Avui em falta temps per endreçar el pis.

Literally, it is something like:

Today, time is lacking to me to tidy the apartment.

Word by word:

• Avui = today
• em = to me
• falta = is lacking / is missing
• temps = time
• per endreçar el pis = to tidy the apartment

So Catalan is not using the same structure as English I don’t have enough time.... Instead, it uses faltar: something is lacking to someone.

Because Catalan often expresses this idea with faltar.

• Em falta temps = I’m short of time / I lack time
• No tinc temps = I don’t have time

Both are natural, but they are built differently:

• Em falta temps focuses on what is missing.
• No tinc temps is a more direct I don’t have time structure.

So this sentence is perfectly natural, just a bit different from the most direct English pattern.

Because the verb agrees with what is lacking, not with the person.

Here, the thing lacking is temps, which is treated as singular, so you get:

• em falta temps = time is lacking to me

Compare:

• Em falta temps = I lack time
• Em falten hores = I lack hours
• Em falten diners = I lack money

So:

• temps → singular agreement → falta
• hores / diners → plural agreement → falten

Em is the unstressed pronoun meaning to me.

In this structure, the person who lacks something is expressed as an indirect object:

• em = to me
• et = to you
• li = to him/her
• ens = to us
• us = to you all
• els / els falta etc. = to them

So:

• Em falta temps = Time is lacking to me
• Et falta paciència = You lack patience
• Li falten diners = He/She lacks money

Here per + infinitive means something like to or for doing.

So:

• temps per endreçar el pis = time to tidy the apartment

It tells you what the time is needed for.

You can think of it as:

• I lack time for tidying the apartment
• more naturally in English: I don’t have enough time to tidy the apartment

In Catalan, per + infinitive is very common for expressing purpose or intended use.

Not exactly.

Endreçar usually means:

• to tidy
• to put in order
• to straighten up

So endreçar el pis means to tidy the apartment / flat.

This is different from netejar, which means to clean.

For example:

• endreçar l’habitació = tidy the room
• netejar l’habitació = clean the room

You can tidy without deeply cleaning, and you can clean without really tidying.

Pis usually means flat or apartment in Catalan.

So:

• endreçar el pis = tidy the apartment

The article el is there because it is a specific apartment, usually the speaker’s or one already known from context.

A useful note for English speakers: pis does not mean piece or anything similar. In everyday Catalan, pis very often means flat/apartment.

Yes — absolutely.

That sentence is very natural and means nearly the same thing:

• Avui em falta temps per endreçar el pis
• Avui no tinc temps per endreçar el pis

The first one emphasizes the idea of lacking time. The second one is the more straightforward I don’t have time structure.

Both are common and correct.

Avui is at the beginning because it sets the time frame right away: today.

That is very natural in Catalan. Catalan word order is fairly flexible, especially with time expressions.

Possible variations include:

• Avui em falta temps per endreçar el pis.
• Em falta temps avui per endreçar el pis.

The first one is more neutral and probably the most natural in ordinary speech.

Putting Avui first often gives the sentence a clear starting point: As for today...

In this sentence, temps is functioning as a singular mass noun meaning time.

That is why the verb is singular:

• em falta temps

You are right that temps can be confusing, because the form often looks the same in singular and plural. Context and verb agreement help you tell the difference.

Here it means time in general, not times/occasions, so singular meaning is intended.

It is neutral and very natural.

Nothing in it sounds especially formal or especially slangy. You could use it:

• in conversation
• in writing
• in everyday situations

If anything, em falta temps sounds slightly more expressive than the plain no tinc temps, but both are normal everyday Catalan.

Yes.

You can simply say:

• Avui em falta temps.

That means Today I’m short of time or Today I don’t have enough time.

Adding per endreçar el pis just specifies what you do not have enough time for.

So the full sentence answers not only what is lacking? but also for what purpose?