Si no saps què fer, pots preguntar a la meva germana.

Catalan often drops subject pronouns when they are not needed, because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

• saps = you know
• pots = you can

So:

• Si no saps què fer... = If you don’t know what to do...

You can say Si tu no saps què fer..., but adding tu usually gives extra emphasis or contrast.

Here, si means if.

So:

• Si no saps... = If you don’t know...

Be careful not to confuse it with sí (with an accent), which means yes.

• si = if
• sí = yes

Because no is the normal way to make a verb negative in Catalan.

• saps = you know
• no saps = you do not know / you don’t know

So:

• Si no saps què fer... = If you don’t know what to do...

This works very much like English do not before the verb, though in Catalan there is no extra helping verb like do.

què means what here, and the accent helps distinguish it in writing.

In this sentence:

• què fer = what to do

Catalan uses què with a grave accent in many cases when it is an interrogative or exclamatory word, including indirect questions like this one.

Compare:

• Què fas? = What are you doing?
• No sé què fas. = I don’t know what you are doing.

Because after què, Catalan often uses an infinitive to express ideas like what to do, what to say, where to go, etc.

So:

• què fer = what to do
• què dir = what to say
• on anar = where to go

You do not add ho here. The infinitive fer already works naturally in this expression.

Fer is the infinitive, meaning to do or to make.

In què fer, it means what to do.

Catalan commonly uses infinitives after question words in structures like this:

• No sé què fer. = I don’t know what to do.
• No sabem on anar. = We don’t know where to go.

Pots is the 2nd person singular of poder (to be able to / can).

• puc = I can
• pots = you can
• pot = he/she/it can

So:

• pots preguntar = you can ask

After poder, Catalan uses an infinitive:

• pots preguntar = can ask
• pots venir = can come
• pots esperar = can wait

This is a very common learner question.

In general:

• preguntar = to ask a question
• demanar = to ask for / request

In this sentence, preguntar a la meva germana means ask my sister.

Examples:

• Pots preguntar a la professora. = You can ask the teacher.
• Pots demanar ajuda. = You can ask for help.

So if you are asking someone something, preguntar a algú is often the right choice. If you are requesting an object, favor, or service, demanar is often used.

Because Catalan uses a before the person you ask.

• preguntar a algú = to ask someone

So:

• preguntar a la meva germana = to ask my sister

This is normal in Catalan, even though English does not need a preposition there.

More examples:

• Pregunto al professor. = I ask the teacher.
• Pregunta a la Maria. = Ask Maria.

In Catalan, possessives are often used with a definite article:

• el meu germà = my brother
• la meva germana = my sister

This is one of the big differences from English.

So Catalan usually says:

• la meva germana
• el meu pare
• la nostra casa

Without the article, the phrase is usually less standard or limited to certain contexts.

It means ask my sister.

Even though Catalan uses the preposition a, you should not translate word for word into English.

So:

• preguntar a la meva germana literally has a
• but the natural English translation is ask my sister

This is a good example of why direct word-for-word translation can be misleading.

Yes, but the given order is the most neutral and natural.

Standard order:

• Si no saps què fer, pots preguntar a la meva germana.

You could also hear or read variations for emphasis, but learners should stick with the basic structure:

• Si no saps què fer = conditional clause
• pots preguntar a la meva germana = main clause

This mirrors English quite closely: If you don’t know what to do, you can ask my sister.

You can change the verb forms depending on the subject.

For example:

• Si no sé què fer, puc preguntar a la meva germana.
  If I don’t know what to do, I can ask my sister.

• Si no sap què fer, pot preguntar a la meva germana.
  If he/she/you-formal doesn’t know what to do, he/she/you-formal can ask my sister.

• Si no sabeu què fer, podeu preguntar a la meva germana.
  If you all / you-formal-plural don’t know what to do, you can ask my sister.

This helps show why Catalan often omits the subject pronoun: the verb ending already gives that information.