Breakdown of El dia de l'examen, he d'arribar aviat a l'escola.
Questions & Answers about El dia de l'examen, he d'arribar aviat a l'escola.
It is a time expression. It sets when the action happens: on the day of the exam.
Catalan often puts time phrases at the beginning of a sentence, just like English can do:
- El dia de l'examen, ...
- On the day of the exam, ...
So this first chunk is simply giving the time frame for the rest of the sentence.
Here de means of and links the two nouns:
- el dia = the day
- de l'examen = of the exam
So literally, it is the day of the exam.
This is a very common Catalan pattern:
- el llibre de la Maria = Maria's book / the book of Maria
- la porta de l'escola = the door of the school
Because Catalan articles often drop the vowel and add an apostrophe before a word beginning with a vowel (or silent h).
So:
- el examen becomes l'examen
- la escola becomes l'escola