El veterinari treballa a la clínica veterinària.

El means the and is the masculine singular definite article.

So El veterinari = the veterinarian.

In Catalan, as in Spanish and many other Romance languages, definite articles are used very naturally before professions when you are talking about a specific person:

• el veterinari = the veterinarian
• la professora = the teacher
• el metge = the doctor

If you removed el, the phrase would usually sound incomplete in this sentence.

Treballa is the third-person singular present tense of the verb treballar, which means to work.

So:

• jo treballo = I work
• tu treballes = you work
• ell/ella treballa = he/she works

Since el veterinari is a singular third-person subject, treballa is the correct form.

Catalan often leaves out subject pronouns when they are not needed. The verb ending already tells you the person and number.

Here, treballa already means he/she works, so Catalan does not need to say ell treballa unless you want emphasis or contrast.

That means:

• El veterinari treballa... is perfectly natural.
• Ell treballa... would only be added if you really wanted to stress he.

Because clínica is a specific place, so Catalan uses the definite article la:

• a la clínica = at the clinic / to the clinic

Catalan very often uses articles where English also does, and sometimes even where English would not.

Here:

• a = at / in / to
• la clínica = the clinic

So a la clínica literally means at the clinic.

Because al is the contraction of a + el.

• a + el = al
• a + la = a la (no contraction)

Since clínica is feminine, it takes la, not el:

• a la clínica = correct
• al clínica = incorrect

Compare:

• Va al mercat = He/She goes to the market
• Va a la clínica = He/She goes to the clinic

In Catalan, adjectives often come after the noun.

So:

• clínica veterinària = veterinary clinic

This is the normal order:

• noun first: clínica
• adjective second: veterinària

English often puts descriptive words before the noun, but Catalan usually puts many adjectives after it.

They are related, but they are doing different jobs in the sentence.

• veterinari = veterinarian (a noun here, masculine singular)
• veterinària = veterinary (an adjective here, feminine singular to match clínica)

So:

• El veterinari = the male veterinarian
• la clínica veterinària = the veterinary clinic

The ending changes because Catalan words often agree in gender and number:

• masculine singular: veterinari
• feminine singular: veterinària

The accent mark shows the stressed syllable and is also part of the correct spelling.

• veterinària is stressed on the -nà- syllable.
• clínica is stressed on the first syllable: CLÍ-ni-ca.

Accent marks in Catalan are important because they can change pronunciation and sometimes meaning. So they should not be omitted in normal writing.

In this sentence, a is best understood as at:

• treballa a la clínica veterinària = works at the veterinary clinic

But Catalan a can cover meanings that English expresses with different prepositions, such as to, at, or sometimes in, depending on context.

Here, because the verb is treballar and we are talking about a workplace, at is the most natural English translation.

Yes, veterinari is masculine. If the veterinarian is a woman, you would normally say:

• La veterinària treballa a la clínica veterinària.

So:

• el veterinari = the male veterinarian
• la veterinària = the female veterinarian

Notice that the feminine noun veterinària has the same form as the feminine adjective in clínica veterinària. The function is different, but the form is the same.

A rough English-style guide would be:

el veh-teh-ree-NAH-ree truh-BAH-lya ah luh KLEE-nee-kuh veh-teh-ree-NAH-ree-uh

A couple of useful pronunciation notes:

• ll in treballa is pronounced like a y sound in many varieties of Catalan.
• clínica has stress on the first syllable.
• veterinària has stress on nà.

This is only an approximation, but it can help you get started.