La meva mare compra roba de feina.

In Catalan, a possessive usually goes together with the definite article, so la meva mare is the normal way to say my mother.

English says my mother without the, but Catalan often uses:

• el meu pare = my father
• la meva mare = my mother
• els meus amics = my friends

So the la here is completely normal.

Because meva has to agree with mare, which is feminine singular.

The possessive changes for gender and number:

• el meu llibre = my book
• la meva mare = my mother
• els meus llibres = my books
• les meves germanes = my sisters

So mare is feminine singular, and that is why you get la meva mare.

Compra is the third-person singular present tense of comprar = to buy.

So it matches la meva mare:

• jo compro = I buy
• tu compres = you buy
• ell / ella compra = he / she buys

In this sentence, compra means buys, but depending on context, a Catalan present tense can sometimes also be translated as is buying.

Because roba in Catalan is a singular collective or mass noun. It means clothing or clothes in a general sense, but grammatically it is singular.

So Catalan says:

• Aquesta roba és nova = These clothes are new / This clothing is new

Even though English often uses the plural clothes, Catalan uses singular roba.

Here roba is being used in a general, indefinite way: clothing / some clothes / work clothes.

So compra roba de feina means she buys work clothes or clothing for work in general.

If you said compra la roba de feina, that would usually sound more specific, like she buys the work clothes or the work clothing already known in the context.

Literally, de feina means of work, but in natural English it means for work or work-related.

Catalan often uses de + noun where English might use:

• another noun as a modifier
• an adjective
• for + noun

So:

• roba de feina = work clothes / clothes for work
• sabates de muntanya = mountain shoes / hiking boots
• taula de fusta = wooden table / table made of wood

Here de feina describes what kind of clothing it is.

Yes, it is a very natural expression. Roba de feina commonly means work clothes or workwear.

A learner might try to translate word-for-word from English in a different way, but roba de feina is idiomatic and standard.

Yes. La meva mare compra roba de feina follows a very normal Catalan pattern:

subject + verb + object

• La meva mare = subject
• compra = verb
• roba de feina = object

This is the most neutral and natural order for a basic statement.

Yes. Catalan often drops subject pronouns because the verb ending already gives information about the subject. With a full noun subject, it can also be omitted if the context makes it clear.

So:

• La meva mare compra roba de feina = My mother buys work clothes
• Compra roba de feina = She buys work clothes / is buying work clothes

The second version depends more on context, since the subject is not stated explicitly.

In a Central Catalan pronunciation, a rough guide is:

lə MEH-və MA-rə KOM-prə RO-bə də FEY-nə

A few useful pronunciation notes:

• meva and roba have a soft b/v sound; in most Catalan accents, b and v sound the same.
• The final -a in many unstressed syllables is often a neutral vowel in Central Catalan, a bit like uh.
• feina sounds roughly like FAY-nuh.

So the rhythm is quite smooth:
La meva mare compra roba de feina.