El raspall és al costat del mirall, sobre l'armari petit.

In Catalan, it is very common to use the definite article (el, la, els, les) where English might also use the.

• El raspall = the brush
• El is the masculine singular definite article.
• raspall is a masculine singular noun.

So El raspall és... simply means The brush is...

Catalan often uses articles very naturally before nouns, and in this sentence it works just like English.

Both ser and estar can sometimes translate as to be, which can be confusing for English speakers.

Here, és is the 3rd person singular of ser:

• és = is

In location sentences, Catalan often uses ser when identifying where something is in a neutral, descriptive way:

• El raspall és al costat del mirall.
• The brush is next to the mirror.

You may also hear estar in some contexts of location, especially in speech, but ser is very standard and natural here.

So for a learner, the safest reading is:

• és = is

al costat de is a fixed expression meaning:

• next to
• beside
• literally, something like at the side of

So:

• al costat del mirall = next to the mirror

Breakdown:

• al = a + el
• costat = side
• de = of

So literally:

• al costat de = at the side of

This is a very common Catalan expression for saying where something is.

Because de + el contracts in Catalan:

• de + el = del

So:

• del mirall = of the mirror

This is just like:

• a + el = al

In the sentence:

• al costat del mirall literally means:
• at the side of the mirror

These contractions are normal and required in standard Catalan.

Because a + el becomes al.

So:

• a el → al

In the expression al costat de, that al is part of the fixed phrase.

Examples:

• al costat de la porta = next to the door
• al costat del mirall = next to the mirror

So al here is not optional; it belongs to the expression.

Catalan often drops the vowel of the article before a noun beginning with a vowel or silent h.

So:

• el armari becomes l'armari

This is called apostrophe/elision.

Examples:

• l'armari = the wardrobe / the cabinet
• l'home = the man
• l'escola = the school

So in your sentence:

• sobre l'armari petit = on the small cabinet

Here, sobre means:

• on
• on top of
• above, depending on context

In this sentence, it most naturally means on or on top of:

• sobre l'armari petit = on the small cabinet

Catalan also has other ways to express similar ideas, such as:

• damunt de = on top of
• a sobre de = above / on top of

But sobre is perfectly natural here.

In this sentence, it most naturally describes the location of the brush.

So the meaning is:

• The brush is next to the mirror, on the small cabinet.

That means:

• the brush is next to the mirror
• and the brush is on the small cabinet

The comma helps show that this is an added location phrase referring to the brush’s position.

If Catalan wanted to make it clearer that the mirror was on the cabinet, it would usually be phrased differently.

In Catalan, adjectives often come after the noun.

So:

• armari petit = small cabinet
• literally: cabinet small

This is very normal in Catalan.

Compare:

• cotxe blau = blue car
• casa gran = big house
• mirall vell = old mirror

Sometimes adjectives can come before the noun, but that often changes the tone or emphasis. For basic description, the normal pattern is:

• noun + adjective

Catalan usually keeps the definite article in sentences like this when talking about specific objects.

So:

• el mirall = the mirror
• l'armari = the cabinet

In English, you also say:

• next to the mirror
• on the cabinet

So this works very similarly.

For learners, it is important to get used to Catalan articles, because they appear very often and are an essential part of natural speech.

A few useful pronunciation notes:

• raspall sounds roughly like rus-PAI or rahs-PAI
• mirall sounds roughly like mee-RAI

The ending -all in these words is pronounced with the Catalan ll, which in many accents sounds similar to y in English yes.

So:

• mirall ≈ mi-RAI
• raspall ≈ ras-PAI

Also:

• és has a clear stressed vowel
• petit is pronounced roughly puh-TEET

Exact pronunciation varies a bit by dialect, but those approximations will help.

The sentence structure is:

• El raspall = subject
• és = verb
• al costat del mirall, sobre l'armari petit = location information

So it follows a very common pattern:

• Subject + verb + place

More literally:

• The brush is next to the mirror, on the small cabinet.

This is a useful structure you can reuse:

• El llibre és sobre la taula. = The book is on the table.
• La cadira és al costat de la porta. = The chair is next to the door.

The comma helps separate the two location phrases:

• al costat del mirall
• sobre l'armari petit

It makes the sentence easier to read and understand.

Without the comma, the sentence might still be understandable:

• El raspall és al costat del mirall sobre l'armari petit.

But that version can sound more ambiguous, because it may momentarily suggest that the mirror is the thing on the small cabinet.

So the comma is useful because it clarifies that sobre l'armari petit is additional information about where the brush is.

Yes. This is a very useful model sentence.

Pattern:

• [Object] + és + [place expression]

Examples:

• El llibre és al costat de la tassa. = The book is next to the cup.
• La clau és sobre la taula. = The key is on the table.
• El telèfon és al costat de l'ordinador. = The phone is next to the computer.

You can also combine two location phrases, just like in your sentence:

• La tassa és al costat del plat, sobre la taula.
• The cup is next to the plate, on the table.

So this sentence is a great pattern to learn and reuse.