Espero que la meva mare pugui descansar avui.

In Catalan, when esperar means to hope, it is often followed by que + a new clause:

• Espero que... = I hope that...

So:

• Espero que la meva mare pugui descansar avui.

literally means:

• I hope that my mother can rest today.

This is very similar to Spanish and a bit more explicit than English, where that is often optional.

Because after Espero que..., Catalan normally uses the subjunctive, not the indicative.

• pot = indicative form of poder (she can)
• pugui = subjunctive form of poder

This happens because hoping expresses a wish, possibility, or uncertainty rather than a simple fact.

So:

• Espero que la meva mare pot descansar avui ❌
• Espero que la meva mare pugui descansar avui ✅

A native English speaker often finds this tricky because English does not usually mark this difference as clearly.

Pugui is the present subjunctive, third person singular, of poder (to be able to / can).

Here is the present subjunctive of poder:

• jo pugui
• tu puguis
• ell/ella/vostè pugui
• nosaltres puguem
• vosaltres pugueu
• ells/elles/vostès puguin

Since la meva mare is she, the sentence needs pugui.

Catalan often uses the definite article before a possessive + noun:

• la meva mare = my mother
• el meu pare = my father
• la meva germana = my sister

This is very normal in Catalan. English does not do this, so it can feel unusual at first.

So:

• la meva mare is the standard, natural form.

In some contexts, especially with family terms or in certain varieties, the article may be omitted, but la meva mare is completely standard and a very common pattern for learners to use.

Because it comes after poder.

In Catalan, modal verbs like poder are followed by an infinitive:

• poder descansar = to be able to rest / can rest
• poder venir = to be able to come
• poder dormir = to be able to sleep

So in this sentence:

• pugui descansar = may be able to rest / can rest

You do not conjugate descansar here because pugui is already the conjugated verb.

Yes, Catalan often drops subject pronouns such as jo, tu, ell, etc., because the verb ending usually makes the subject clear.

That is why the sentence begins simply with:

• Espero = I hope

instead of:

• Jo espero

Both are possible, but jo is often omitted unless you want emphasis or contrast.

However, la meva mare stays in the sentence because it is the subject of the second clause and carries important information.

Avui means today.

In this sentence, it tells you when the mother may be able to rest:

• Espero que la meva mare pugui descansar avui.

This placement is very natural, but Catalan word order can sometimes vary for emphasis. For example:

• Avui espero que la meva mare pugui descansar.
• Espero que avui la meva mare pugui descansar.

All of these are possible, though the original version is the most straightforward and neutral.

No. Esperar can mean both to hope and to wait, depending on the structure.

Compare:

• Espero que la meva mare pugui descansar. = I hope my mother can rest.
• Espero la meva mare. = I am waiting for my mother.

A very useful clue is this:

• esperar + que + clause often means to hope
• esperar + noun/pronoun often means to wait for

So in your sentence, because it is Espero que..., the meaning is clearly I hope.

A helpful learner-friendly approximation is:

• POO-gui

More accurately in standard Central Catalan, it is roughly POO-ghee with a hard g sound before i because of the spelling gu.

A few pronunciation points:

• pu- sounds like poo
• gui keeps the hard g sound
• the stress is on the first syllable: PU-gui

So the sentence rhythm is roughly:

• es-PE-ro que la ME-va MA-re PU-gui des-can-SAR a-VUI

Not in the same meaning and time frame.

• pugui = present subjunctive
• pogués = imperfect subjunctive

Your sentence is about today and expresses a present hope, so pugui is the normal choice:

• Espero que la meva mare pugui descansar avui. ✅

Pogués would usually appear in a different kind of sentence, often with a past or more hypothetical context, for example:

• Esperava que la meva mare pogués descansar. = I was hoping that my mother could rest.

So for a current hope about today, pugui is correct.

Yes, it is completely natural and idiomatic.

It has a very standard structure:

• Espero que
  • subject + subjunctive verb
    • infinitive + time expression

So it is a good model sentence for learning several important Catalan patterns at once:

• esperar que
• use of the subjunctive
• article + possessive (la meva mare)
• modal verb + infinitive (pugui descansar)