No hi ha sucre a la cuina ni sal a la taula.

Hi ha is the standard Catalan way to say there is or there are.

So:

• Hi ha sucre = There is sugar
• No hi ha sucre = There is no sugar

In this sentence, No hi ha sucre a la cuina ni sal a la taula, hi ha is not about possession; it expresses existence/presence in a place.

In hi ha, hi is a locative clitic, historically meaning something like there.

So the expression literally developed from something like there has/is and became the normal existential structure in Catalan.

For a learner, the important thing is:

• treat hi ha as a fixed expression meaning there is / there are
• in negative form, it becomes no hi ha

You normally do not drop hi here.

Because in Catalan, no normally goes before the verb phrase.

So:

• hi ha = there is / there are
• no hi ha = there is not / there are not

The order is very regular in Catalan:

• No parla = He/She does not speak
• No en tinc = I do not have any
• No hi ha = There is not / There are not

So no comes first, then the clitic(s), then the verb.

Because they are mass nouns here, used in a general, indefinite sense.

Catalan often leaves out the article after hi ha / no hi ha when talking about something nonspecific:

• Hi ha pa = There is bread
• No hi ha aigua = There is no water
• Hi ha sucre = There is sugar

That is similar to English, where you also say there is sugar, not normally there is the sugar, unless you mean a specific sugar already identified.

If you used an article, the meaning would usually become more specific:

• No hi ha el sucre = The sugar is not there / The specific sugar is missing

That is a different idea.

Ni means nor.

So the structure:

• No hi ha sucre ... ni sal ...

means:

• There is no sugar ... nor salt ...

In natural English, we often say no sugar ... and no salt or no sugar ... or salt, but Catalan commonly uses ni in this kind of negative coordination.

A very useful pattern is:

• No hi ha X ni Y = There is no X nor Y / There is no X and no Y

Examples:

• No hi ha pa ni llet = There is no bread or milk
• No tinc temps ni diners = I have neither time nor money

Because Catalan, like English, often omits repeated words when the structure is clear.

The full version would be:

• No hi ha sucre a la cuina ni hi ha sal a la taula

But repeating hi ha is unnecessary, so Catalan naturally shortens it to:

• No hi ha sucre a la cuina ni sal a la taula

English does the same kind of thing:

• There is no sugar in the kitchen nor salt on the table

instead of repeating there is twice.

Because a is a very common preposition for location in Catalan, and it can correspond to different English prepositions depending on context.

Here:

• a la cuina = in the kitchen
• a la taula = on the table or sometimes at the table, depending on context

So Catalan uses a, while English chooses a more specific preposition such as in, on, or at.

This is normal and very common. You should not expect a to always mean only to.

Also note:

• a + la = a la
• but with masculine el, you often get contraction: a + el = al

For example:

• a la cuina
• al menjador

Yes. In many everyday contexts, a la taula can naturally mean on the table.

Catalan often uses a where English prefers on for surfaces.

If a speaker wants to be more explicit about physical position on top of a surface, they can say things like:

• damunt la taula
• sobre la taula

Both mean on the table / on top of the table more explicitly.

So:

• sal a la taula is natural
• sal damunt la taula is more explicitly salt on top of the table

Because hi ha introduces the existence or presence of something, while ser/estar are usually used to say where a specific, already identified thing is.

Compare:

• Hi ha sucre a la cuina = There is sugar in the kitchen

  • some sugar exists/is present there

• El sucre és a la cuina or El sucre està a la cuina = The sugar is in the kitchen

  • a specific sugar, already known in context

So in your sentence, the speaker is not talking about a specific container or portion already identified. They are simply saying that sugar is absent from the kitchen and salt is absent from the table. That is why no hi ha is the right structure.

In normal modern Catalan, hi ha is used for both singular and plural in this existential meaning.

So:

• Hi ha sucre = There is sugar
• Hi ha llibres = There are books
• No hi ha llibres = There are no books

Unlike English, Catalan does not usually switch to a different form like there are.

That means hi ha is a very useful chunk to memorize as one invariable expression.

Yes. That is a good English way to understand the structure.

Catalan:

• No hi ha sucre a la cuina ni sal a la taula

can be understood as:

• There is neither sugar in the kitchen nor salt on the table

But in everyday English, people often choose slightly different wording, such as:

• There is no sugar in the kitchen and no salt on the table
• There’s no sugar in the kitchen or salt on the table

So the Catalan structure is perfectly natural, even if English may phrase it in several different ways.