Si el tren té retard, truca'm abans de la reunió.

If the train is delayed, call me before the meeting.

Breakdown of Si el tren té retard, truca'm abans de la reunió.

• em: me
• abans de: before
• si: if
• trucar: to call

Questions & Answers about Si el tren té retard, truca'm abans de la reunió.

Why does the sentence start with si?

Si means if. It introduces a condition:

• Si el tren té retard = If the train is delayed / if the train is late

So the whole sentence is a conditional: if X happens, do Y.

Be careful not to confuse si with sí:

• si = if
• sí = yes

The accent makes them different words.

Why is it el tren and not just tren?

In Catalan, a singular countable noun usually needs an article or another determiner.

So:

• el tren = the train

A bare singular noun like tren on its own would usually sound incomplete here.

This is similar to English, where you would normally say the train, a train, my train, etc., not just train.

Why does Catalan say té retard? It looks like has delay, not is delayed.