La secretària diu que no cal signar res si pagues en efectiu.

La is the feminine singular definite article, meaning the.

• la secretària = the secretary
• secretària on its own = secretary / a secretary, depending on context

Catalan uses articles very regularly, often where English also uses the.

Also, secretària is feminine because it refers to a woman. The masculine form is secretari.

The accent in secretària shows both stress and vowel quality.

• secretària is stressed on -tà-
• The à tells you it is an open a sound and marks the stressed syllable

Without going too deep into spelling rules, the accent helps you know how to pronounce the word correctly.

Diu means says or is saying, and it comes from the verb dir = to say / to tell.

Here it is the 3rd person singular present:

• jo dic = I say
• tu dius = you say
• ell/ella diu = he/she says

So:

• La secretària diu... = The secretary says...

Que here means that.

It introduces a subordinate clause:

• La secretària diu que... = The secretary says that...

Just like in English, that can sometimes be omitted in translation, but in Catalan que is normally kept.

So the structure is:

• diu que no cal... = says that it isn’t necessary...

Caldre is a verb meaning to be necessary / to be needed. In this sentence, cal is the 3rd person singular form, used impersonally.

• cal = it is necessary / one must
• no cal = it is not necessary / there is no need to

So:

• no cal signar res = there’s no need to sign anything

This is a very common Catalan structure.

Examples:

• Cal estudiar. = It’s necessary to study.
• No cal venir demà. = There’s no need to come tomorrow.

Because after cal / no cal, Catalan often uses an infinitive.

• cal signar = it is necessary to sign
• no cal signar = it is not necessary to sign

This works a lot like English to sign after it’s necessary.

So the pattern is:

• cal + infinitive
• no cal + infinitive

Yes, res often means nothing, but after a negative it works like anything in English.

So:

• no cal signar res literally = it isn’t necessary to sign nothing
• but the real meaning is = there’s no need to sign anything

This is normal in Catalan and other Romance languages: a negative word can appear together with no.

Compare:

• No veig res. = I don’t see anything.
• No vull res. = I don’t want anything.

Without no, res can mean nothing:

• Res no importa tant. is not the normal everyday way to say it
• more naturally: No importa res = Nothing matters / Anything doesn’t matter depending on context, but usually nothing matters

For learners, the key point is:

• no + res is normal Catalan

After si meaning if, Catalan normally uses the present indicative to talk about real future possibilities.

So:

• si pagues en efectiu = if you pay in cash

Even though English often uses present too here, learners sometimes expect a future tense. Catalan does not normally use the future after this kind of si clause.

Compare:

• Si vens demà, t’ho explico. = If you come tomorrow, I’ll explain it to you.
• not normally Si vindràs... for this meaning

Here pagues is the 2nd person singular present of pagar:

• jo pago
• tu pagues
• ell/ella paga

Catalan usually drops subject pronouns when the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

• pagues already tells us it means you pay (tu pagues)

So:

• si pagues en efectiu = if you pay in cash
• si tu pagues en efectiu is also possible, but tu adds emphasis or contrast

For example:

• Si tu pagues en efectiu, no cal signar res. This sounds more like if you pay in cash...

En efectiu means in cash.

This is a fixed expression:

• pagar en efectiu = to pay in cash

The preposition en is the normal one here. You should learn it as a chunk:

• en efectiu
• amb targeta = by card / with a card

So:

• pagues en efectiu = you pay in cash
• pagues amb targeta = you pay by card

Yes, sometimes, but res is more natural and more common here.

• no cal signar res = the most natural choice
• no cal signar cap cosa = grammatical, but less idiomatic in everyday speech

Catalan often prefers the shorter negative word:

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

So for this sentence, res is definitely the best option.

They are related, but not exactly identical.

• no cal signar res = there’s no need to sign anything
• no has de signar res = you don’t have to sign anything

In many contexts they are very close, but no cal is more impersonal and general, while no has de addresses a specific person more directly.

Here, no cal sounds very natural because the secretary is stating a general rule:

• There is no need to sign anything if you pay in cash.

The sentence follows a very normal Catalan order:

• La secretària = subject
• diu = main verb
• que no cal signar res = subordinate clause
• si pagues en efectiu = condition

So, very roughly:

Subject + verb + que-clause + if-clause

More literally:

• The secretary says
• that there is no need
• to sign anything
• if you pay in cash

The sentence is quite close to English in structure, even though the Catalan expression no cal is less literal to translate word-for-word.