La mare i la germana són aquí.

In Catalan, each noun normally keeps its own article, even when two nouns are joined by i (and).

So Catalan says:

• la mare i la germana

not usually:

• la mare i germana

This is similar to English saying the mother and the sister, where the can also be repeated. In Catalan, repeating the article here is the normal pattern.

Literally, la mare means the mother.

But in Catalan, family members are very often referred to with the definite article where English would prefer a possessive:

• la mare = my mother / the mother
• el pare = my father / the father
• la germana = my sister / the sister

The exact meaning depends on context. In everyday speech, la mare and la germana often refer to someone's own mother and sister.

Because the subject is plural: la mare i la germana = the mother and the sister = two people.

The verb ser (to be) must agree with the subject:

• és = is for singular
• són = are for plural

So:

• La mare és aquí. = Mother is here.
• La mare i la germana són aquí. = Mother and sister are here.

This is a very common question, because English just uses to be for both.

In Catalan, both ser and estar can appear with location, but they are not always interchangeable.

In a sentence like La mare i la germana són aquí, són aquí is a very natural way to mean they are here or they're present here.

You may also hear estan aquí, especially when emphasizing physical presence or temporary location. In many real-life contexts, both can be possible, but ser aquí is perfectly normal Catalan.

So for a learner, the safest takeaway is:

• són aquí = a normal and correct way to say they are here
• estan aquí can also occur, depending on nuance and dialect

i means and.

It is usually pronounced like English ee in see, but shorter.

So:

• mare i germana = mother and sister

A useful extra detail: in Catalan, i can change to e before words beginning with certain i sounds, to avoid awkward pronunciation. But in this sentence, i stays i.

The accent in aquí shows where the stress goes: a-QUÍ.

Without getting too technical, Catalan uses accent marks to help show pronunciation and sometimes to distinguish words. Here, the written accent tells you the stress falls on the last syllable.

So aquí is pronounced roughly:

• ah-KEE

The accent mark in són helps distinguish it from son, which is a different word.

• són = are
• son = sleep or they are? No — in Catalan, son can be a noun related to sleep

So the accent is meaningful and should be written.

It also helps signal the correct stressed vowel.

A simple approximate pronunciation for an English speaker is:

lah MAH-ruh ee lah jur-MAH-nuh son ah-KEE

A few notes:

• mare: the r is tapped lightly
• germana: the g before e sounds like the soft sound in Catalan, not like English g in go
• són: sounds roughly like sone with a short, clear vowel
• aquí: stress on the last syllable

Pronunciation varies a bit by dialect, but this is a good starting point.

Yes, Catalan word order is flexible.

The neutral order is:

• La mare i la germana són aquí.

But you can also say:

• Aquí són la mare i la germana.

That version gives more emphasis to aquí or sounds a bit more like Here are the mother and the sister.

So the original sentence is the most straightforward, but other orders are possible depending on emphasis.

Normally, no. Standard Catalan would keep the article with both nouns:

• la mare i la germana

Leaving out the second article sounds incomplete or nonstandard in this kind of sentence.

So if both nouns are separate definite nouns, repeat the article.

Yes.

• germana = sister
• germà = brother

Catalan marks gender in many family words:

• mare = mother
• pare = father
• germana = sister
• germà = brother

So in your sentence, la germana clearly refers to a female sibling.

Yes, it means the same thing: here.

But remember that this is Catalan, so although some words look the same as Spanish, the pronunciation and grammar may differ. In this sentence, aquí is easy to recognize if you know Spanish, but you should still learn it as a Catalan word, not just assume all Spanish rules apply.

Not always. There are several natural possibilities depending on context:

• La mare i la germana són aquí.
• La mare i la germana estan aquí.
• Aquí hi ha la mare i la germana. in some contexts, more like Mother and sister are here / here there are...

The sentence you have is completely correct and natural, but Catalan often offers more than one way to express presence or location.