Tan bon punt lubriquem la cadena, posarem la roda.

Tan bon punt means as soon as. It introduces an action that happens immediately after another one. In this sentence, the order is:

1. we lubricate the chain
2. then we put on the wheel

It is best learned as a fixed expression.

After time expressions like tan bon punt, Catalan normally uses a present form to refer to a future event. So Tan bon punt lubriquem la cadena... means As soon as we lubricate the chain..., not As soon as we will lubricate the chain....

This is actually similar to English, which also says as soon as we lubricate, not as soon as we will lubricate.

In this sentence, it is functioning as the present subjunctive. The confusing part is that with nosaltres, many -ar verbs have the same form in the present indicative and present subjunctive.

So here:

• indicative: lubriquem
• subjunctive: lubriquem

The form looks identical, but the structure of the sentence tells you it is subjunctive here.

Because Catalan uses qu before e and i to keep the hard k sound.

If you wrote lubricem, the c before e would sound different. Writing lubriquem preserves the same hard consonant sound that you hear in other forms of the verb.

Posarem is the future tense of posar for nosaltres: we will put.

The sentence sets up a sequence:

• Tan bon punt lubriquem la cadena = as soon as we lubricate the chain
• posarem la roda = we will put on the wheel

So the first clause gives the time condition, and the main clause tells you what will happen next.

Literally, it means we will put the wheel. But in natural English, in a mechanical context like this, you would usually say we’ll put the wheel on or we’ll attach the wheel.

Catalan posar is a very common verb and can mean put, place, put on, install, depending on the situation.

Because Catalan uses the definite article with specific, identifiable things. Here, the chain and the wheel are understood from the context, so la cadena and la roda are exactly what you would expect.

English often does the same with the, but Catalan is generally very comfortable using the definite article whenever the object is specific and already known in the situation.

Because the sentence begins with a time clause: Tan bon punt lubriquem la cadena. In standard writing, it is very normal to separate that introductory clause from the main clause with a comma:

Tan bon punt lubriquem la cadena, posarem la roda.

If you put the main clause first, the comma is often not needed:

Posarem la roda tan bon punt lubriquem la cadena.

Yes. You can also say:

Posarem la roda tan bon punt lubriquem la cadena.

This means the same thing. Starting with Tan bon punt... puts the time relationship first, which is often a natural way to present instructions or a sequence of actions.