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

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.

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

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.

In Catalan, ser can often be used to express simple location, especially in standard language and in common expressions like:

• és a casa
• és a la ciutat

So La meva veïna és a la ciutat avui means your neighbor is in the city today.

In many contexts, estar can also be used for location, especially if you want to emphasize someone’s current presence or staying somewhere. But és a... is completely normal here.

A useful way to think about it is:

• ser: simple location, identification, general statement
• estar: often more about being situated, staying, or a temporary state

But in real Catalan, the boundary is not always as sharp as in Spanish grammar explanations.

Because ciutat is feminine.

The article is:

• la ciutat = the city

When a comes before:

• el, it contracts to al
• la, it stays a la

So:

• a + el parc → al parc
• a + la ciutat → a la ciutat

That is why a la ciutat is correct.

Because a casa is a fixed expression meaning at home or home.

So:

• és a casa = is at home

This is very common in Catalan.

Compare:

• a casa = at home
• a la casa = at the house / at the building

So in your sentence, demà és a casa means tomorrow she is at home, not at the house in a more literal building-focused sense.

Yes. That is also correct.

Catalan allows some flexibility with time expressions like avui and demà.

Your original sentence:

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

A very natural alternative:

• Avui la meva veïna és a la ciutat, però demà és a casa

Both are understandable. Putting avui at the beginning often sounds a little more natural because time expressions are frequently placed early in the sentence, but the original version is fine.

Because Catalan often leaves out subject pronouns when the subject is already clear. This is called being a pro-drop language.

So:

• però demà és a casa
  already clearly means
• but tomorrow she is at home

The verb form és plus the context tell you who the subject is.

You could say però demà ella és a casa if you want emphasis or contrast, but it is not necessary.

però means but.

The accent marks the stressed vowel and helps show the correct pronunciation. It is a normal part of the spelling.

So:

• avui = today
• però = but
• demà = tomorrow

Catalan uses written accents regularly, so it is important to learn them as part of the word, not as optional marks.

It is talking about location, not movement.

• és a la ciutat avui = she is in the city today
• demà és a casa = tomorrow she is at home

The preposition a can sometimes correspond to English at, in, or to, depending on context. Here it means location:

• in the city
• at home

If you wanted to emphasize movement, Catalan would usually make that clearer with a verb of going, such as anar.

Not necessarily. veïna can mean a female neighbor in a general sense, such as someone living nearby, in the same building, on the same street, or next door, depending on context.

So English neighbor and Catalan veïna match quite closely. The main extra detail in Catalan is that the word shows gender:

• veí = male neighbor
• veïna = female neighbor