La mare no vol mirar la pel·lícula avui perquè vol llegir.

Catalan very often uses the definite article with family members when talking about them: la mare, el pare, l’avi.

So la mare is completely normal and simply means mother / mom in context. English usually does not use the here, so this is something English speakers often notice right away.

Vol is the 3rd person singular present form of voler, which means to want.

So:

• la mare vol = the mother wants / she wants

Because the subject is la mare, we understand vol as she wants.

This is a very common Catalan structure:

• vol = the conjugated verb
• mirar / llegir = infinitives

It works like English wants to watch and wants to read.

Catalan uses:

• vol mirar
• vol llegir

English uses:

• wants to watch
• wants to read

After verbs like voler, Catalan normally uses the infinitive directly, with no extra word equivalent to English to.

So:

• vol mirar = wants to watch
• vol llegir = wants to read

This is normal Catalan grammar.

In Catalan, no usually goes before the conjugated verb.

So:

• no vol mirar = does not want to watch

Not:

• vol no mirar in this meaning

This is the standard position for negation:

• no pot venir = cannot come
• no sap nedar = doesn’t know how to swim
• no vol llegir = doesn’t want to read

Yes, Catalan can use both mirar and veure with films, but they are not exactly the same.

• mirar = to watch / look at, with the idea of paying attention
• veure = to see

So mirar la pel·lícula is very natural for watching the movie.
A sentence with veure could also be possible in many contexts, but mirar strongly matches the English idea of watch.

La pel·lícula means the movie, so it refers to a specific movie, probably one already known in the situation.

If you wanted to say a movie, you would use:

• una pel·lícula

So the article changes the meaning:

• la pel·lícula = the movie
• una pel·lícula = a movie

Yes. Catalan word order is fairly flexible, especially with time expressions like avui.

This sentence is natural:

• La mare no vol mirar la pel·lícula avui perquè vol llegir.

But you could also hear:

• Avui, la mare no vol mirar la pel·lícula perquè vol llegir.
• La mare avui no vol mirar la pel·lícula perquè vol llegir.

The basic meaning stays the same, but the emphasis can shift slightly.

Here perquè means because.

The accent matters because Catalan distinguishes several similar forms:

• perquè = because
• per què = why / for what
• el perquè = the reason

So in this sentence:

• perquè vol llegir = because she wants to read

Catalan often leaves out a repeated subject when it is already clear from context.

So:

• La mare no vol mirar la pel·lícula avui perquè vol llegir.

naturally means:

• The mother doesn’t want to watch the movie today because she wants to read.

You could repeat the noun:

• ... perquè la mare vol llegir

but that sounds more repetitive and is usually unnecessary.

Catalan often drops subject pronouns because the verb form and context already show who the subject is.

So Catalan prefers:

• ... perquè vol llegir

rather than:

• ... perquè ella vol llegir

Adding ella would usually give extra emphasis or contrast, like she in she wants to read, not someone else.

Yes. Llegir can be used on its own when the object is obvious, unimportant, or just not mentioned.

So:

• vol llegir simply means wants to read

It is similar to English, where you can also say:

• She wants to read

without naming the book, magazine, or article.

The dot in pel·lícula is called the punt volat, and the spelling l·l is called ela geminada.

It shows that this is not the same as ll.

• ll is a different Catalan sound
• l·l represents two separate l sounds historically and in spelling

For learners, the important thing is mostly to recognize it in writing. It is a normal Catalan spelling feature.

Traditionally, Catalan ll is a palatal sound, often approximated by English speakers as ly.

So llegir starts roughly like:

• lye-

In many modern accents, the sound may be closer to y, but ly is a good learner-friendly approximation.

Also, the g before i in llegir is pronounced like the s in measure in many Catalan varieties. So a rough guide is something like lye-ZHEER or lyə-ZHIR, depending on accent.