Si no trobes les espelmes, n'hi ha més en un calaix de la cuina.

Because they are two different things in Catalan:

• si no = if ... not
• sinó = but rather / except / but instead

In this sentence, Si no trobes les espelmes means If you don’t find the candles, so it has to be si no as two separate words.

Compare:

• Si no trobes les espelmes, n'hi ha més... = If you don’t find the candles, there are more...
• No són espelmes, sinó llums. = They aren’t candles, but rather lights.

So here si no is the normal conditional combination.

trobes is the 2nd person singular present indicative form of trobar = to find.

So:

• jo trobo = I find
• tu trobes = you find
• ell/ella troba = he/she finds

In the sentence, the implied subject is tu:

• Si no trobes les espelmes...
• If you don’t find the candles...

Catalan often leaves subject pronouns out when they are clear from the verb ending, so tu is not needed.

Catalan is a pro-drop language, which means subject pronouns are often omitted because the verb form already shows who the subject is.

Here, trobes clearly means you find, so tu would usually be left out:

• Si no trobes les espelmes... = normal
• Si tu no trobes les espelmes... = possible, but more emphatic

You would add tu only if you want contrast or emphasis, for example:

• Si tu no trobes les espelmes, jo sí.
• If you can’t find the candles, I can.

Catalan uses definite articles more often than English does. So les espelmes is perfectly natural where English might say either the candles or just candles, depending on context.

Here les espelmes refers to specific candles already known in the situation, so the candles is the natural idea.

• les = the
• espelmes = candles

This is very common in Catalan: the article appears where English might omit it.

n'hi ha is the Catalan existential expression meaning there is / there are some / there are depending on context.

In this sentence:

• n'hi ha més = there are more (of them)

This structure is built from haver-hi, which is the standard way to say there is / there are in Catalan.

So:

• Hi ha una espelma. = There is a candle.
• Hi ha espelmes. = There are candles.
• N'hi ha més. = There are more of them.

It can feel strange to English speakers because Catalan packs several ideas into a short little expression.

This is one of the trickiest parts of the sentence.

In n'hi ha més:

• hi is part of the existential verb phrase haver-hi = there is / there are
• en (written n' before a vowel) refers back to something already mentioned, often meaning of them / some

So:

• hi ha = there is / there are
• n'hi ha = there are some of them / there are more of them

Here n' refers back to les espelmes:

• Si no trobes les espelmes, n'hi ha més...
• If you don’t find the candles, there are more (candles)...

So n' avoids repeating espelmes, while hi ha gives the existential meaning.

Because the sentence is expressing existence, not describing where a specific thing is.

Catalan uses haver-hi for there is / there are:

• Hi ha més espelmes en un calaix. = There are more candles in a drawer.

If you used són or estan, the meaning would shift toward talking about the location or state of specific known items:

• Les espelmes són/estan al calaix = The candles are in the drawer.

So:

• hi ha = existence: there are
• són / estan = location or description of known things: they are

In this sentence, the speaker is saying that additional candles exist in a certain place, so n'hi ha is exactly right.

Here més means more in the sense of additional.

So:

• n'hi ha més = there are more
• more candles, not necessarily bigger or better candles

It does not mean most here. It simply means there are extra ones available.

A very literal way to think of it is:

• n'hi ha més = there are more of them

It means in a drawer in the kitchen or more literally in a drawer of the kitchen.

Breakdown:

• en = in
• un calaix = a drawer
• de la cuina = of the kitchen / in the kitchen

So the full phrase points to the location of the extra candles.

In natural English, you would usually say:

• in a kitchen drawer
• or in a drawer in the kitchen

Catalan often uses de in places where English might prefer an adjective-like expression:

• un calaix de la cuina = a drawer in the kitchen / a kitchen drawer

Because la cuina refers to the specific room: the kitchen.

So:

• de la cuina = of the kitchen / in the kitchen

Catalan normally uses the definite article with rooms and many everyday nouns in this kind of structure.

If you said de cuina, that would more likely sound adjectival, as in something related to cooking or kitchen use, not necessarily the kitchen as a room.

So here un calaix de la cuina means a drawer belonging to or located in the kitchen.

Catalan uses object pronouns very naturally, often where English repeats the noun or uses a longer phrase.

Here en replaces the noun already mentioned:

• les espelmes → n'

So instead of repeating espelmes, Catalan says:

• n'hi ha més = there are more of them

A fuller version such as hi ha més espelmes is also possible if you want to repeat the noun explicitly. But once the candles have already been mentioned, n'hi ha més is more elegant and natural.

So the sentence could conceptually be expanded as:

• Si no trobes les espelmes, hi ha més espelmes en un calaix de la cuina.

But Catalan usually prefers the pronoun:

• Si no trobes les espelmes, n'hi ha més en un calaix de la cuina.

Because this is a normal, real conditional statement: If you don’t find the candles, there are more in a kitchen drawer.

Catalan commonly uses the present indicative after si for this kind of real condition:

• Si no trobes... = If you don’t find...
• n'hi ha més... = there are more...

This works much like English present tense in sentences such as:

• If you don’t find them, there are more in the kitchen.

So there is nothing unusual about the tense here. It is just describing a real, practical situation.

Because it is the clitic pronoun en, and before a vowel it is shortened to n'.

So:

• en hi ha becomes n'hi ha

This apostrophe shows that the vowel of en has been dropped.

You will see the same thing in many other cases:

• En tinc → I have some
• N'he comprat → I bought some
• N'hi ha → There are some / there are more of them

It is a very common spelling pattern in Catalan.