Abans de la feina, la mare vol cafè.

Abans de means before.

In this sentence, abans de la feina means before work or before the job/workday.
A very useful pattern is:

• abans de + noun → before + noun
• abans de + infinitive → before + verb

Examples:

• abans de classe → before class
• abans de sortir → before leaving

So here, abans de la feina is a time expression placed at the start of the sentence.

Because feina is a feminine noun: la feina.

In Catalan:

• de + el = del
• de + la = de la

So:

• del pare = of/from the father
• de la mare = of/from the mother
• de la feina = of/from work

There is no contraction with la here, so de la feina is correct.

Feina often means work, job, or the tasks/work one has to do. In everyday Catalan, it is extremely common.

Treball can also mean work, but it often sounds a little more like employment, labor, or piece of work depending on context.

In many situations, both can work, but they are not always perfectly interchangeable. In this sentence, la feina is a very natural way to say work.

Catalan often uses the definite article with family members when talking about them:

• la mare → mother / my mother
• el pare → father / my father
• la germana → sister / my sister

This is normal Catalan usage and does not necessarily mean the mother in a detached English sense. In context, la mare usually means the mother or my/her mother, depending on what has already been established.

When directly addressing someone, the article is usually dropped:

• Mare! → Mom!

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

So:

• jo vull → I want
• tu vols → you want
• ell/ella vol → he/she wants

In this sentence, la mare vol cafè means the mother wants coffee.

Because cafè here is being used as a general mass noun, like coffee in English.

So:

• vol cafè → wants coffee

If you say un cafè, that usually means a coffee, often understood as a cup of coffee:

• La mare vol un cafè → Mother wants a coffee

If you say el cafè, it usually refers to a specific coffee:

• La mare vol el cafè → Mother wants the coffee

So the version in your sentence is natural if the idea is simply she wants coffee.

Yes. That word order is also grammatical.

Catalan has fairly flexible word order, especially with time expressions. The original sentence begins with Abans de la feina to highlight the time frame first.

Compare:

• Abans de la feina, la mare vol cafè.
• La mare vol cafè abans de la feina.

Both work, but the first one puts more focus on before work.

The comma separates the introductory time phrase from the main clause.

Catalan often uses a comma after a phrase placed at the beginning of the sentence, especially when it helps readability:

• Abans de la feina, la mare vol cafè.

With short introductory phrases, the comma may sometimes be omitted in informal writing:

• Abans de la feina la mare vol cafè.

So the comma here is natural and helpful, though punctuation can vary a bit by style.

Not by itself. La mare literally means the mother, but in real usage it often refers to a known mother in context, such as my mother, his mother, her mother, and so on.

Catalan often relies on context more than English does. If the meaning has already been established, la mare is enough.

So the sentence could refer to:

• a specific mother already mentioned
• someone’s mother understood from context

The accent in cafè shows that the stress falls on the final syllable: ca-FÈ.

It also helps mark the quality of the vowel. For a learner, the most important thing is to stress the last syllable clearly.

So:

• cafè → stress on -fè

Without the accent, the spelling would not correctly show the standard pronunciation.

It could be either, depending on context.

The present tense in Catalan can describe:

• a current situation: Mother wants coffee right now before work
• a habitual action: Mother usually wants coffee before work

Without extra context, both readings are possible. This is similar to English, where Mother wants coffee before work can also sound habitual or immediate depending on the situation.