Qui és el propietari?

A good approximate pronunciation is:

• Qui ≈ kee
• és ≈ ess
• el ≈ uhl or el, depending on accent
• propietari ≈ proh-pee-eh-TA-ree

Putting it together:

• kee ess uhl proh-pee-eh-TA-ree?

A more Catalan-like pronunciation in IPA would be roughly:

• /ki ˈez əl pɾupiəˈtaɾi/

The main stress in propietari falls on -ta-.

Qui means who.

It is used for asking about a person, or sometimes a person’s identity. In this sentence, it asks which person is the owner.

Unlike English, Catalan qui does not change form for who/whom in normal usage. It just stays qui.

The accent in és is important.

• és = is
• es = oneself / himself / herself / itself or part of a reflexive verb

So the accent distinguishes two different words.

In this sentence:

• Qui és el propietari? = Who is the owner?

Without the accent, it would be a different word and would be incorrect here.

Catalan does not use do-support like English.

In English, you often need do/does/did in questions:

• Who does this belong to?

But with the verb to be, English also allows:

• Who is the owner?

Catalan forms this question very directly:

• Qui = who
• és = is
• el propietari = the owner

So the structure is very natural in Catalan:

• Qui és el propietari?

There is no extra word equivalent to English do.

El is the masculine singular definite article, meaning the.

So:

• el propietari = the owner

Catalan usually uses the article in places where English also uses the. Since the sentence is asking about a specific role or identity, el is needed here.

If the owner were female, you would say:

• Qui és la propietària?

Yes, propietari means owner or proprietor.

It is a fairly neutral, standard word. It often refers to legal ownership.

Related forms:

• propietari = male owner
• propietària = female owner
• propietaris = male or mixed plural owners
• propietàries = female plural owners

So if you are talking about a woman, you should change both the article and the noun:

• la propietària

Usually, in this context, Qui és el propietari? is the natural form.

If you say Qui és propietari?, it sounds more like:

• Who is an owner?
• Who has owner status?

That is more general and less tied to one specific thing.

With el propietari, you are asking for the specific owner of something already understood from context.

It is neutral and works in both formal and informal situations.

You can use Qui és el propietari? in everyday conversation, in writing, or in more formal contexts.

There is nothing especially casual or especially formal about it. It is just standard Catalan.

You change the article and the noun to the feminine form:

• Qui és la propietària?

Changes:

• el → la
• propietari → propietària

This is because Catalan nouns and articles agree in gender.

Yes. Depending on context, Catalan speakers might also ask things like:

• De qui és? = Whose is it?
• Qui n’és el propietari? = Who is its owner?

But Qui és el propietari? is a very straightforward and correct way to ask Who is the owner?

It focuses on identifying the person who owns something already understood from context.

Standard Catalan normally uses only the final question mark:

• Qui és el propietari?

Unlike Spanish, Catalan does not normally require an opening question mark such as ¿.

So the standard written form is exactly:

• Qui és el propietari?