Hi ha una persona a la tenda de campanya.

Hi ha is the normal Catalan way to say there is or there are.

So:

• Hi ha una persona = There is a person
• Hi ha dues persones = There are two people

It usually comes at the start of an existential sentence, where you are introducing the existence or presence of something.

Because Catalan, like several other Romance languages, uses a special structure for there is / there are.

• És una persona would mean It is a person, not There is a person
• Hi ha una persona means There is a person

So hi ha is not just a random phrase: it is the standard existential expression.

They are:

• hi = a small adverb/pronoun that historically means something like there
• ha = has, from the verb haver

But for a learner, the most useful thing is to treat hi ha as one fixed expression meaning there is / there are.

You usually do not need to translate each part separately in normal learning.

Because Catalan normally needs an article or another determiner before a singular countable noun.

So:

• una persona = a person
• bare persona on its own would usually sound incomplete in this sentence

This is similar to English, where you also normally say a person, not just person, in this kind of sentence.

Yes, in this sentence a can be understood as in or at, depending on context.

Catalan a often covers meanings that English splits into to, at, and sometimes in.

So:

• a la tenda de campanya here means in the tent or at the tent
• the intended meaning is usually clear from context

If you want to make the idea of being physically inside even more explicit, Catalan can also use expressions like dins de la tenda de campanya.

Normally, no. Standard Catalan generally does not use en la in this kind of basic location phrase.

You would normally say:

• a la tenda de campanya

In some contexts, Catalan does use en, but with this sentence a la is the natural standard choice.

Tenda de campanya is the normal expression for tent in the camping sense.

Literally:

• tenda = tent
• de campanya = for camping / camping-related

Very often Catalan uses the full expression tenda de campanya to make it completely clear that you mean a camping tent.

Because the sentence refers to a specific tent, understood from the situation.

• a la tenda de campanya = in the tent
• a una tenda de campanya = in a tent

So the article changes depending on whether the tent is specific or not.

Yes, absolutely.

Both are correct:

• Hi ha una persona a la tenda de campanya
• A la tenda de campanya hi ha una persona

The difference is mostly emphasis:

• Hi ha una persona... introduces the existence first
• A la tenda de campanya... emphasizes the location first

This kind of word-order flexibility is very normal in Catalan.

Yes.

• Hi ha una persona a la tenda de campanya = There is a person in the tent
• Hi ha algú a la tenda de campanya = There is someone in the tent

The second version is a bit less specific and often more natural in everyday speech if you do not want to identify the person as a person explicitly.

No. Hi ha stays the same for both singular and plural in modern Catalan.

So:

• Hi ha una persona = There is one person
• Hi ha dues persones = There are two people

This is very important, because English changes is/are, but Catalan usually keeps hi ha unchanged.

You put no before hi ha:

• No hi ha una persona a la tenda de campanya = There is not a person in the tent

Often, in natural Catalan, you might say:

• No hi ha ningú a la tenda de campanya = There is nobody in the tent

That version is usually more idiomatic if you mean the tent is empty of people.

The exact pronunciation varies a bit by dialect, but for a learner it is useful to think of it roughly as:

• ee AH

A few helpful points:

• hi is very short
• ha has the stress
• in normal speech, the two words are said closely together

So even though it is written as two words, it often sounds like one compact unit in conversation.