A la taquilla no es venen bitllets tan tard, però per internet sí.

A la taquilla means at the ticket office / at the box office.

Catalan often puts this kind of place expression at the beginning when it sets the scene for the rest of the sentence. So here it tells you first where the action applies.

• a = at / to
• la taquilla = the ticket office, box office

So A la taquilla no es venen bitllets... is basically At the ticket office, tickets aren’t sold...

Because bitllets is plural.

In this structure, the verb agrees with the thing being sold:

• Es ven un bitllet = One ticket is sold / tickets are sold
• Es venen bitllets = Tickets are sold

So:

• bitllet → singular → es ven
• bitllets → plural → es venen

This is one of the most important things to notice in this sentence.

It is the Catalan passive/impersonal se structure.

Catalan often uses es + verb instead of a direct passive like English are sold. In this sentence, es venen bitllets literally looks like tickets sell themselves, but in real usage it means:

• tickets are sold
• or more naturally, they sell tickets

So A la taquilla no es venen bitllets tan tard means that at the ticket office, tickets are not sold that late.

In Catalan, no normally goes directly before the verb.

So:

• No es venen bitllets = Tickets are not sold
• No venen bitllets = They don’t sell tickets

That placement is very standard. English speakers sometimes want to place the negative differently, but in Catalan no usually comes right before the verbal form.

Tan tard means so late / that late.

Here:

• tan = so / that
• tard = late

A useful point: tard here is an adverb, not an adjective. It describes when the tickets are sold, not the tickets themselves.

Compare:

• És tard = It’s late
• Arriben tard = They arrive late
• No es venen bitllets tan tard = Tickets aren’t sold that late

English speakers sometimes expect something like tarda, but that would not work here.

Because per here means by / via / through and expresses the means or channel.

So:

• a la taquilla = at the ticket office → physical place
• per internet = via the internet / online → method or medium

This is a very natural contrast in Catalan:

• a + place
• per + means/channel

You can think of it as:

• at the ticket office
• through the internet

They are completely different words, even though they look similar.

• per = by, through, for, via
• però = but

In the sentence:

• per internet = via the internet
• però = but

So the structure is:

At the ticket office, tickets aren’t sold that late, but online they are.

The accent on però is important.

That sí means yes / they are / there are, and here it is used to avoid repeating the whole verb phrase.

The full version would be something like:

• A la taquilla no es venen bitllets tan tard, però per internet sí que es venen.

But Catalan often leaves the repeated part out when it is obvious. So:

• ..., però per internet sí.

means:

• ..., but online they are.
• ..., but on the internet, yes.

This is a very common Catalan way to make a contrast.

Yes, in many contexts you may hear something like No venen bitllets tan tard, meaning They don’t sell tickets that late.

The difference is mainly one of structure:

• No es venen bitllets... = more impersonal/passive-like
• No venen bitllets... = more like they don’t sell tickets...

Both can be natural, but es venen is especially useful when the speaker wants to focus on the general practice rather than on who exactly is selling them.

Both words can refer to tickets, but they are not always used in exactly the same way.

• bitllet often means a ticket for transport, cinema, events, etc.
• entrada often means an admission ticket, especially for a concert, theatre, museum, or match

In real usage, the choice can depend on region and context. In this sentence, bitllets is perfectly normal if the context is simply tickets in general.

Catalan word order is flexible, and this sentence is organized to highlight the contrast:

• A la taquilla = first setting: at the ticket office
• no es venen bitllets tan tard = what happens there
• però per internet sí = contrasting setting: online, yes

This kind of structure is very natural in Catalan. English might also front the location for contrast:

• At the ticket office, they don’t sell tickets that late, but online they do.

So although it may feel different at first, the Catalan order is doing a very similar discourse job.