El president vol pau.

El is the masculine singular definite article in Catalan, meaning the.

So:

• el president = the president

Catalan uses articles very regularly, often in the same kinds of places where English uses the.

Vol means wants here. It comes from the verb voler, meaning to want.

This is the 3rd person singular present form:

• jo vull = I want
• tu vols = you want
• ell/ella vol = he/she wants

So in El president vol pau, vol agrees with el president.

Because the subject is el president, which is third person singular: he / she / it.

In Catalan, the verb changes depending on the subject. For voler in the present tense:

• jo vull
• tu vols
• ell/ella vol
• nosaltres volem
• vosaltres voleu
• ells/elles volen

Since the president is one person, Catalan uses vol.

Catalan often leaves out subject pronouns because the verb form already tells you who the subject is.

So instead of saying:

• Ell vol pau = He wants peace

Catalan very naturally says:

• El president vol pau

The noun el president already tells you who is doing the action, so no extra pronoun is needed.

Because pau here is being used as an abstract noun, meaning peace in a general sense.

Catalan, like English, often leaves out the article with abstract nouns when speaking generally:

• vol pau = wants peace

If you added an article, it would usually sound more specific or context-dependent.

So in this sentence, pau without an article is the normal choice.

In this sentence, pau is the noun peace.

It is a very common Catalan word and is also used in expressions like:

• viure en pau = to live in peace
• fer la pau = to make peace

So in El president vol pau, it simply means peace.

Yes. This sentence follows the normal Subject + Verb + Object order:

• El president = subject
• vol = verb
• pau = object / thing wanted

So it matches English very closely:

• The president wants peace.

That makes this sentence very straightforward for English speakers.

Yes, very closely. President in Catalan is basically the same word in meaning.

In this sentence:

• el president = the (male) president

For a female president, Catalan often uses:

• la presidenta

So the article helps tell you the gender here.

A simple learner-friendly pronunciation is:

• el preh-see-DENT bol pow

A few useful notes:

• vol sounds roughly like bol in many accents
• pau rhymes with English cow
• president is similar to English president, but the stress is near the end

Exact pronunciation varies by dialect, but that approximation is a good start.

Yes, Catalan can change word order for emphasis, but the neutral, standard order is:

• El president vol pau.

If you move things around, it can sound more emphatic, literary, or marked. For a beginner, it is best to learn this version as the normal pattern.

You usually add no before the verb:

• El president no vol pau. = The president does not want peace.

This is the normal way to make a sentence negative in Catalan.

In Catalan, you can often make a yes/no question just by using question intonation in speech or question marks in writing:

• El president vol pau? = Does the president want peace?

Catalan does not need an extra verb like English does.

So English changes:

• The president wants peace.
• Does the president want peace?

But Catalan can keep the same basic wording:

• El president vol pau.
• El president vol pau?

Yes. President can refer to the head of many kinds of organizations, not only a country.

Depending on context, it could mean:

• the president of a country or region
• the president of a company
• the chair/head of an association or institution

So the exact reference depends on context, even though the grammar stays the same.

Here is the breakdown:

• El — definite article
• president — noun
• vol — verb
• pau — noun

So structurally it is:

• article + noun + verb + noun

That is one reason the sentence is easy to analyze for beginners.

Yes. It is a perfectly complete sentence.

It has:

• a subject: El president
• a verb: vol
• a complement/object: pau

So even though it is short, it is fully grammatical and natural.