El desviador és sota la cadena.

In this sentence, desviador is a technical noun, most likely referring to a bicycle derailleur or a part that guides the chain.

It is:

• masculine
• singular
• introduced by the article el

So el desviador means the derailleur / the deflector, depending on context.

Because Catalan nouns have grammatical gender.

• desviador is masculine → el desviador
• cadena is feminine → la cadena

This is something you usually have to learn with each noun. The article changes to match the noun’s gender and number.

És is the 3rd person singular present tense of ser.

So here:

• el desviador = he/it in grammatical terms
• és = is

That is why the verb is és and not another form like soc, som, or són.

This is a very common question for English speakers.

In Catalan, ser is often used in neutral statements of location, especially in standard language. So El desviador és sota la cadena is a normal way to say where something is.

A few useful points:

• és = from ser
• està = from estar
• Catalan does not divide ser/estar in exactly the same way as Spanish

In everyday speech, you may also hear estar in some location contexts, but és is perfectly natural here.

Sota means under, below, or beneath.

In this sentence:

• sota la cadena = under the chain

It is a preposition, so it introduces the location of the derailleur.

Because sota can work directly as a preposition before a noun phrase.

So these are possible patterns:

• sota la cadena
• sota el seient
• sota la taula

You may also hear longer spoken forms such as a sota de, which are very common in conversation:

• El desviador és a sota de la cadena

That version is also natural, but your sentence uses the shorter form sota.

Only some Catalan prepositions contract with the article.

For example:

• a + el = al
• de + el = del
• per + el = pel

But sota does not contract.

So you say:

• sota el desviador
• sota la cadena

not a contracted form.

Yes. The sentence has a very normal order:

• El desviador = subject
• és = verb
• sota la cadena = location phrase

So it follows a straightforward pattern: subject + verb + location.

Catalan can change the order for emphasis, though. For example:

• Sota la cadena hi ha el desviador

That shifts the focus more toward the location.

Usually not in a sentence like this.

Catalan often uses the definite article when talking about a specific, identifiable object:

• el desviador
• la cadena

So if you are describing parts of a particular bicycle or mechanism, the articles sound natural and expected.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

• desviador → dez-vee-ah-DOR
• cadena → kah-DEH-nah
• és → ess

The main stress is on:

• -dor in desviador
• de in cadena

So the sentence rhythm is roughly:

el dez-vee-ah-DOR ess SOH-tah lah kah-DEH-nah