La carta és sobre la taula.

És means is. It is the 3rd person singular present tense form of ser.

The accent matters because it distinguishes és from es:

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

So in this sentence, és is the verb.

Because both carta and taula are feminine singular nouns:

• la carta = the letter
• la taula = the table

In Catalan, the definite article must agree with the noun in gender and number. Here:

• feminine singular → la

English uses the for everything, but Catalan changes the article depending on the noun.

Normally, no. In standard Catalan, you usually need the article with nouns like these:

• La carta
• la taula

So La carta és sobre la taula is the normal full sentence.

There are some fixed expressions in Catalan where an article is omitted, but this is not one of them.

Yes, the basic word order is very similar:

• La carta = subject
• és = verb
• sobre la taula = prepositional phrase

So it follows the same basic pattern as English:

The letter / is / on the table

Catalan can change word order for emphasis, but this sentence is the most neutral and natural order.

Here, sobre means on, on top of, or over in a physical sense.

But sobre can also mean about / concerning in other sentences. For example:

• un llibre sobre història = a book about history

So the meaning depends on context. In La carta és sobre la taula, the physical meaning is clear: the letter is on the table.

Yes, you may hear that, but La carta és sobre la taula is a very standard Catalan way to express simple location.

A useful beginner guideline is:

• ser often appears in straightforward location statements in Catalan
• estar can also be used, especially in everyday speech, often with a slight sense of current position or state

So if you are learning the standard pattern, és is a very good choice here.

Because those nouns are grammatically feminine in Catalan:

• la carta
• la taula

Very often, nouns ending in -a are feminine, though that is not a perfect rule. The safest habit is to learn each noun together with its article:

• la carta
• la taula
• el llibre
• el cotxe

That helps you remember the gender naturally.

A rough English-friendly pronunciation is:

luh KAR-tuh ez SOH-bruh luh TOW-luh

A few helpful notes:

• carta: the r is usually a light tapped r
• és: sounds like ez
• sobre: the first o is clear and open; the r is light
• taula: au sounds roughly like the ow in cow

In many Eastern varieties of Catalan, unstressed a often sounds like a soft uh sound. In other varieties, it may sound more like a clear a.

Yes, if the context already makes it clear what you are talking about.

Catalan often leaves out subject pronouns, and sometimes the noun can also be omitted if it is already understood. So:

• És sobre la taula = It’s on the table

This works only when the listener already knows what it refers to. If you are introducing the information for the first time, La carta és sobre la taula is clearer.

No. Another very natural option is:

• La carta és damunt de la taula

This more explicitly means the letter is on top of the table.

So:

• sobre la taula = perfectly correct and common
• damunt de la taula = also very natural, sometimes a bit more explicitly physical

Both are good Catalan.