Al vespre, acostumo a llegir una revista al sofà amb una manta.

Al vespre means in the evening or in the late afternoon/evening.

Al is simply the contraction of a + el:

• a = to / at / in
• el = the
• a + el = al

So al vespre literally looks like at the evening, but in natural English we say in the evening.

This contraction is very common in Catalan:

• al sofà = a + el sofà
• al matí = in the morning

Acostumo a means I usually, I tend to, or I am in the habit of doing something.

It comes from the verb acostumar(-se), which is often used to talk about habits.

So:

• acostumo a llegir = I usually read / I tend to read

It is not describing what you are doing right now. It describes a regular habit.

Some Catalan verbs are followed by a + infinitive. Acostumar is one of them.

So the pattern is:

• acostumar a + infinitive

Examples:

• Acostumo a llegir = I usually read
• Acostumes a estudiar de nit = You usually study at night

English does not always keep the same preposition pattern, so this is something you often just need to learn with the verb.

In Catalan, articles are used quite naturally before singular countable nouns, just as in English.

• una revista = a magazine

You would normally not say just revista here, because the sentence is talking about reading one magazine, not the general activity of magazine-reading.

Compare:

• llegir una revista = to read a magazine
• llegir revistes = to read magazines

Yes. Al sofà means on the sofa or at the sofa, and again al is a + el.

So:

• el sofà = the sofa
• al sofà = on the sofa / at the sofa

Catalan often uses a where English may use on, in, or at, depending on context.

Amb means with.

So:

• amb una manta = with a blanket

In this sentence, it most naturally means that the person is on the sofa with a blanket, probably wrapped in it or using it while reading.

Examples with amb:

• amb un amic = with a friend
• amb cafè = with coffee
• amb una manta = with a blanket

In this sentence, the most natural interpretation is that it describes the person and the situation: the speaker reads on the sofa with a blanket.

So the meaning is basically:

• In the evening, I usually read a magazine on the sofa, with a blanket.

It does not normally mean that the sofa itself somehow has a blanket as a fixed description. Context makes it clear that the blanket is part of the reading scene.

Yes. Catalan word order is flexible, especially with time expressions.

The sentence:

• Al vespre, acostumo a llegir una revista al sofà amb una manta.

could also be:

• Acostumo a llegir una revista al sofà amb una manta al vespre.
• Al vespre, llegeixo sovint una revista al sofà amb una manta.

Putting Al vespre at the beginning is very natural because it sets the scene first: In the evening...

The comma is used because Al vespre is an introductory time expression at the start of the sentence.

So the sentence begins with a time-setting phrase, and the comma helps separate it from the main clause:

• Al vespre, acostumo a llegir...

In shorter sentences, the comma is sometimes omitted in informal writing, but using it here is perfectly normal and clear.

Yes. Both are possible, but they are slightly different in feel.

• Acostumo a llegir una revista... = I usually / tend to read a magazine...
• Normalment llegeixo una revista... = I normally read a magazine...

Acostumo a + infinitive emphasizes habit.
Normalment + verb emphasizes what normally happens.

Both are natural.

Acostumo is the first person singular present tense of acostumar.

So:

• jo acostumo = I usually / I tend to
• tu acostumes
• ell/ella acostuma
• nosaltres acostumem
• vosaltres acostumeu
• ells/elles acostumen

Even though it is present tense, it often expresses a habitual meaning rather than something happening right now.

Not exactly.

These time words are close, but not identical:

• tarda = afternoon
• vespre = evening
• nit = night

So al vespre is specifically in the evening.

Depending on region and context, the boundaries between these parts of the day can feel a little flexible, but vespre definitely points more toward evening than afternoon or night.

The verb is llegir = to read.

The ll in Catalan is a special sound. In many accents it is like the lli sound in million, though exact pronunciation varies by dialect.

A rough learner-friendly guide:

• llegir sounds approximately like lyeh-ZHEER or yeh-ZHEER, depending on accent

Also:

• the final -ir is part of the infinitive ending
• llegir is an -ir verb

Pronunciation can vary quite a bit across Catalan-speaking areas, so hearing native audio is especially helpful for words with ll and g/j sounds.