Si vostè vol venir al teatre amb nosaltres divendres, li podem reservar una butaca prop de l'escenari.

Vostè is the formal way to say you in Catalan, similar to formal usted in Spanish.

So this sentence is addressing someone politely or respectfully:

• Si vostè vol... = If you want... (formal)

If you were speaking informally to a friend, you would normally say:

• Si vols venir al teatre amb nosaltres divendres, et podem reservar una butaca...

So one of the main things this sentence teaches is the formal register.

Although vostè means you, it takes the third-person singular verb form, not the second-person form.

That is why we get:

• vostè vol = formal you want

Compare:

• tu vols = informal you want
• vostè vol = formal you want

This is a very common point for learners, because in English both are just you want, but Catalan distinguishes formal and informal grammar.

Here si means if.

• Si vostè vol venir... = If you want to come...

It is not the same as sí with an accent:

• si = if
• sí = yes

This accent makes an important difference in Catalan.

Venir means to come, while anar means to go.

Catalan usually uses venir when the movement is understood as being toward the speaker or toward a shared destination from the speaker’s point of view.

So:

• vol venir al teatre amb nosaltres = you want to come to the theater with us

If the sentence were framed from a different perspective, anar might be possible in another context, but here venir sounds natural because the person is being invited to join us.

Al is a contraction of:

• a + el = al

So:

• al teatre = to the theater

Catalan often contracts a preposition plus an article:

• a + el → al
• de + el → del

This is very similar to how the sentence later has:

• de l'escenari = of the stage / near the stage

So al teatre is simply the normal way to say to the theater.

In Catalan, days of the week are often used without a preposition when meaning on Friday, on Monday, etc., especially in straightforward time expressions.

So:

• divendres = on Friday / Friday

That is why the sentence can say:

• amb nosaltres divendres = with us on Friday

Depending on context, Catalan can also use articles with days of the week, but here the bare form divendres is completely natural.

Li is an indirect object pronoun meaning to you here, because the sentence is formal.

The structure is:

• reservar una butaca a vostè = to reserve a seat for you
• li podem reservar una butaca = we can reserve you a seat

So li refers back to vostè.

This is very common in Catalan: instead of repeating the full noun or pronoun, you use a clitic pronoun like li.

Because vostè is the subject of the first clause, while li is the indirect object in the second clause.

The sentence has two parts:

1. Si vostè vol venir al teatre amb nosaltres divendres

   • vostè = the person who may want to come

2. li podem reservar una butaca...

   • li = for you / to you

So they do different jobs:

• vostè = subject
• li = indirect object

English often does this without an extra pronoun, but Catalan normally uses one.

Yes. Both are possible.

• li podem reservar una butaca
• podem reservar-li una butaca

Both mean the same thing: we can reserve you a seat.

In everyday Catalan, placing the clitic before the conjugated verb, as in li podem reservar, is very common and very natural.

Butaca usually refers to an armchair-style seat or a theater/cinema seat, not just any generic seat.

So in this context:

• una butaca = a seat in the theater

A more general word would be seient, but butaca sounds very natural for a theater, where people sit in individual fixed seats.

Prop de means near.

This expression requires the preposition de:

• prop de l'escenari = near the stage

You cannot normally say just prop l'escenari.

So learners should remember it as a unit:

• prop de = near
• lluny de = far from

This is another normal contraction-like combination in Catalan.

You have:

• de + l'escenari

The article is l' because escenari begins with a vowel sound, so the masculine singular article el becomes l':

• el escenari → l'escenari

So:

• prop de l'escenari = near the stage

The word order is very natural for Catalan.

The sentence is built like this:

• Si vostè vol venir al teatre amb nosaltres divendres
• li podem reservar una butaca prop de l'escenari

Literally, that is close to:

• If you want to come to the theater with us Friday, to-you we-can reserve a seat near the stage

Catalan often places short object pronouns like li before the conjugated verb:

• li podem reservar

That is one of the main things that may feel unusual to an English speaker.

An informal version would normally be:

• Si vols venir al teatre amb nosaltres divendres, et podem reservar una butaca prop de l'escenari.

Changes:

• vostè → omitted, or you could add tu
• vol → vols
• li → et

So:

• formal: Si vostè vol..., li podem reservar...
• informal: Si vols..., et podem reservar...

Yes, if you want to say with us, you need nosaltres after amb:

• amb nosaltres = with us

Catalan uses the stressed pronoun after a preposition. You do not replace it with a clitic here.

So this is normal:

• venir amb nosaltres
• venir amb mi
• venir amb ell

Yes, Catalan often drops subject pronouns because the verb form already gives enough information.

However, in this sentence, vostè is useful because it makes the formal tone very clear.

So both are possible, but they feel slightly different:

• Si vostè vol venir... = explicitly formal and polite
• Si vol venir... = also formal, but less explicit

Catalan frequently omits subject pronouns unless there is a reason to include them, such as emphasis, contrast, or clarity of register.