La meva veïna diu que l'oli d'aquest restaurant fa una olor massa forta.

In Catalan, possessives like meu / meva / teu / seva are very often used with a definite article:

• la meva veïna = my neighbor
• el meu cotxe = my car
• la seva casa = his/her/their house

This is different from English, where you normally do not use the with my.

So La meva veïna is the normal Catalan way to say my neighbor.

Veïna means female neighbor.

Catalan often marks gender in nouns:

• veí = male neighbor
• veïna = female neighbor

The sentence uses veïna because the neighbor is female. If it were a man, it would be:

• El meu veí diu que...

Also, the diaeresis in ï tells you the vowels are pronounced separately: ve-ï-na, not as one blended sound.

Diu is the 3rd person singular form of the verb dir, which means to say.

So:

• jo dic = I say
• tu dius = you say
• ell/ella diu = he/she says

Since the subject is La meva veïna (my neighbor), Catalan uses diu = says.

Here que means that.

It introduces the clause that follows diu:

• La meva veïna diu que... = My neighbor says that...

Just like in English, that can sometimes be omitted in translation, but in Catalan que is very commonly kept.

So the structure is:

• X diu que Y = X says that Y

Catalan often uses an apostrophe when the article comes before a word beginning with a vowel.

• el + oli becomes l'oli

This is called elision. It helps pronunciation flow more naturally.

Other examples:

• l'aigua = the water
• l'home = the man
• l'amic = the friend

So l'oli simply means the oil.

D'aquest restaurant means of/from this restaurant.

It is made of:

• de = of, from
• aquest = this
• restaurant = restaurant

So:

• l'oli d'aquest restaurant = the oil from this restaurant / the oil of this restaurant

In natural English, you would usually say the oil in this restaurant or this restaurant’s oil, depending on context, but the Catalan structure with de is very common.

Because restaurant is a masculine noun in Catalan.

Demonstratives must agree with the noun:

• aquest = this (masculine singular)
• aquesta = this (feminine singular)

So:

• aquest restaurant = this restaurant
• aquesta casa = this house

Since restaurant is masculine, aquest is correct.

Yes, literally fa una olor is something like makes/gives a smell, but this is a normal Catalan way to express smell.

The verb fer (to do / to make) is used in several idiomatic expressions. Here:

• fer olor = to smell
• fa una olor forta = it has a strong smell / it smells strong

This is very natural in Catalan, even though it does not match English word-for-word.

You may also hear:

• fa bona olor = it smells good
• fa mala olor = it smells bad

These are extremely common.

Yes. Olor is a feminine noun in Catalan.

That is why the sentence has:

• una olor
• massa forta

The adjective must agree with the noun, so because olor is feminine, the adjective is also feminine:

• fort = strong (masculine)
• forta = strong (feminine)

So:

• una olor massa forta = a smell that is too strong

Because massa means too, while molt means very.

So:

• molt forta = very strong
• massa forta = too strong

In the sentence, the speaker is expressing excess, not just intensity. The idea is that the smell is stronger than it should be.

It describes olor, not oli.

The key part is:

• fa una olor massa forta

Here the noun being described is olor (smell), which is feminine, so the adjective is forta.

If fort described oli, the structure would be different. But in this sentence, the idea is:

• The oil gives off a smell that is too strong

So grammatically, forta agrees with olor.

Yes, but it would mean something slightly different.

• L'oli d'aquest restaurant fa una olor massa forta
  = The oil gives off too strong a smell.

This focuses on the smell.

• L'oli d'aquest restaurant és massa fort
  = The oil is too strong.

This could mean the oil itself is too intense, harsh, heavy, or powerful, depending on context. It is less specifically about the smell.

So the original sentence is more precise if the complaint is about odor.

Yes, it is completely normal.

The structure is:

• La meva veïna = subject
• diu = verb
• que... = subordinate clause

Then inside the subordinate clause:

• l'oli d'aquest restaurant = subject
• fa = verb
• una olor massa forta = object/complement

So the sentence follows a very natural Catalan order. English learners may be tempted to translate word-for-word, but the Catalan phrasing is standard and idiomatic.

A careful approximate pronunciation is:

la ME-va vay-EE-na DIU ke LO-li da-KWEST res-tau-RANT fa OO-na o-LOR MA-sa FOR-ta

A few useful pronunciation notes:

• veïna is pronounced in separate syllables: ve-ï-na
• diu is usually like dee-oo but in quick speech it sounds more compact
• l'oli links smoothly: lo-li
• aquest has a clear -quest ending
• forta has an open, clear final -a

The exact pronunciation varies somewhat by dialect, but this is a good general guide.