La meva mare destapa la cassola després i hi posa arròs.

In Catalan, a possessive usually goes together with the definite article: la meva mare, el meu germà, els meus amics.

So la meva mare is the normal way to say my mother.

English usually does not use an article before a possessive, which is why this feels unusual to English speakers.

A few points:

• la = the
• meva = my
• mare = mother

Even though it looks like the my mother, it simply means my mother.

Because it agrees with mare, which is a feminine noun.

Catalan possessives change form depending on the gender and number of the noun:

• el meu pare = my father
• la meva mare = my mother
• els meus germans = my brothers / my siblings
• les meves germanes = my sisters

So meva is feminine singular to match mare.

Destapa is the 3rd person singular present form of the verb destapar.

So:

• destapar = to uncover, to take the lid off, to unseal
• destapa = he/she/it uncovers or takes the lid off

Here it matches la meva mare, so:

• La meva mare destapa... = My mother uncovers / takes the lid off...

It is built from:

• tapar = to cover
• destapar = to uncover

That des- idea is similar to reversing the action.

Destapa and posa are both in the present tense:

• destapa = uncovers / takes the lid off
• posa = puts

Catalan often uses the present tense the same way English does:

• for habitual actions
• for instructions
• for vivid narration of a sequence of actions

So this sentence may describe a routine or a step-by-step action:

• My mother uncovers the pot afterwards and puts rice in it.

Hi is a very common Catalan pronoun. Here it means something like in it or there.

In this sentence, hi refers back to la cassola:

• La meva mare destapa la cassola després i hi posa arròs.
• literally: My mother uncovers the pot afterwards and puts rice in it.

So:

• posa arròs = puts rice
• hi posa arròs = puts rice in it / there

This is one of the hardest little words for English speakers, because English often uses a full phrase like in it, while Catalan often uses hi.

No. Hi does not change for masculine/feminine or singular/plural.

It can refer to a place or location phrase without matching gender:

• la cassola → hi
• el forn → hi
• les caixes → hi

So even though cassola is feminine singular, the pronoun is still just hi.

Because object and adverbial clitic pronouns in Catalan normally go before the conjugated verb.

So:

• hi posa arròs = puts rice in it

Not:

• posa hi arròs

This word order is very typical in Catalan:

• hi va = goes there
• hi viu = lives there
• hi posa sal = puts salt in it

If the verb were an infinitive or certain other forms, the placement can change, but with a normal conjugated verb like posa, hi goes before it.

Because arròs here is being used as a mass noun in a general sense, just like English often says put rice rather than put the rice.

So:

• hi posa arròs = she puts rice in it

If you said l’arròs, that would usually mean a specific rice already known from the context:

• hi posa l’arròs = she puts the rice in it

Without the article, it just means some rice / rice in general.

Després means afterwards, later, or then, depending on context.

In this sentence:

• destapa la cassola després = uncovers the pot afterwards
• then i hi posa arròs = and puts rice in it

Catalan adverbs like després can sometimes move around:

• Després, la meva mare destapa la cassola i hi posa arròs.
• La meva mare destapa la cassola després i hi posa arròs.

Both are possible, though the rhythm and emphasis change slightly.

I simply means and. It links the two actions:

• destapa la cassola
• hi posa arròs

So the structure is:

• My mother uncovers the pot afterwards and puts rice in it.

Catalan uses i very much like English and.

Usually, if you want to express in the pot / in it, hi is the natural choice after la cassola has already been mentioned.

So:

• hi posa arròs = puts rice in it

If you just said:

• La meva mare destapa la cassola després i posa arròs

it could sound less clear, because now posa arròs is missing the location idea. A listener may wonder: puts rice where?

That is why hi is useful and natural here.

Not exactly in every context, but it is close.

Cassola usually means a cooking pot, casserole dish, or similar container used for cooking. The exact English translation depends on the situation.

So in this sentence, English might translate it as:

• pot
• pan
• casserole dish

The important grammar point is that la cassola is the place later referred to by hi.

A fairly literal version would be:

My mother uncovers the pot afterwards and puts rice in it.

Word by word:

• La meva mare = my mother
• destapa = uncovers / takes the lid off
• la cassola = the pot
• després = afterwards / then
• i = and
• hi = in it / there
• posa = puts
• arròs = rice

This kind of literal breakdown is useful because it shows exactly what hi is doing.