El regal que tinc és per a la mare.

to be

Breakdown of El regal que tinc és per a la mare.

• tenir: to have
• la mare: the mother
• per a: for

Questions & Answers about El regal que tinc és per a la mare.

What does que mean here?

Here, que is a relative pronoun, meaning that or which in English.

So:

• El regal que tinc = The gift that I have

It connects el regal with the clause tinc.

Catalan often uses que in the same kind of way English uses that:

• La noia que conec = The girl that I know
• El llibre que llegeixo = The book that I’m reading

In this sentence, que is necessary. You would not normally leave it out the way English sometimes does.

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Why does tinc mean I have even though there is no word for I?

Because Catalan usually drops subject pronouns when they are not needed.

• tinc already means I have
• It is the 1st person singular form of tenir = to have

So:

• (Jo) tinc = I have

The pronoun jo can be added for emphasis, but it is often omitted:

• El regal que tinc... = The gift that I have...
• El regal que jo tinc... = The gift that I have... (with extra emphasis on I)

This is very common in Catalan.