La mare és a l'escola avui.

La mare literally means the mother, but in Catalan the definite article is often used with family members in everyday speech.

So la mare can mean:

• the mother
• mum / my mother, depending on context

This is more natural in Catalan than in English. English often drops the article in this kind of meaning, but Catalan usually keeps it.

The word és is the 3rd person singular of the verb ser: is.

The accent is important because it distinguishes és from es:

• és = is
• es = a reflexive pronoun, like himself / herself / itself / oneself in different contexts

So in this sentence, és must have the accent because it is the verb.

Yes, this is a very common question.

In Catalan, ser is often used to say where someone or something is:

• La mare és a l'escola. = Mother is at school.

In many contexts, estar can also appear:

• La mare està a l'escola.

Very generally:

• ser is common for simple location
• estar can add a sense of current presence, temporary situation, or emphasis

The exact preference can vary by dialect and context, but és a l'escola is perfectly normal Catalan.

Because escola begins with a vowel, the article is apostrophized:

• la escola becomes l'escola

After the preposition a, you get:

• a + l'escola = a l'escola

So:

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

Compare:

• a + el = al
• a + la = a la
• a + l' = a l'

So al escola is not correct.

Catalan often uses the article where English does not.

So Catalan says:

• a l'escola
• a l'hospital
• a la universitat

Even when English might say:

• at school
• in hospital or at the hospital
• at university

So the article in Catalan is normal here. You should not try to copy the English pattern.

It can mean either, depending on context.

In many everyday situations, la mare is naturally understood as mum / my mother. But literally, it is the mother.

Catalan often relies on context here. If the speaker's mother is the obvious reference, la mare can sound completely natural without saying my.

Yes, avui can move.

The sentence:

• La mare és a l'escola avui.

is correct, but Catalan also allows:

• Avui la mare és a l'escola.
• La mare avui és a l'escola.

Putting avui at the end is fine and often sounds natural. Moving it changes the emphasis slightly:

• Avui... emphasizes today
• end position can sound more neutral or simply place today as extra information

Yes. Catalan is a pro-drop language, so the subject can often be omitted when it is clear from context.

So you could say:

• És a l'escola avui.

if everyone already knows you are talking about la mare.

But including La mare makes the sentence clearer and more explicit.

The l' is attached directly to the next word, so you pronounce it as one unit:

• l'escola

roughly like lescola, without a pause between them.

Also:

• és is pronounced with a clear stressed vowel
• avui is roughly ah-VOO-ee

A simple pronunciation guide for the whole sentence is:

la MA-reh es a les-KO-la ah-VUI

This is only approximate, but it helps show the rhythm.