El pare no vol mirar la televisió al matí.

My father does not want to watch television in the morning.

Breakdown of El pare no vol mirar la televisió al matí.

• voler: to want
• no: not
• a: in
• el pare: the father

Questions & Answers about El pare no vol mirar la televisió al matí.

Why is it El pare and not just pare?

El is the masculine singular definite article, so el pare means the father.

In Catalan, family words like pare, mare, avi, and so on are often used with the article when talking about a specific person:

• el pare
• la mare

English often does the same with the father, but Catalan may use the article even in cases where English might just say Dad in a more natural way.

One important difference:

• when directly addressing someone, Catalan usually drops the article
  
  • Pare, vine aquí = Dad, come here

So in this sentence, El pare is just the normal way to say the father as the subject.

What does vol mean here, and why is it no vol?

Vol is the third-person singular present form of voler, which means to want.

So:

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

Because el pare is singular, the verb must also be singular: vol.

The no simply makes the sentence negative:

• vol = wants
• no vol = does not want

Unlike English, Catalan does need an extra verb like for negation. English says , but Catalan just says .