El candidat explica la formació i l'habilitat.

It follows the very common Catalan pattern subject + verb + object:

• El candidat = the subject
• explica = the verb
• la formació i l'habilitat = the object

So literally, it is structured as The candidate explains the training and the skill/ability.

Explica is the third-person singular present indicative of explicar.

That means it can mean:

• he explains
• she explains
• it explains
• the candidate explains

Depending on context, English might also translate it as is explaining, even though Catalan is still just using the simple present here.

Because in Catalan, the singular definite articles el and la usually contract to l' before a word that begins with a vowel sound or a silent h.

So:

• la + habilitat → l'habilitat

This is the same idea as:

• l'escola
• l'home
• l'amiga

Since h is silent in habilitat, the word behaves as if it began with a vowel.

No. In standard Catalan, h is normally silent.

So habilitat begins with a vowel sound, which is also why the article becomes l'.

Because Catalan uses definite articles more often than English does.

In English, you might sometimes say just training and skill, but in Catalan it is very normal to say:

• la formació
• l'habilitat

This can sound like referring to specific qualities or categories already understood from context. Even with general or abstract nouns, Catalan often keeps the article where English might leave it out.

Formació often means:

• training
• education
• background

The best translation depends on context. In a professional or academic context, la formació often refers to someone’s education or training rather than the physical idea of formation.

A useful pattern: many Catalan words ending in -ció correspond to English words ending in -tion.

For example:

• informació = information
• educació = education
• formació = formation / training / education, depending on context

Habilitat means skill, ability, or competence.

It is singular here, so it refers to a skill/ability in a general or specific sense. If you wanted the plural, it would be:

• habilitats = skills

The accent in formació shows that the stress falls on the last syllable:

• for-ma-ci-ó

That final ó is stressed. The accent is part of the correct spelling and helps you know how to pronounce the word.

This is very common in Catalan nouns ending in -ció.

You would say:

• La candidata explica la formació i l'habilitat.

Only the noun and article change:

• el candidat = the male candidate
• la candidata = the female candidate

The verb explica stays the same.