Word
A la taquilla de l'estació, una noia m'explica a quina andana arriba el tren.
Meaning
At the ticket office in the station, a young woman tells me which platform the train arrives at.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of A la taquilla de l'estació, una noia m'explica a quina andana arriba el tren.
un
a
a
at
em
me
arribar
to arrive
Questions & Answers about A la taquilla de l'estació, una noia m'explica a quina andana arriba el tren.
What does A la taquilla de l'estació mean literally, and why is a used here?
Literally, A la taquilla de l'estació means At the ticket office of the station.
A few useful points:
- taquilla = ticket office / ticket window
- estació = station
- de l'estació = of the station
Why a?
- In Catalan, a can mean both to and at, depending on context.
- Here it gives the location: at the station ticket office.
- English often uses at, but Catalan commonly uses a in this kind of place expression.
So the opening sets the scene: At the station ticket office, ...
Why is it de l'estació and not de la estació?
Because Catalan normally contracts or elides certain articles before vowels.
Here:
- de + l'estació = of the station
- The noun estació begins with a vowel, so the article is l' rather than la.
So:
- la taquilla = the ticket office
- l'estació = the station
This is very common in Catalan:
- l'home = the man
- l'escola = the school
- l'andana = the platform