns, morphology, phonetic/orthographic rules, and sociolinguistics).

Is Catalan Language and Literature compulsory for all PAU candidates in Catalonia?

Yes, Llengua Catalana i Literatura is a mandatory core subject in the Access Phase (Fase General) for all students completing Batxillerat in Catalonia.

How does the PAU exam score factor into university admission in Catalonia?

The PAU Access Phase mark contributes 40% to the overall university entry grade (Nota d'Accés), combined with the Batxillerat GPA (60%). A minimum mark of 4.0 out of 10 in the Access Phase is required to calculate the admission average.