Primer tallo la ceba i el tomàquet sobre la taula de la cuina.

Primer here means first and is being used as an adverb, meaning first / first of all.

In Catalan, it is very common to put time-order words like primer, després, llavors, etc. at the beginning of the sentence:

• Primer tallo la ceba.
• Després preparo la salsa.

You could also write it with a comma for clarity:

• Primer, tallo la ceba...

Both are normal.

Catalan often drops the subject pronoun when it is already clear from the verb ending.

• tallo = I cut
• talles = you cut
• talla = he/she cuts

Because -o already shows that the subject is I, Catalan usually does not need jo.

So:

• Tallo la ceba = I cut the onion
• Jo tallo la ceba = also correct, but more emphatic, like I’m the one who cuts the onion

Tallo is the 1st person singular present indicative of tallar (to cut).

So the pattern is:

• jo tallo = I cut
• tu talles = you cut
• ell/ella talla = he/she cuts
• nosaltres tallem = we cut
• vosaltres talleu = you all cut
• ells/elles tallen = they cut

A learner may notice that this looks very similar to Spanish corto, but Catalan uses the regular -o ending here: tallo.

Catalan uses the definite article very often, including in many places where English would simply say onion or tomato without the.

So:

• la ceba = the onion
• el tomàquet = the tomato

In a sentence like this, Catalan normally keeps the article with each noun. This sounds natural and standard.

Because ceba is feminine and tomàquet is masculine, each noun takes its own article:

• la ceba
• el tomàquet

You cannot use just one article for both because the genders are different.

Even when two nouns have the same gender, Catalan often still repeats the article:

• la ceba i la pastanaga
• el pa i el vi

So la ceba i el tomàquet is exactly what you would expect.

You usually learn a noun together with its article:

• la ceba
• el tomàquet

That is the safest habit in Catalan, because grammatical gender does not always match what an English speaker might expect.

Some endings can give clues, but they are not perfect rules. For example:

• nouns ending in -a are often feminine: la ceba
• but not every noun follows simple patterns

So it is best to memorize the noun and article together.

Here sobre means on or on top of:

• sobre la taula = on the table

So sobre la taula de la cuina means on the kitchen table.

Grammatically, this is fine. However, in everyday Catalan, many speakers often prefer expressions like:

• damunt la taula
• damunt de la taula
• a sobre de la taula

depending on region and style.

So sobre la taula is understandable and correct, but in casual speech some native speakers might choose another option.

de la cuina means of the kitchen or more naturally in English, in the kitchen / kitchen depending on context.

So:

• la taula de la cuina = the kitchen table / the table in the kitchen

Catalan often uses de + article + place noun to specify which thing you mean:

• la porta de la casa = the door of the house
• la finestra de l’habitació = the window of the room
• la taula de la cuina = the kitchen table

English often prefers a noun used like an adjective (kitchen table), but Catalan commonly uses the de structure.

Yes. Catalan word order is flexible, although this sentence is perfectly normal.

For example, you could also say:

• Primer tallo la ceba i el tomàquet.
• Tallo primer la ceba i el tomàquet sobre la taula de la cuina.

But the original order is natural if you want to begin with the idea of sequence: first.

One small point: sobre la taula de la cuina can attach naturally to the action tallo (I cut ... on the kitchen table), but in some contexts a listener could briefly wonder whether it describes where the vegetables are. Context usually makes it clear.

The accent mark in tomàquet shows which syllable is stressed:

• to-MÀ-quet

Without getting too technical, Catalan accent marks often help show the stressed syllable and sometimes the vowel quality as well.

So the accent tells you that the stress is not on the last syllable, but on mà.

This is important because stress in Catalan can change pronunciation and sometimes meaning.

A simple learner-friendly pronunciation is:

• ceba ≈ SEH-buh in Central Catalan, though the exact vowel quality depends on dialect
• tomàquet ≈ toh-MAH-ket

A few helpful notes:

• In much of Catalan, c before e sounds like s
• The stressed syllable in tomàquet is mà
• Final unstressed vowels can sound weaker than in English

Pronunciation varies by dialect, but these approximations will help you get close.

Yes. Tallo is present tense.

Catalan, like English, often uses the present tense to describe a routine, a recipe, instructions, or a sequence of actions:

• Primer tallo la ceba, després afegeixo l’oli...

This can sound like:

• what I usually do
• what I am doing in a step-by-step description
• recipe or instruction style

So the present tense is completely natural here.