El meu germà és al carrer amb el gos.

In Catalan, possessives like meu, teva, nostre are very often used together with the definite article:

• el meu germà = my brother
• la meva mare = my mother

So el meu germà is the normal full form.

You may sometimes see the article omitted in certain styles or expressions, but for learners, article + possessive + noun is the safest pattern to use.

germà means brother.

The accent mark in germà shows that the stress falls on the last syllable: ger-MÀ.

This matters because stress is important in Catalan pronunciation, and accents often help show where the stress goes.

Related forms:

• germà = brother
• germana = sister
• germans = brothers / siblings (depending on context)
• germanes = sisters

This is a very common question because English uses to be for both ideas, while Catalan often distinguishes between ser and estar.

Here, és is from ser.

In Catalan, ser is commonly used for location with:

• events
• places where something is located in a general sense
• sometimes people in neutral location statements, especially in more general or identifying ways

So El meu germà és al carrer is a normal sentence meaning My brother is in the street / out on the street.

You may also hear està in some contexts, especially when emphasizing a temporary state or physical location. But in basic learner usage, és al carrer is a perfectly standard structure to know.

al is a contraction of:

• a = to / at / in
• el = the

So:

• a + el = al

That means al carrer literally breaks down as to/at the street, but in natural English it usually means in the street or on the street, depending on context.

Other useful contractions:

• a + la = a la
• de + el = del

Examples:

• Va al mercat. = He/She goes to the market.
• És al parc. = He/She is at/in the park.

Catalan normally uses the definite article with many nouns where English may or may not use the.

So al carrer means in/on the street.

Without the article, carrer would usually not sound complete in this sentence. The article helps make it a normal, natural location phrase.

Compare:

• És al carrer. = He is in the street.
• És a casa. = He is at home.
  (This is a special expression and does not use an article.)

So you cannot always predict article usage directly from English; it has to be learned as part of each expression.

amb means with.

So:

• amb el gos = with the dog

It is a very common preposition.

Examples:

• Vaig amb la meva amiga. = I’m going with my friend.
• Cafè amb llet. = Coffee with milk.

Pronunciation note: the final b in amb is often not pronounced strongly.

Because Catalan usually uses the definite article when referring to a specific, known noun.

So:

• amb el gos = with the dog

In context, this often corresponds to English with the dog or sometimes with his/their dog, depending on what is already understood.

If you said amb un gos, that would mean with a dog, meaning any dog, not a specific one.

So the article tells us this is a particular dog, not just any dog.

The word order is:

• El meu germà = subject
• és = verb
• al carrer = location
• amb el gos = accompanying phrase

So the pattern is basically:

Subject + verb + place + companion

This is a very normal Catalan sentence structure.

English speakers should notice that Catalan often keeps a fairly straightforward word order in simple statements.

Yes. Catalan allows some flexibility, especially with prepositional phrases.

For example, you could also hear:

• El meu germà amb el gos és al carrer.

But the original:

• El meu germà és al carrer amb el gos.

is the most natural neutral order for many situations.

Putting amb el gos later often sounds smoother because the sentence first tells you where he is, then adds with whom/what.

A simple learner-friendly pronunciation guide is:

el MEU jer-MÀ ez al ka-RRER am bel GOS

A few notes:

• meu sounds roughly like meh-oo said quickly
• germà is stressed on the last syllable
• és sounds like ez
• carrer has a trilled or tapped r, depending on accent
• amb el is often pronounced smoothly together, almost like am bel

Catalan pronunciation varies somewhat by region, but this will help you get started.

It can correspond to either in English, depending on context.

al carrer is often translated as:

• in the street
• on the street
• sometimes even out in the street

English chooses between in and on based on usage preferences, but Catalan simply uses a + article here.

So do not try to match the English preposition word-for-word. Learn al carrer as a set phrase.

Literally, el gos means the dog.

However, in context, Catalan often uses the definite article where English might prefer a possessive if ownership is obvious.

So depending on the situation, amb el gos could naturally refer to:

• with the dog
• with his dog

The sentence itself does not explicitly say his dog. If you wanted to make that explicit, you could say:

• amb el seu gos = with his dog / her dog / their dog / your dog (formal)

So el gos is more general, while el seu gos is explicitly possessive.

Several words would change to agree.

Examples:

• La meva germana és al carrer amb el gos.
  = My sister is in the street with the dog.

• Els meus germans són al carrer amb el gos.
  = My brothers / siblings are in the street with the dog.

Notice the changes:

• el → la / els
• meu → meva / meus
• germà → germana / germans
• és → són for plural subjects

This is an important feature of Catalan: articles, possessives, and sometimes nouns change form to match gender and number.