Acabo d'estendre la roba, però encara l'he de plegar.

In Catalan, acabar de + infinitive is a very common structure meaning to have just done something.

So:

• Acabo d'estendre la roba = I’ve just hung out the washing / I’ve just put the laundry out to dry

Here:

• acabo = I finish / I am finishing
• but acabo de + infinitive does not literally mean I finish to...
• as a whole, it means I have just...

Other examples:

• Acabo d'arribar = I’ve just arrived
• Acabem de menjar = We’ve just eaten

So this is a fixed and very useful pattern.

Because Catalan often contracts de before a vowel.

• de + estendre → d'estendre

This is just like other common contractions in Catalan:

• l'he from la he or el he? Not exactly in origin, but the apostrophe shows that the vowel has dropped.
• d'anar, d'obrir, d'estudiar, etc.

So acabo d'estendre is simply the normal written form before a vowel sound.

Literally, estendre means to spread out or to stretch out, but with la roba it usually means:

• to hang out the washing
• to put the laundry out to dry

So in this sentence, it does not mean just spread the clothes on a table unless the context says that. In everyday household language, estendre la roba normally refers to laundry.

A few useful related expressions:

• estendre la roba = hang out the washing
• recollir la roba = bring in / collect the washing
• plegar la roba = fold the laundry

Because roba in Catalan is often a collective noun or mass noun.

So even though it is grammatically singular, it can refer to:

• clothing in general
• a load of laundry
• clothes as a group

That is why:

• la roba can mean the clothes
• la roba bruta = the dirty laundry
• la roba neta = the clean clothes / clean laundry

This is similar to how English uses singular mass nouns like furniture or luggage to refer to multiple items.

l' is the direct object pronoun, standing for la roba.

So instead of repeating la roba, Catalan replaces it with l':

• encara he de plegar la roba
• encara l'he de plegar

Both mean I still have to fold it.

Here, l' means it, referring back to la roba.

Because la roba begins with the article la, the pronoun would normally be la, but before a vowel it becomes l':

• la he is not used
• l'he is the correct form

So:

• la roba → l' when it becomes the pronoun before he

Catalan allows object pronouns to appear before the conjugated verb in structures like haver de + infinitive.

So:

• encara l'he de plegar means
• I still have to fold it

This is very natural Catalan.

You may also hear or see:

• encara he de plegar-la

That is also correct.

So Catalan often gives you two possibilities with verb periphrases:

• l'he de plegar
• he de plegar-la

Both are acceptable. The first one is very common and is exactly what your sentence uses.

Yes. haver de + infinitive means:

• to have to
• to need to
• sometimes must, depending on context

So:

• he de plegar = I have to fold
• encara l'he de plegar = I still have to fold it

This is a very common Catalan way to express obligation or something still pending.

Examples:

• He de marxar = I have to leave
• Hem de parlar = We have to talk

In your sentence, it fits well because the speaker has already done one task, but another task remains.

Both forms may be encountered, depending on register and variety.

In standard Catalan, he de + infinitive is perfectly correct and very common:

• he de plegar

Many speakers also use:

• haig de plegar

So if you already know haig de, that is why this sentence may look a little different. The sentence uses the standard form he de.

For a learner, the important thing is:

• he de plegar = I have to fold
• haig de plegar = also commonly used with the same meaning in many contexts

Encara here means still.

So:

• l'he de plegar = I have to fold it
• encara l'he de plegar = I still have to fold it

It shows that the action has not happened yet, even though another action has already been completed.

That creates the contrast in the sentence:

• Acabo d'estendre la roba = I’ve just hung out the laundry
• però encara l'he de plegar = but I still have to fold it

In natural English, that sounds a bit odd if you imagine the real-world order of chores, but grammatically it works perfectly. The sentence is about one task being done and another still remaining.

Good question: plegar has several meanings in Catalan, depending on context.

Here, with la roba, it means:

• to fold
• to fold up

So:

• plegar la roba = to fold the clothes / fold the laundry

But in other contexts, plegar can also mean things like:

• to stop working
• to leave
• to quit

For example:

• Plego a les sis = I finish work at six / I leave at six

So the object tells you which meaning is intended:

• plegar la roba → fold the clothes
• plegar de la feina or plegar on its own → finish work / leave / quit

Because però means but, and it introduces a contrast between two clauses:

• Acabo d'estendre la roba
• però encara l'he de plegar

The comma helps separate those two ideas, just as in English:

• I’ve just hung out the washing, but I still have to fold it.

So the punctuation works very similarly to English here.

Yes. You could say:

• Acabo d'estendre la roba, però encara he de plegar-la.

This is also correct and natural.

You could even keep the full noun:

• Acabo d'estendre la roba, però encara he de plegar la roba.

But that sounds more repetitive, so Catalan usually prefers the pronoun once the noun has already been mentioned.

That is why l'he de plegar sounds very natural: it avoids repeating la roba.