Hi ha un cartell a l'entrada del museu que diu que avui tanquen tard.

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Breakdown of Hi ha un cartell a l'entrada del museu que diu que avui tanquen tard.

• avui: today
• haver-hi: there be
• a: at

Questions & Answers about Hi ha un cartell a l'entrada del museu que diu que avui tanquen tard.

What does Hi ha mean, and why is it not és or està?

Hi ha is the normal Catalan way to say there is or there are. It is used to say that something exists or is present somewhere.

So Hi ha un cartell means There is a sign.

You would not use és or està here because those mean different things. És is used for identity or description, and està is used for location or temporary state. In this sentence, the idea is first introducing the existence of the sign, so hi ha is the right choice.

What exactly does cartell mean here?

Cartell usually means a sign, poster, or notice with written information on it.

In this sentence, it most naturally means a posted notice or sign at the museum entrance.

A learner may wonder about senyal, which can also mean sign, but senyal is more often a signal or sign in the sense of a marker, symbol, or traffic sign. For a written notice, cartell is very natural.

Why is it a l'entrada with an apostrophe?

Because entrada is a feminine noun, so the full form of the article is la. But before a vowel, la becomes l'.

So:

la entrada → l'entrada

Then you add the preposition a:

a + l'entrada = a l'entrada

Here it means at the entrance.