La metgessa és a l'hospital de la ciutat, i la meva germana va a l'hospital avui.

Metgessa means female doctor. It is the feminine form of metge (male doctor or sometimes a doctor in a general sense).

• el metge = the male doctor
• la metgessa = the female doctor

You could also hear doctora, but metge/metgessa is the basic everyday word for a medical doctor.

Catalan often uses the definite article more naturally than English does.

So:

• La metgessa és a l'hospital = The doctor is at the hospital

In context, Catalan usually prefers la/el when talking about a specific person already known in the conversation, even where English might sometimes just say Doctor in certain situations.

In Catalan, possessives usually go with the definite article.

So the normal pattern is:

• la meva germana = my sister
• el meu germà = my brother
• la nostra casa = our house

This is different from English, which does not use the with possessives.

Because germana is feminine singular, the possessive has to agree with it.

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

So:

• el meu germà
• la meva germana

A l'hospital means at the hospital or to the hospital, depending on the verb.

It is formed from:

• a = at / to
• l' = the
• hospital = hospital

Because hospital begins with a silent h, the article el becomes l':

• el hospital → not used
• l'hospital = the hospital

So:

• a + l'hospital = a l'hospital

No. In standard Catalan, the h is silent.

So l'hospital is pronounced as if it began with a vowel sound.

That is why the article becomes l'.

This is a very common question for English speakers.

In Catalan, ser can be used for location, especially in straightforward statements of where someone or something is:

• La metgessa és a l'hospital.

English learners often expect estar because of Spanish, but Catalan does not work exactly the same way.

Very roughly:

• ser a = simple location, often neutral
• estar a = also possible, often with more emphasis on being/staying there

So és a l'hospital is completely natural Catalan.

Yes, va can do two different things in Catalan.

Here, va is the present tense of anar (to go):

• jo vaig
• tu vas
• ell/ella va

So:

• la meva germana va a l'hospital avui = my sister goes to the hospital today

But va can also be an auxiliary in the periphrastic past:

• va anar = went

The difference is the structure:

• va a l'hospital = goes to the hospital
• va anar a l'hospital = went to the hospital

Because the verb anar normally takes a before a destination.

• anar a casa = to go home
• anar a l'escola = to go to school
• anar a l'hospital = to go to the hospital

So va a l'hospital literally matches goes to the hospital.

De la ciutat means of the city or in the city, depending on how you translate it naturally.

So:

• l'hospital de la ciutat = the city hospital / the hospital of the city

It specifies which hospital we mean: the one associated with the city.

Because la ciutat refers to a specific city, not the general idea of city.

• de la ciutat = of the city
• de ciutat would usually sound unnatural here

Catalan normally uses the article when talking about a specific noun after de:

• la plaça de la vila
• el centre de la ciutat
• l'hospital de la ciutat

Catalan word order is fairly flexible. Avui means today, and it can appear in different places.

All of these are possible, depending on emphasis:

• La meva germana va a l'hospital avui.
• Avui la meva germana va a l'hospital.
• La meva germana avui va a l'hospital.

Putting avui at the end is perfectly natural and often sounds neutral.

It depends on the verb.

In this sentence:

• és a l'hospital = is at the hospital
• va a l'hospital = goes to the hospital

So a l'hospital itself can work with either meaning, and the verb tells you which one is intended.