No buidaré el calaix fins que la meva mare arribi a casa.

Buidaré is the first-person singular future form of buidar, which means to empty.

So:

• buidar = to empty
• buidaré = I will empty

Catalan often forms the simple future by adding endings to the infinitive. Here:

• buidar
  • -é → buidaré

So No buidaré... means I will not empty...

No is the normal way to make a verb negative in Catalan.

• Buidaré el calaix = I will empty the drawer
• No buidaré el calaix = I will not empty the drawer

Unlike English, Catalan does not need do for negation here. You simply put no before the verb.

Catalan often uses the definite article where English may or may not use the.

• el = the
• calaix = drawer

So el calaix = the drawer

In this sentence, it sounds like a specific drawer is being referred to, so el is natural.

Also, calaix is a masculine singular noun, which is why the article is el.

Calaix means drawer.

Its plural is calaixos:

• el calaix = the drawer
• els calaixos = the drawers

A learner might also notice that the spelling looks unusual. The final -ix is common in Catalan words.

Fins que means until.

It introduces the point in time up to which something does or does not happen.

So:

• No buidaré el calaix fins que... = I won’t empty the drawer until...

It is a very common structure in Catalan.

This is one of the most important grammar points in the sentence.

After fins que, Catalan often uses the subjunctive when the action refers to the future and has not happened yet.

Here, the mother’s arrival is a future event, so Catalan uses:

• arribi = present subjunctive of arribar

Not:

• arriba = present indicative, she arrives / she is arriving
• arribarà = future indicative, she will arrive

So:

• fins que la meva mare arribi a casa = until my mother gets home

This is different from English, which usually just uses the present in clauses like until she gets home.

Arribi is the present subjunctive, third-person singular, of arribar (to arrive).

The subject is la meva mare = my mother, so the verb must be in the he/she/it form.

A few present subjunctive forms of arribar are:

• jo arribi
• tu arribis
• ell/ella arribi
• nosaltres arribem
• vosaltres arribeu
• ells/elles arribin

In this sentence, la meva mare arribi means my mother arrive / gets home in a subjunctive context.

Catalan normally uses the definite article before a possessive plus noun:

• la meva mare = my mother
• el meu pare = my father
• la meva casa = my house

This is more natural in Catalan than leaving the article out.

So although English says just my mother, Catalan usually says the my mother literally, even though the real translation is simply my mother.

A casa is a very common Catalan expression meaning home or to/at home.

So:

• arribar a casa = to get home / to arrive home

When Catalan means home in this general sense, it usually says a casa, not a la casa.

By contrast:

• a la casa would mean to the house / at the house, referring more literally to a specific building.

So in this sentence, arribi a casa is the natural way to say gets home.

More or less, yes, literally it is something like arrives at home or arrives home.

But the best natural English translation is usually:

• gets home
• or arrives home

So learners should understand the literal structure, but not translate it too mechanically every time.

Yes, it could, but the meaning would be slightly less specific.

• fins que la meva mare arribi = until my mother arrives
• fins que la meva mare arribi a casa = until my mother gets home

Adding a casa makes it clear that the destination is home.

Yes. The sentence follows a very normal Catalan order:

• No buidaré = I will not empty
• el calaix = the drawer
• fins que = until
• la meva mare = my mother
• arribi a casa = gets home

So the structure is basically:

No + verb + object + fins que + subject + verb + complement

That is completely natural in Catalan.

The positive version would be:

Buidaré el calaix fins que la meva mare arribi a casa.

But that sentence would usually mean something different and less likely in context, something like I will empty the drawer until my mother gets home, which does not sound very logical.

That is why the negative version makes much more sense:

No buidaré el calaix fins que la meva mare arribi a casa.
= I won’t empty the drawer until my mother gets home.

So the no is not just a small detail—it is crucial to the meaning.

A broad pronunciation guide would be something like:

no boo-ee-duh-REH ul kuh-LAISH feens kuh luh MEH-vuh MAH-ruh uh-RREE-zhee uh KAH-zuh

A few notes:

• buidaré has stress on the last syllable: -ré
• calaix ends with a sound like sh
• meva is roughly MEH-vuh
• arribi begins with a trilled or tapped r sound after a-
• casa has a voiced s sound in most varieties, closer to z between vowels

Exact pronunciation varies somewhat by dialect.

The key takeaways are:

• No goes before the verb to make the sentence negative.
• buidaré is the future: I will empty.
• el calaix shows normal use of the definite article.
• fins que means until.
• After fins que, Catalan often uses the subjunctive for future actions: arribi.
• la meva mare shows the common Catalan pattern of using an article before a possessive.
• a casa means home, not literally to the house in this context.

If you understand those points, you understand most of what is happening in the sentence.