Quan arriba algú nou, la secretària li demana l'adreça.

It can naturally be understood as either, depending on context.

• Quan arriba algú nou... can mean When someone new arrives...
• In a general or habitual context, it often feels like Whenever someone new arrives...

Because the rest of the sentence is also in the present tense, the whole sentence sounds like a general routine or repeated action.

Arriba is the 3rd person singular present of arribar = to arrive.

Catalan often uses the present tense for general truths, routines, and repeated situations, just like English does in sentences such as:

• When someone arrives, ...
• If someone calls, ...

So here, arriba does not mean only is arriving right now. It can also describe a usual pattern.

Algú means someone or somebody.

It is an indefinite pronoun, not an adjective. That means it stands on its own rather than modifying a noun.

So:

• algú = someone
• alguna persona = some person / some person or other

In this sentence, algú is the subject of arriba.

In Catalan, adjectives usually come after the noun or pronoun they describe.

So:

• algú nou = someone new
• not normally nou algú

Here nou describes algú, meaning new in the sense of newly arrived / new to the place / a newcomer.

No, not in the way a normal adjective with a clear noun would.

Algú is an indefinite pronoun meaning someone, so nou appears in the default masculine singular form.

Even if the person happens to be female, Catalan still commonly says:

• algú nou

because the grammatical controller is algú, not a specific feminine noun.

Catalan often uses the definite article more naturally than English in ordinary statements.

Here la secretària refers to the secretary in that setting, so the secretary is the natural translation.

The article is not unusual at all here. In Catalan, job titles and roles often appear with the definite article when referring to a known person in a situation.

Li is an indirect object pronoun. Here it means:

• to him
• to her
• to that person

It refers back to algú nou.

So:

• la secretària li demana l'adreça
• literally: the secretary asks him/her for the address

Catalan often uses this clitic pronoun where English does not need a separate word.

This is a very common learner question.

In Catalan:

• preguntar = to ask a question
• demanar = to ask for / request

So:

• preguntar una cosa = to ask something
• demanar l'adreça = to ask for the address

In this sentence, the secretary is requesting information from the new person, so demanar is the right verb.

The pattern is:

• demanar alguna cosa a algú
• to ask someone for something

In this sentence, Catalan replaces a algú with the pronoun li:

• La secretària demana l'adreça a algú nou
• La secretària li demana l'adreça

So the parts are:

• li = to him/her
• demana = asks for
• l'adreça = the address

Because adreça begins with a vowel, la contracts to l' before it.

So:

• la + adreça → l'adreça

This is very common in Catalan:

• l'escola
• l'amiga
• l'oficina

The letter ç is called ce trencada.

It represents an s sound. So adreça is pronounced roughly like ah-DREH-suh in Central Catalan.

Catalan uses ç before a, o, u to keep the soft s sound that plain c would not normally have there.

Because the sentence begins with a subordinate clause:

• Quan arriba algú nou, ...

Then comes the main clause:

• la secretària li demana l'adreça.

This comma is standard and helps separate the introductory time clause from the main statement. It works much like English punctuation in:

• When someone new arrives, the secretary asks for the address.

Yes, a few small variations are possible, but the original is very natural.

For example:

• Quan arriba algú nou, la secretària demana l'adreça a aquesta persona.
• La secretària li demana l'adreça quan arriba algú nou.

However, the original version is smoother and more idiomatic because Catalan likes clitic pronouns such as li, and the time clause at the beginning clearly sets the scene.

In standard Catalan, li is normally singular:

• to him
• to her
• to you (formal singular)

For plural indirect objects, standard Catalan uses els:

• La secretària els demana l'adreça = The secretary asks them for their address

That said, in some spoken varieties, you may hear li used more broadly, but for learners, it is best to treat li as singular.