La meva veïna és a la ciutat avui, però demà és a casa.

My neighbor is in the city today, but tomorrow she is at home.

Breakdown of La meva veïna és a la ciutat avui, però demà és a casa.

• ser: to be
• avui: today
• a: in
• a: at

Questions & Answers about La meva veïna és a la ciutat avui, però demà és a casa.

Why is it la meva veïna instead of just meva veïna?

In Catalan, possessives usually come with the definite article.

So:

• la meva veïna = my neighbor
• el meu cotxe = my car

This is different from English, where you normally just say my neighbor without the.

There are some exceptions, especially with certain family words in some contexts, but for a sentence like this, la meva veïna is the normal pattern.

Why is it meva and not meu?

Because the possessive has to agree with the noun it describes.

veïna is:

• feminine
• singular

So the possessive must also be feminine singular:

• meva

Compare:

• el meu veí = my male neighbor
• la meva veïna = my female neighbor

What does veïna mean exactly, and why does it have ï?

veïna means female neighbor. The masculine form is veí.

The ï shows that the vowels are pronounced separately. So veïna is pronounced roughly like ve-EE-na, not as one blended sound.

That diaeresis is important:

• veïna = separate vowel sounds
• without it, the pronunciation rules would be different

So the spelling helps you say the word correctly.