Avui hi ha feina a l'escola.

Hi ha is the fixed Catalan expression for there is / there are.

• ha by itself is the 3rd person singular of haver.
• hi is a locative-type clitic that is part of this expression.

So:

• Hi ha feina = There is work
• Hi ha llibres = There are books

Even though English uses there, Catalan uses hi in this structure. Learners usually need to memorize hi ha as a whole expression.

It can mean both there is and there are. Catalan does not change ha in this structure based on whether the thing is singular or plural.

Examples:

• Hi ha feina = There is work
• Hi ha molts alumnes = There are many students

So the number is understood from the noun that follows, not from changing hi ha.

Avui means today.

It comes first because Catalan often places a time expression at the beginning of the sentence to set the scene:

• Avui hi ha feina a l'escola. = Today there is work at school.

This is very natural. You could also hear other orders in some contexts, but starting with avui is common and clear.

Feina means work.

In many contexts, it refers to:

• work to do
• tasks
• workload
• a job, in some contexts

In this sentence, hi ha feina suggests something like:

• there is work to do
• there is a lot going on
• there are tasks to be done

It is an uncountable noun here, much like English work.

Because Catalan often uses nouns without an article when speaking generally or introducing something in an existential sentence with hi ha.

So:

• Hi ha feina = There is work

This sounds natural and general. Adding an article would change the meaning or make it more specific.

Compare:

• Hi ha feina = There is work / there is work to do
• Hi ha la feina = There is the work

The second one sounds much more specific and would only fit a special context.

Both can relate to work, but they are not always used in exactly the same way.

Very roughly:

• feina often means work to do, tasks, or job
• treball often means work in a broader or more abstract sense, and can also mean a piece of work, assignment, or project

In this sentence, feina sounds very natural because it suggests there is work to do at school today.

A learner-friendly way to think of it is:

• feina = workload / job / things to do
• treball = work / assignment / project, depending on context

Because la contracts before a vowel.

• a + l'escola comes from a + la escola
• But Catalan does not keep la unchanged before a vowel here; it becomes l'

So:

• a l'escola = at the school / at school

This apostrophe shows that the vowel of the article has been dropped.

In this sentence, a l'escola means at school or at the school.

The preposition a in Catalan can cover meanings that English expresses with to, at, or sometimes in, depending on context.

Here, because the sentence is describing where the work exists, the meaning is locative:

• Avui hi ha feina a l'escola. = Today there is work at school.

It is not about movement toward the school. If it were movement, context would make that clear.

Yes, escola is feminine.

That is why the article is la:

• la escola → l'escola before a vowel

You can see the feminine article in other contexts:

• L'escola és gran. = The school is big.

So if you need an article with escola, use the feminine one.

Because una feina would mean a piece of work / one task / a job, which is more specific and countable.

But feina without an article is more general and natural here:

• Hi ha feina = There is work / there is work to do

Compare:

• Hi ha feina a l'escola = There is work at school / there is work to do at school
• Hi ha una feina a l'escola = There is a job/task at the school

The version without una is the normal choice for the general idea.

Yes, very often.

Even though the literal meaning is simply Today there is work at school, in natural use it can suggest:

• there’s work to do
• people are busy
• there’s a lot going on

So the sentence may carry a practical sense of today school is busy or today there are tasks waiting.

In standard Catalan, hi is pronounced roughly like ee.

So hi ha sounds approximately like:

• ee a

But in natural speech, the two words flow together smoothly.

For an English speaker:

• hi is not pronounced like English hi
• it is closer to ee

You could, but it would not sound as natural in the same everyday sense.

Feina is the more idiomatic word here for work to do.
Treball is possible in some contexts, but it may sound more formal, abstract, or like a specific kind of work such as schoolwork, an assignment, or labor.

So for this sentence, feina is the better choice.

The given order is very natural:

• Avui = time
• hi ha = there is/are
• feina = thing that exists
• a l'escola = place

Catalan does allow some flexibility depending on emphasis.

For example:

• A l'escola avui hi ha feina could emphasize the location more.

But for learners, Avui hi ha feina a l'escola is an excellent standard pattern to follow: time + hi ha + thing + place.