El pare és a la feina avui.

In Catalan, it is very common to use the definite article with family members: el pare, la mare, l’avi, etc.

So el pare can mean either:

• the father
• or more naturally in many contexts, dad

Catalan does this much more than English does.
However, when directly addressing someone, you usually do not use the article:

• Pare, vine aquí. = Dad, come here.

But when talking about him, el pare is very normal.

It can mean both, depending on context.

• el pare can be a neutral the father
• in family context, it often sounds more like dad

So in a sentence like El pare és a la feina avui, English would often translate it more naturally as Dad is at work today rather than the more formal The father is at work today.

This is a very common question for English speakers.

És is from ser and està is from estar. In Catalan, the choice between them is not exactly the same as in Spanish or English explanations of to be.

In standard Catalan, ser is often used to indicate where someone or something is, especially in simple location statements:

• És a casa. = He/She is at home.
• És a la feina. = He/She is at work.

In everyday speech, especially in some areas, you may also hear estar in location contexts, but és a la feina is perfectly correct and standard.

So here, és is not strange: it simply means is.

A la feina means at work.

Breakdown:

• a = at / to
• la = the
• feina = work, job, or sometimes workplace depending on context

So literally it looks like at the work, but in natural English we say at work.

This is one of those cases where Catalan uses an article where English often does not.

Catalan often leaves out subject pronouns when they are not needed, because the verb ending already shows the person.

Here:

• és = he/she/it is

So El pare és a la feina avui does not need ell.

You could say Ell és a la feina avui, but that would usually add emphasis or contrast, something like:

• He is at work today.

Most of the time, Catalan prefers to omit the pronoun.

Avui means today, and putting it at the end is a very natural word order in Catalan.

• El pare és a la feina avui. = Dad is at work today.

But Catalan word order is fairly flexible, so you could also say:

• Avui el pare és a la feina.

That version puts more emphasis on today.

So the end position is normal, but not the only possibility.

Not in this sentence.

Here, és a la feina clearly means is at work because of the verb és.

But a la feina itself is just a prepositional phrase meaning at work / to work, depending on the sentence:

• És a la feina. = He is at work.
• Va a la feina. = He goes to work.

So the exact English translation depends on the verb used.

A simple approximate pronunciation is:

el PA-rə ez a lə FAY-nə ə-VUI

A few notes:

• pare: the first syllable is stressed → PA-re
• feina sounds roughly like FAY-nə
• avui sounds roughly like uh-VUI or ah-VUI
• és has an open, clear e sound

Pronunciation varies somewhat by dialect, but that approximation is a good start.

Yes, absolutely.

El meu pare means my father / my dad.

So:

• El pare és a la feina avui = Dad is at work today or The father is at work today
• El meu pare és a la feina avui = My dad is at work today

If the family relationship is already clear from context, Catalan often just says el pare.

It is a normal, everyday sentence.

Nothing in it is especially formal. In fact:

• pare is an ordinary word
• feina is very common in daily speech
• the whole sentence sounds natural and conversational

Depending on context, it could sound either like:

• a neutral statement: The father is at work today
• or a family-context statement: Dad is at work today

So it is simple, natural everyday Catalan.