El transportí és darrere del cotxe.

Transportí usually means a pet carrier or carry crate, especially the kind used for a cat, small dog, or other small animal.

It is a masculine singular noun, which is why it appears with el:

• el transportí = the pet carrier

Because transportí is a masculine singular noun.

In Catalan:

• el = masculine singular the
• la = feminine singular the
• els = masculine plural the
• les = feminine plural the

So:

• el transportí
• el cotxe

Both nouns in this sentence are masculine singular.

Darrere de means behind.

In this sentence:

• darrere del cotxe = behind the car

A useful thing to remember is that Catalan often uses darrere de as a fixed expression:

• darrere de la porta = behind the door
• darrere de casa = behind the house

So you can think of darrere de as the full pattern you need.

Because de + el contracts to del in Catalan.

So:

• de + el cotxe → del cotxe

This is very common:

• davant del cotxe = in front of the car
• al costat del cotxe = next to the car
• la porta del cotxe = the car door

So in your sentence:

• darrere del cotxe = behind the car

És is the 3rd person singular of ser, meaning is.

So:

• El transportí és... = The pet carrier is...

For an English speaker, the important thing is that Catalan often uses ser in sentences expressing location with words like darrere, davant, sota, etc.

So this structure is normal:

• El transportí és darrere del cotxe.

In some contexts or varieties, you may also hear està for location, but és here is completely natural and standard for learners to recognize.

It behaves a lot like an adverb of place, but in expressions like this it is followed by de to introduce the thing you are referring to.

So:

• darrere = behind / at the back
• darrere de = behind

Examples:

• És darrere. = It is behind / It is in the back.
• És darrere del cotxe. = It is behind the car.

For practical learning, it is easiest to memorize darrere de as a single expression.

A rough pronunciation guide:

• transportí ≈ trahn-spor-tee
• és ≈ ess
• darrere ≈ dah-RREH-reh
• cotxe ≈ KO-che

A few notes:

• The tx in cotxe sounds like ch in church.
• The final -í in transportí is stressed, which is why it has an accent mark.
• The rr in darrere is a strong rolled or trilled r in many accents.

The accent marks help show stress and sometimes distinguish words.

• transportí has an accent on í to show that the stress falls on the last syllable.
• és has an accent to distinguish it from es, which is a different word in Catalan.

So:

• és = is
• es = a reflexive pronoun, like oneself / himself / herself in some contexts

Cotxe means car.

It is a very common Catalan word:

• el cotxe = the car
• un cotxe = a car

It is pronounced with tx = ch, which is one of the details English speakers often need to notice.

Yes, it is very similar here.

Catalan:

• El transportí = the pet carrier
• és = is
• darrere del cotxe = behind the car

So the structure is:

• subject + verb + place expression

That is basically the same pattern as English:

• The pet carrier is behind the car.

You may hear està in real-life Catalan, depending on the speaker or region, especially in everyday speech. But for this sentence, és darrere del cotxe is a normal and correct model to learn.

So for a learner:

• és darrere del cotxe = a good standard form to recognize and use
• està darrere del cotxe = something you may also encounter

The safest approach is to learn this sentence exactly as given, while also being aware that location with estar can appear in practice.

Yes.

If the context is already clear, you can simply say:

• És darrere. = It is behind / It is at the back.

But if you want to say behind something, you normally add de:

• darrere del cotxe = behind the car
• darrere de la casa = behind the house

So:

• darrere can stand alone
• darrere de + noun gives the full idea more clearly