No hi ha ningú a l'oficina, però la secretària tornarà aviat.

Hi ha is the very common Catalan expression for there is / there are.

So:

• Hi ha ningú would literally be there is nobody / there is anybody
• No hi ha ningú means there is nobody or there isn’t anybody

It helps to learn hi ha as a fixed chunk, because Catalan uses it constantly to talk about existence.

In this expression, hi is part of the standard existential structure hi ha.

Historically, hi is a locative pronoun, but for a learner, the most useful thing is to treat hi ha as one unit meaning there is / there are.

So even if English just uses there, Catalan uses hi ha.

Yes, from an English point of view it looks like a double negative, but in Catalan this is normal. Catalan uses negative concord, which means several negative elements can appear in the same sentence without canceling each other out.

So:

• No hi ha ningú = There is nobody
• literally, it may feel like There isn’t nobody, but that is just how Catalan grammar works

This is very common with words like:

• ningú = nobody / anybody
• res = nothing / anything
• mai = never / ever
• enlloc = nowhere / anywhere

It can correspond to either one in English, depending on the sentence.

In No hi ha ningú, the natural English translations are:

• There is nobody
• There isn’t anybody

So the Catalan word is ningú, but English may translate it as either nobody or anybody because English handles negation differently.

This has two parts:

• a = often means at or in with places
• l'oficina = the office

The l' is the article la shortened before a vowel:

• la oficina becomes l'oficina

So a l'oficina means at the office or in the office, depending on the context.

Because in Catalan, the definite articles el and la usually contract before a word beginning with a vowel or silent h.

So:

• la + oficina → l'oficina

This is similar to how French does elision in words like l’école.

Because here it means the secretary, a specific person the speaker and listener can identify.

Catalan uses definite articles very naturally with nouns, including people in many contexts. In this sentence, la secretària is simply the subject: the secretary.

So the second clause means:

• però la secretària tornarà aviat = but the secretary will return soon

Tornarà is the third-person singular simple future of tornar.

• tornar = to return / to come back
• tornarà = he/she/it will return

Here it refers to la secretària, so it means:

• the secretary will return
• or more naturally, the secretary will be back

Because Catalan often leaves out subject pronouns when they are not needed.

In this sentence, the subject is already expressed as la secretària, so adding ella would usually be unnecessary.

Catalan is a pro-drop language, like Spanish or Italian, so subject pronouns are often omitted when the meaning is clear.

Aviat means soon.

Putting it after the verb is very natural in Catalan:

• tornarà aviat = will return soon

That is the neutral, standard word order. You can sometimes move adverbs for emphasis, but the version in your sentence is the most straightforward one.

Però means but.

It links the two parts of the sentence:

• No hi ha ningú a l'oficina = nobody is at the office
• però la secretària tornarà aviat = but the secretary will return soon

So però introduces a contrast, just like but in English.

The accent in però is part of the normal spelling. It shows the stressed vowel and helps indicate pronunciation.

In general, Catalan accent marks can show:

• which syllable is stressed
• sometimes the quality of the vowel

So però is stressed on the last syllable.

In modern Catalan, hi ha is used for both there is and there are.

For example:

• Hi ha una persona = There is one person
• Hi ha dues persones = There are two people

That is useful for English speakers, because English changes between is and are, but Catalan normally keeps hi ha.

Yes. That is also correct.

• No hi ha ningú a l'oficina is a neutral way to present the information
• A l'oficina no hi ha ningú puts more focus on the office

Both mean the same thing, but the emphasis is slightly different. Catalan often allows this kind of movement for focus or style.