A casa nostra, volem reciclar el paper i els diaris.

A casa nostra is the most natural way to say at our house / in our home.

A few useful points:

• casa nostra literally means our home/house
• In Catalan, with this kind of expression, the possessive often comes after the noun:
  • casa nostra = our home
  • compare with English, where the possessive usually comes before: our house
• A casa... is a very common pattern:
  • a casa meva = at my house / at home
  • a casa teva = at your house
  • a casa seva = at his/her/their house

You can say a la nostra casa, but it usually sounds more literal or more specific, like referring to the physical house itself rather than the idea of home. In everyday speech, a casa nostra is much more idiomatic.

In Catalan, possessives can often come after the noun, especially in set expressions and in slightly more traditional or idiomatic phrasing.

So:

• casa nostra = our home
• literally: house ours

This order is especially common in expressions like:

• casa meva = my house
• mare meva = my mother
• Déu meu = my God

You may also see possessives before the noun in some contexts, but in expressions with casa, the post-noun pattern is very common and natural.

The comma marks A casa nostra as a fronted phrase, setting the scene first:

• A casa nostra, volem reciclar...
• literally something like: At our house, we want to recycle...

It helps separate the location/topic from the main statement.

Without the comma, the sentence would still be understandable, but the comma is natural because the speaker is introducing the context first.

Volem means we want.

In Catalan, subject pronouns are often omitted because the verb ending already shows who the subject is. Here:

• vull = I want
• vols = you want
• vol = he/she/it wants
• volem = we want
• voleu = you all / formal you want
• volen = they want

So volem already tells you the subject is we, which is why nosaltres is not necessary.

If you said Nosaltres volem..., it would add emphasis, something like we want...

In Catalan, after voler (to want), the next verb normally stays in the infinitive:

• volem reciclar = we want to recycle
• vull menjar = I want to eat
• volen venir = they want to come

So Catalan does not need an extra separate word corresponding to English to here. The infinitive itself does the job.

Catalan uses the definite article much more often than English does.

So:

• el paper = paper
• els diaris = newspapers

Even when English would use no article, Catalan often prefers one, especially when talking about things in a general or familiar category.

This is very normal:

• M'agrada la música = I like music
• Estudio el català = I study Catalan
• Reciclem el vidre = We recycle glass

So el paper i els diaris is not unusually specific; it is just standard Catalan usage.

This is because the two nouns are being thought of differently:

• paper is often treated as a material/substance, so the singular is natural: paper
• diaris means individual newspapers, so the plural is natural: newspapers

This is similar to English:

• We recycle paper → material
• We recycle newspapers → countable items

So the contrast is not strange; it reflects how each noun is normally used.

No. This is a very important false friend.

• diari = newspaper or journal
• diaris = newspapers

English diary is usually:

• diari personal
• sometimes agenda, depending on the meaning

So in this sentence, els diaris definitely means the newspapers, not the diaries.

Here i simply means and:

• el paper i els diaris = paper and newspapers

Unlike Spanish, Catalan does not normally change i to another form before words beginning with an i sound. So i stays i.

That means combinations like this are perfectly normal:

• pa i aigua = bread and water
• paper i informació = paper and information

Yes, but the meaning changes.

• volem reciclar = we want to recycle
• reciclem = we recycle / we are recycling

So:

• A casa nostra, volem reciclar el paper i els diaris
  = we have the intention or desire to do it
• A casa nostra, reciclem el paper i els diaris
  = we actually do it

So volem adds the idea of intention, willingness, or policy.

Not always, but very often it behaves like an uncountable material noun, just as paper does in English.

Examples:

• el paper = paper, as a material
• papers = papers, documents, sheets, or official paperwork depending on context

So in this sentence:

• reciclar el paper = recycle paper as a material category

If you said reciclar els papers, it would more likely suggest recycling the papers/documents/sheets rather than paper in general.

They are similar, but not identical.

• a casa meva = at my house / at my home
• a casa nostra = at our house / at our home

So the difference is just whose home it is:

• meva = my
• nostra = our

This pattern is very useful and common in Catalan, so it is worth learning as a chunk:

• a casa meva
• a casa teva
• a casa seva
• a casa nostra
• a casa vostra

Yes, Catalan allows some flexibility, but the original sentence is very natural.

The given order:

• A casa nostra, volem reciclar el paper i els diaris.

puts the location/topic first: At our house...

You could also say:

• Volem reciclar el paper i els diaris a casa nostra.

This sounds more like the main point is we want to recycle, and a casa nostra comes later as extra information.

So both are possible, but the original version gives more emphasis to the setting or household context.