La mare vol fruita i llet.

La is the feminine singular definite article in Catalan, equivalent to the in English.

• la mare = the mother
• mare is a feminine noun, so it takes la

Catalan uses definite articles very often, sometimes in places where English might also use the, and sometimes where English would not.

In this sentence, fruita and llet are being used in a general, non-specific sense:

• fruita = fruit
• llet = milk

This is similar to English when we say She wants fruit and milk, not the fruit and the milk.

If you added the article, it would usually sound more specific:

• la fruita = the fruit
• la llet = the milk

So La mare vol fruita i llet means she wants some fruit and some milk, or fruit and milk in general.

Vol is the 3rd person singular present tense form of the verb voler, which means to want.

So:

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

In this sentence, the subject is la mare, which is third person singular, so vol is the correct form.

Catalan often leaves out subject pronouns when they are not needed. This is because the verb form usually makes the subject clear.

Here, vol already tells you it is he/she/it or another third-person singular subject, and the sentence explicitly gives the subject as la mare, so adding ella would be unnecessary.

Catalan does this much more often than English.

Yes, in this sentence the word order is very similar to English:

• La mare = subject
• vol = verb
• fruita i llet = object

So it follows a basic Subject–Verb–Object pattern:

• La mare vol fruita i llet.
• The mother wants fruit and milk.

This is one reason the sentence feels straightforward to an English speaker.

I means and.

It is pronounced like the English ee sound, roughly /i/.

So:

• fruita i llet = fruit and milk

Be careful not to pronounce it like the English letter name eye. In Catalan, i is a simple vowel sound.

A simple approximate pronunciation is:

lah MAH-ruh bol FROO-ee-tuh ee LYET

A few notes:

• la sounds like lah
• mare is roughly MAH-ruh
• vol is roughly bol in many accents, because Catalan v is often pronounced like b
• fruita is roughly FROO-ee-tuh
• i is ee
• llet begins with the Catalan ll, which can be tricky; in many accents it sounds somewhat like ly in million, so lyet

Pronunciation varies by dialect, but this is a useful beginner approximation.

Fruita is singular in form, but here it refers to fruit in general as a category or substance, much like English fruit.

• fruita = fruit
• fruites = fruits

Catalan often uses the singular for general, uncountable, or category-like meanings:

• vol fruita = wants fruit
• vol fruites = wants fruits, or different kinds/pieces of fruit

In this sentence, fruita is the most natural choice.

Yes. Llet is a feminine noun.

That is why, when it does take an article, it would be:

• la llet = the milk

Even though there is no article in this sentence, learners often want to know the noun’s gender, and here it is feminine.

Yes, but it would mean something slightly different.

• La mare vol fruita i llet = The mother wants fruit and milk, in a general sense.
• La mare vol la fruita i la llet = The mother wants the fruit and the milk, meaning specific fruit and specific milk already known in the context.

So the version without articles is more general, while the version with articles is more specific.

Not always. It depends on the context.

For example:

• la mare = the mother
• ma mare or la meva mare = my mother

Catalan often uses possessives differently from English, and there are both shorter and longer possessive forms depending on dialect and style. But in this sentence, la mare simply means the mother.

Because Catalan, like English, normally uses and only before the final item in a simple list.

So:

• fruita i llet = fruit and milk

If there were more items, you would usually list them with commas and use i before the last one:

• fruita, pa i llet = fruit, bread, and milk

This works very similarly to English.