El dinar és sobre la taula, i el sopar és a la cuina.

Catalan uses the definite article much more often than English does. So el dinar and el sopar are completely normal.

Here, el dinar means the lunch / lunch and el sopar means the dinner / dinner. English often drops the article, but Catalan frequently keeps it.

So a very literal word-for-word comparison can sound more article-heavy in Catalan than in English.

Yes, they can also be verbs.

• dinar = lunch / to have lunch
• sopar = dinner / to have dinner

In this sentence, they are clearly nouns because they are preceded by the article el:

• el dinar
• el sopar

Without the article, they could be read as infinitives depending on the context.

This is a very common question.

In Catalan, ser is often used to say where something is located, especially in neutral, straightforward statements like this one:

• El llibre és a la taula.
• El sopar és a la cuina.

So és here is the normal choice.

English speakers often expect something more like Spanish estar, but Catalan does not work exactly the same way. Estar exists in Catalan, but ser is very commonly used for simple location.

They use different prepositions because the relationships are different.

• sobre la taula = on the table / over the table
• a la cuina = in the kitchen / at the kitchen

sobre gives a more specific physical position: something is on top of the table.

a is a very common Catalan preposition for location, and depending on context it can correspond to English at, in, or to.

They are very close, and both are correct.

• sobre la taula is a compact, direct way to say on the table
• a sobre de la taula is also very common and can feel a little more explicit, like on top of the table

So yes, both are possible. In this sentence, sobre la taula is perfectly natural.

Here it means in the kitchen or at the kitchen, depending on how natural that sounds in English.

The reason is the verb és: this is a location statement, not movement.

• El sopar és a la cuina = the dinner is in the kitchen

If there were movement, you would normally have a verb of motion:

• Va a la cuina = He/She goes to the kitchen

So a can have different English translations, and the verb helps you interpret it.

The full sentence repeats the verb because it has two coordinated clauses:

• El dinar és sobre la taula
• i el sopar és a la cuina

This is clear and completely normal.

Catalan can sometimes omit repeated material if it is obvious from context, but for learners the repeated verb is the safest and most standard version.

The accent in és is important.

It helps distinguish the verb form és (is) from es, which can be a pronoun in Catalan.

So:

• és = is
• es = a different grammatical word

The accent also shows that the word is stressed.

Because Catalan normally keeps the conjunction i unchanged.

So:

• ..., i el sopar ...

If you know Spanish, this may stand out, because Spanish sometimes changes y to e before certain sounds. Catalan does not normally do that here. It simply stays i.

Because both nouns are feminine singular nouns.

• la taula = the table
• la cuina = the kitchen

The article has to agree with the noun, so Catalan uses:

• el for many masculine singular nouns
• la for many feminine singular nouns

That is why the sentence has:

• el dinar
• el sopar
• la taula
• la cuina