La meva mare no vol cafè, però sí que vol te.

In Catalan, possessives are very often used together with the definite article, especially with family members and many everyday nouns.

So Catalan says:

• la meva mare = my mother
• el meu pare = my father
• la meva germana = my sister

This is different from English, where you normally do not use the before my.

So even though English says my mother, Catalan usually says the my mother structurally: la meva mare.

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

Here are some present-tense forms:

• jo vull = I want
• tu vols = you want
• ell / ella vol = he / she wants
• nosaltres volem = we want
• vosaltres voleu = you all want
• ells / elles volen = they want

So in La meva mare no vol cafè, vol means wants.

In Catalan, the normal way to make a sentence negative is to put no directly before the verb.

So:

• vol = wants
• no vol = does not want / doesn't want

Examples:

• No menja carn = He/She doesn't eat meat
• No parla anglès = He/She doesn't speak English
• La meva mare no vol cafè = My mother doesn't want coffee

This is much simpler than English, because Catalan does not need an extra auxiliary like doesn't.

Però means but.

It connects two contrasting ideas:

• La meva mare no vol cafè = My mother doesn't want coffee
• però sí que vol te = but she does want tea

So però is just the normal Catalan word for but.

The part sí que adds emphasis.

Compare:

• però vol te = but she wants tea
• però sí que vol te = but she does want tea / but she definitely wants tea

In English, we often use do/does for emphasis:

• She doesn't want coffee, but she does want tea

That is very close to what sí que is doing here. It highlights the contrast with the negative part before it.

So sí que is not required for basic grammar, but it makes the contrast stronger and more natural in many contexts.

Here, que is not the usual that you may have learned first.

In the expression sí que, it helps create an emphatic structure. Together, sí que means something like:

• indeed
• really
• actually
• does / does indeed

So in this sentence:

• però sí que vol te

the que is part of the emphatic pattern, not a separate word you would translate literally.

A good way to understand it is by meaning, not word-for-word translation.

Here, cafè and te are being used as general mass nouns: coffee and tea, not a coffee or a tea.

So:

• vol cafè = wants coffee
• vol te = wants tea

This is similar to English when you talk about the substance in general.

If you wanted to refer to a coffee or a tea as a drink or serving, Catalan can also use an article or numeral depending on the context:

• vol un cafè = wants a coffee
• vol un te = wants a tea

In your sentence, the idea is simply the preference or choice of drink type, so no article is needed.

Yes. That sentence is grammatically correct.

• La meva mare no vol cafè, però vol te = My mother doesn't want coffee, but wants tea

However, però sí que vol te sounds more emphatic and more contrastive. It stresses that although coffee is rejected, tea is definitely wanted.

So:

• però vol te = neutral contrast
• però sí que vol te = stronger contrast / emphasis

Both are correct; the version with sí que is just more expressive.

Yes, they are different words.

• te = tea
• té = has (from tenir, to have)

Examples:

• Vol te = He/She wants tea
• Té gana = He/She is hungry / literally has hunger

The accent matters because it distinguishes two different words.

So in your sentence, te without an accent is the drink.

No. Vol means wants, not likes.

So:

• vol cafè = wants coffee
• li agrada el cafè = likes coffee

This is an important difference.

For example:

• La meva mare no vol cafè = My mother doesn't want coffee
  This could mean right now, in this situation.

• A la meva mare no li agrada el cafè = My mother doesn't like coffee
  This describes her taste or preference in general.

So the sentence is about what she wants, not necessarily what she likes overall.

Catalan often leaves out subject pronouns when they are not needed, because the verb form already shows the person and number.

Here, vol already tells you it is he/she.

So Catalan naturally says:

• La meva mare no vol cafè, però sí que vol te

You can say:

• La meva mare no vol cafè, però ella sí que vol te

but adding ella gives extra emphasis, something like but she does want tea. In many cases, leaving it out sounds more natural.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

la ME-va MA-re no VOL ca-FÈ, pe-RÒ sí que VOL TÈ

A few useful notes:

• meva sounds roughly like MEH-vuh
• mare sounds roughly like MAH-ruh
• vol has a short o sound
• cafè is stressed on the last syllable: ca-FÈ
• però is stressed on the second syllable: pe-RÒ
• te is short and simple: teh

Exact pronunciation varies somewhat by dialect, but that stress pattern is the key thing to get right.

Yes. Sí by itself can simply mean yes.

For example:

• Vol cafè? = Does she want coffee?
• Sí = Yes

But in your sentence, sí que is a fixed emphatic pattern, not just the word yes on its own.

So:

• sí = yes
• sí que vol te = she really does want tea / she does want tea

That is why sí que feels stronger than plain vol te.