La meva amiga espera a l'estació perquè l'autobús arriba tard.

In Catalan, possessives are very often used with the definite article. So la meva amiga is the normal way to say my friend.

• la = the
• meva = my
• amiga = female friend

English does not use the before possessives, but Catalan usually does.

Because amiga is a feminine singular noun, the possessive has to agree with it.

Here is the pattern:

• meu = my, masculine singular
• meva = my, feminine singular
• meus = my, masculine plural
• meves = my, feminine plural

So:

• el meu amic = my male friend
• la meva amiga = my female friend

Catalan often leaves out subject pronouns when the verb ending already makes the subject clear. This is very common.

So instead of saying:

• La meva amiga ella espera...

Catalan normally just says:

• La meva amiga espera...

The noun phrase la meva amiga already tells you who is doing the action, so ella would be unnecessary.

Espera is the third-person singular present tense of esperar.

The subject is la meva amiga, which is she / my friend, so the verb must be third-person singular:

• jo espero = I wait
• tu esperes = you wait
• ell/ella espera = he/she waits

So La meva amiga espera means My friend waits / is waiting.

Catalan often uses the present tense where English would use either:

• waits
• is waiting

So espera can mean either, depending on context.

In this sentence, English would probably translate it naturally as is waiting, but Catalan does not need a special continuous form here.

Catalan does have progressive forms, such as està esperant, but the simple present is very common and natural.

The preposition a here means at or to, depending on context. With esperar, a l'estació means at the station.

The form l'estació is a contraction caused by elision:

• la estació is not used
• it becomes l'estació

This happens because estació begins with a vowel.

So:

• a + l'estació = at the station

Here perquè means because.

It introduces the reason:

• La meva amiga espera a l'estació perquè l'autobús arriba tard.
• My friend is waiting at the station because the bus is arriving late / is late.

This is an important word to learn because Catalan has several similar-looking forms:

• perquè = because
• per què = why / for what
• per a què or other structures can express so that, depending on context

In this sentence, perquè clearly means because.

Because autobús begins with a vowel, the article el is shortened to l' before it.

So:

• el llibre = the book
• l'autobús = the bus

This is very common in Catalan with singular articles before vowels.

Also, autobús is masculine, so the full article would be el, not la.

The accent in autobús shows where the stress falls: au-to-BÚS.

Written accents in Catalan are important because they help indicate pronunciation and sometimes distinguish words. If you leave the accent out, the word may be considered misspelled.

The same is true for perquè and estació, which also carry written accents.

Arriba tard literally means arrives late or is arriving late.

Catalan often expresses this idea with the verb arribar:

• El tren arriba tard = The train arrives late / is late
• L'autobús arriba tard = The bus arrives late / is late

In English, we often simply say the bus is late, but Catalan commonly uses arribar tard when talking about transport or someone reaching a place later than expected.

The sentence uses a very normal Catalan word order:

• La meva amiga = subject
• espera = verb
• a l'estació = place
• perquè l'autobús arriba tard = reason clause

So it follows a basic subject + verb + complements pattern.

Catalan word order can sometimes be flexible, but this version is straightforward and neutral. It sounds natural and is a good model for learners.

Yes. Esperar can mean both to wait and to hope, depending on context.

Examples:

• Espero a l'estació = I wait at the station
• Espero que vingui = I hope that he/she comes

In your sentence, the location a l'estació makes it clear that espera means waits / is waiting, not hopes.

You would change the feminine words to masculine:

• La meva amiga → El meu amic

So the sentence would become:

• El meu amic espera a l'estació perquè l'autobús arriba tard.

The rest stays the same because it does not depend on the gender of amic/amiga.